How big of a jump can we realistically expect from Jalen?

IMALOYAL1

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The deep threat opens up so much for an offense. We have receivers that will always go get the ball if it's close to just a long, jump ball. I especially like a point Tide-HSV made about short dig patters and those type throws for our short to intermediate passing game. With an improved O'line and healthy more experienced running backs I'm not as worried about QB ratings as I am executing the play at the most advantageous time.
Kiffin was great at explosive plays but put too much pressure on the defense against teams that could also execute explosive plays and play sound defense. So I think we'll be strong at the QB position and that bodes well for our entire team.

Extremely glad we have Daboll over Sark. In my opinion Sarkisian would have been Kiffin lite. Very lite.
 

Bama Lee

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My biggest concern, which started late last year when it dawned on me, is that a significant portion of the completion percentage and yards were really "1-yard-pass" jet sweeps. They could just as well have been handoffs, like an end-around. The point is, this play was almost completely diagnosed and defeated by the defenses we played against at the end of the season.

So I think (really, hope) the jet sweep is going away. This starts us at a lower baseline from last year, which means we are hoping for a bigger increment overall, into more of a "standard" passing game, with drop backs, play actions, and QB draws.
The jet sweep is not going away. It is a base play that has to be used to set up other parts of the offense
 

Tidewater

Hall of Fame
Mar 15, 2003
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I am re-watching the 2016 season. Jalen is going to really miss Ardarius Stewart. Stewart was Jalen's security blanket. He knew Stewart would really fight for the ball, even if the pass was not well-thrown. At times when Jalen needed a confidence boost, the coaches would dial up a Jalen to Ardarius pass and that would settle Jalen down.
Hopefully, Jalen has that kind of feel for all the receiving corps this coming year, but Ardarius was Jalen's best friend in 2016.
 

Alasippi

Suspended
Aug 31, 2007
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I think Jalen and the entire offense is going to benefit greatly from the downfield speed at wide receiver. It may be the fastest overall group we've ever had. It's going to help Jalen immensely to be able to throw to a spot on a deep timing pattern rather than having to check down from 3 to 2 to 1 and making constant decisions.
Plus, when those fast receivers go deep the DB's have no choice to go with them, and the backers have to back up in coverage as well. That makes the running game flat out dangerous if the O-Line can get our backs past the line of scrimmage. And, if a play completely falls apart Jalen's got the legs to turn a possible ten yard sack into a fifty yard touchdown run.
I'm pretty confident that this offense will be one of the best in the Nick Saban era at Bama.
The talent level is ridiculous.
sip
 
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bodiddle

All-SEC
May 14, 2006
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I think Jalen and the entire offense is going to benefit greatly from the downfield speed at wide receiver. It may be the fastest overall group we've ever had. It's going to help Jalen immensely to be able to throw to a spot on a deep timing pattern rather than having to check down from 3 to 2 to 1 and making constant decisions.
Plus, when those fast receivers go deep the DB's have no choice to go with them, and the backers have to back up in coverage as well. That makes the running game flat out dangerous if the O-Line can get our backs past the line of scrimmage. And, if a play completely falls apart Jalen's got the legs to turn a possible ten yard sack into a fifty yard touchdown run.
I'm pretty confident that this offense will be one of the best in the Nick Saban era at Bama.
The talent level is ridiculous.
sip
I am with you sip. If it isn't the best or one of the best it will be on the coaching staff.
 

