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News Article: Battles to watch as spring practice nears

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JessN

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Battles to watch as spring practice nears
By Jess Nicholas
TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief
Feb. 21, 2011

One of the things that makes college football more attractive to many fans, as compared to the NFL, is its planned obsolescence of players: In four years, five at a maximum, they are forced out, to be replaced by a greenhorn.

Alabama’s 2011 team doesn’t have many holes, but a couple of them are sizeable.

For the full story, click here.
 
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No mention of Marquis Maze with the WR's? Great writeup otherwise. Good to see another JessN article :)
 
Interesting that a linebacker slot was considered the most crucial. Little to no competition at LT and Jess is focused on OLB.
 
Good read. Thx for the article to help with the end of season malaise before spring ball. I am looking forward to the spring game. Do we know if it'll be on espn?
 
JessN

In reading your article about spring practice, I notice you left off Marquis Maze when discussing the recievers. Was this by accident or intentional ? Maze will likely be a major target for the new QB this fall.
 
Re: JessN

He was just looking at position battles to watch. Maze is a returning starter, so there's no battle, per se, for his position.
 
Re: JessN

Okay, well I wondered because I saw Hanks name mentioned and Hanks was a starter last year as well. Just seemed a bit strange to me.
 
Re: JessN

bamaman07 said:
Okay, well I wondered because I saw Hanks name mentioned and Hanks was a starter last year as well. Just seemed a bit strange to me.
Click to expand...

I think that's because it's possible that Hanks slides over to take over Julio's spot. Maze, because of his build and style, wouldn't really be an option at that spot.
 
Re: JessN

This was very interesting and very informative, but I'd also like to see a breakdown of every position.

I thing a more interesting position might be Safety with Robbie Green coming back. Obviously he is still going to be in the doghouse for a bit, but it will be interesting to see the progress he has made sitting out a year and if that is enough to get the starting job back after a breakout year by Lester.
 
I get the feeling that Hanks will end up starting at SE with Maze at FL...I think that's X and Y in our offense. We have so many good slot-type receivers, it just makes sense to get our two most experienced guys out there and rotate until we find the hot-hand at 3rd WR.

Gibson has a good chemistry with McCarron it seems, so Hanks may stay at slot if Gibson can make a push.
 
Jess, I'll ask you a question that didn't get a response in the QB thread: Considering how much of a disaster it could be if either McCarron or Sims left before the season starts (injury to starter = Ely, Ogilvie, etc.), could you see a scenario where the coaches essentially let McCarron and Sims get equal reps in the preseason, and let them know they'll both get a chance to win the starting job on the field during the first three games of the season?

I know that's not really a good practice, but it just seems the coaches need to do all they can to keep both guys on the hook for 2011.
 
Hopefully these guys are mature enough to know that even if they don't win the starting job, they can continue to compete because you never know when you will get your turn. Always be prepared to step in when needed. It hasn't been that long ago that we had to play an entire game with Brandon Avalos (3rd string QB) due to injuries. I remember Brodie Croyle playing the entire game against Arkansas in 2002 due to an injury to Tyler Watts. The year before Andrew Zow led us to a huge win against AU after Watts was injured. I believe the QB at Cincinnati 2-3 years ago started the season as the #4 QB on the roster but was the starter before the year was out and did a great job. Gary Hollingsworth got his shot in 1989 because Jeff Dunn went down with an injury and he wound up being the SEC player of the year. I just don't understand the mentality of players transferring just because they were not named the starter. Hopefully this is just internet rumor and the reality is that both Simms and McCarron are ready to compete for the job and support each other and the team regardless of his is named the starter.
 
Re: JessN

bamaman07 said:
In reading your article about spring practice, I notice you left off Marquis Maze when discussing the recievers. Was this by accident or intentional ? Maze will likely be a major target for the new QB this fall.
Click to expand...

As others have noted, I didn't mention Maze because he's already a starter.

The reason I have Hanks in the discussion for the other position is that Alabama's starting lineup is technically two WRs and two TEs. Last year it was Maze and Jones at WR, and Dial and Williams at TE. We list 12 starters on our offensive depth chart here because Alabama is in 3-wide so much, but in the most technical sense, Hanks was not a starter.
 
Re: JessN

tide96 said:
This was very interesting and very informative, but I'd also like to see a breakdown of every position.

I thing a more interesting position might be Safety with Robbie Green coming back. Obviously he is still going to be in the doghouse for a bit, but it will be interesting to see the progress he has made sitting out a year and if that is enough to get the starting job back after a breakout year by Lester.
Click to expand...

I don't think Green will grab Lester's starting position. Also, Green has never been a starter. The safeties in 2009 were Barron and Woodall.

Green needs to worry about beating out a finally-healthy DeQuan Menzie for nickel DB more than he does going after Lester's position, IMO. And it's kind of interesting that Will Lowery could go from starting a bowl game to playing the Tyrone King Jr. role (i.e., 7th DB who plays only in blowouts and as a result of injuries) in essentially one game's time.

I'll also note something that gets often forgotten: Green was recruited as a CB. So there's another opportunity there, and I do think he's a good bit better than Phelon Jones.
 
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