Con

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I think Jalen and the entire offense is going to benefit greatly from the downfield speed at wide receiver. It may be the fastest overall group we've ever had. It's going to help Jalen immensely to be able to throw to a spot on a deep timing pattern rather than having to check down from 3 to 2 to 1 and making constant decisions.
Plus, when those fast receivers go deep the DB's have no choice to go with them, and the backers have to back up in coverage as well. That makes the running game flat out dangerous if the O-Line can get our backs past the line of scrimmage. And, if a play completely falls apart Jalen's got the legs to turn a possible ten yard sack into a fifty yard touchdown run.
I'm pretty confident that this offense will be one of the best in the Nick Saban era at Bama.
The talent level is ridiculous.
sip
You have got me fired up sip.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
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He was scouted as a super raw passer with a lot of potential and the honest truth is that Hurts best potential throw coming out of high school was the deep stuff. He had a live arm, it was just a matter of learning quick coverage identification and how to put the ball in a spot consistently. We were incredibly safe on offense last year so I don't think it ever got a real chance to develop.


Lets not forget that this is the "money year" for Calvin Ridley. Both Julio and Coop had slumps in their sophomore seasons due to nagging injuries and what have you but they were electric in their junior seasons. I think he could go for 1200-1500 yards and 10+ TDs.
 

Redwood Forrest

Hall of Fame
Sep 19, 2003
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When a good D stacks the line and has a really good QB our only option is to throw also. Florida St showed us what would have happened had LSU had a really good QB. This year I am excited and can't wait. I am positive our QBs can pass when needed. Roll Tide.
 

IMALOYAL1

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I remember how Jay Barker struggled early on. The Championship game against Miami was much worse than Jalens game against Clemson. A few years later he was a great asset. Passing and leading. His dual against Eric Zeire and UGA was an amazing game.
Jalen has the arm strength Jay had with much better scrambling ability. I have no idea what his ceiling is. If he can hit the long pass that he seems to have the ability to do. Learn the short routs and get those throws down. He may become as good as Deshaun Watson. At least as good as Joshua Dobbs only we'll have better receivers imo.

Tua will get an opportunity to win the job/team as he progresses. He wont start this year unless Jalen regresses, but that will push Jalen to compete his butt off. We've got as much quality depth at QB as we've had, maybe since Coach Saban has been at UofA. The receiving corp is in place! They can really make a QB shine. What would Johnny Football look like without Mike Evans? Or the O'line they had that year?

It was obvious we limited Jalen last year as much due to his inexperience as due to our overwhelming defense. That was probably enough to win it all with a few different decisions on offense against Clemson. He will get very good or will get overtaken. I just haven't felt as good about our QB situation in a long time as far as a quality starter and potentially very good backup. Need our receivers to catch em all and the line to give him some time. I don't watch much tape but the pop pass could be a deadly weapon with Jalens strength and speed. Deboll has quality to work with. I heard some people with better (sauces):) than I've ever had think he's ready to take that next step to greatness.
I don't think the glass is half full, its about to run over! Yes i said it.
 
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rgw

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I think Dobbs is a very good comparison for Hurts at this juncture (after seeing him show good deep ball touch in the spring game). I thought the big problem with Dobbs was his inability to throw it accurately in the short to medium range. He just never developed in that regard but he became a great deep passer by the 2016 season.

Fortunately, Alabama is one of the best developmental programs in the nation. The likelihood Hurts gets to his Junior year and can't consistently complete a quick out or slant is pretty low.
 

TiderJack

Hall of Fame
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He was scouted as a super raw passer with a lot of potential and the honest truth is that Hurts best potential throw coming out of high school was the deep stuff. He had a live arm, it was just a matter of learning quick coverage identification and how to put the ball in a spot consistently. We were incredibly safe on offense last year so I don't think it ever got a real chance to develop.


Lets not forget that this is the "money year" for Calvin Ridley. Both Julio and Coop had slumps in their sophomore seasons due to nagging injuries and what have you but they were electric in their junior seasons. I think he could go for 1200-1500 yards and 10+ TDs.
I would totally agree if Kiffin was still here but I believe we will see Daboll spread the wealth which will cut down on Calvin's #'s somewhat. He will still have a great year just don't think it will be up to the numbers you are predicting.
 

rgw

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That's a good point, we don't really know Daboll's M.O. as a playcaller. Kiffin was a huge proponent of giving massive amount of touches to his best playmakers. Especially in the passing game, his star WRs at USC and Bama got a sizable percentage of the total team receptions and yardage. The Patriots have always been more a spread-the-wealth type of offense, so we shall see...

I know that balanced targeting of receivers tends to work out better for the quarterback if he can run the full offense...hard to know who to double.
 
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4Q Basket Case

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That's a good point, we don't really know Daboll's M.O. as a playcaller. Kiffin was a huge proponent of giving massive amount of touches to his best playmakers. Especially in the passing game, his star WRs at USC and Bama got a sizable percentage of the total team receptions and yardage. The Patriots have always been more a spread-the-wealth type of offense, so we shall see...

I know that balanced targeting of receivers tends to work out better for the quarterback if he can runt he full offense...hard to know who to double.
Sounds like Kiffin's method requires fewer reads and less decision-making from the QB. Not necessarily a bad thing when dealing with a true freshman.

Spreading the wealth almost by definition requires more of the QB.

Is Jalen ready for that? I know he will be at some point. Whether that point in time is September 2, I don't know. Nobody really does.

I do know this -- FSU is expected to have one of the best back 7s in CFB. If Jalen makes those guys respect and defend the whole field (which he couldn't do against LSU, Washington or Clemson), we will have served notice on the other P5 teams that the road to the NC goes through Tuscaloosa.

If he can't, well, he'll have to continue improving, or it's going to be a nail-biting year against teams we can't just steamroll.
 

TiderJack

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Sounds like Kiffin's method requires fewer reads and less decision-making from the QB. Not necessarily a bad thing when dealing with a true freshman.

Spreading the wealth almost by definition requires more of the QB.

Is Jalen ready for that? I know he will be at some point. Whether that point in time is September 2, I don't know. Nobody really does.

I do know this -- FSU is expected to have one of the best back 7s in CFB. If Jalen makes those guys respect and defend the whole field (which he couldn't do against LSU, Washington or Clemson), we will have served notice on the other P5 teams that the road to the NC goes through Tuscaloosa.

If he can't, well, he'll have to continue improving, or it's going to be a nail-biting year against teams we can't just steamroll.
Which will be one or two other teams. Jalen is going to make very good improvements IMO and will lead us to another great year.
 

81usaf92

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That's a good point, we don't really know Daboll's M.O. as a playcaller. Kiffin was a huge proponent of giving massive amount of touches to his best playmakers. Especially in the passing game, his star WRs at USC and Bama got a sizable percentage of the total team receptions and yardage. The Patriots have always been more a spread-the-wealth type of offense, so we shall see...

I know that balanced targeting of receivers tends to work out better for the quarterback if he can run the full offense...hard to know who to double.
I think Daboll is going to be close to a Weiss- McDaniels style (granted Brady has a lot of say in what is called in NE). But I think "cautious aggressive " is the term to probably sum it up. I don't think it's going be a" run the rock nonstop" like a Mac and Nuss thing like many on here seem to think. I really think it's going to be a pick your poison balanced offense.
 

RTR91

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Looked at Daboll's four teams as an OC. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I kept thinking about how poor his overall personnel was as an OC.

In those four years, his TEs accounted for 20% of the receptions, 20% of the targets, 24% of the receiving yards, and 31% of the TDs while the RBs caught 30% of the passes on 24% of the targets for 20% of the team's yards and 19% of the TDs.

Looks like he will throw the ball around. Brandon Marshall (2011 Dolphins) and Dwayne Bowe (2012 Chiefs) each were targeted 25% of the time.

In the last three years, Alabama's leading WRs have accounted for 42% (Cooper), 30% (Ridley), and 27% (Ridley) of the team's receptions.

Suspect we'll pass the ball around more this year than we did under Kiffin.
 

rgw

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Throwing it around to the TEs and RBs at that rate is usually a sign of limited personnel...at least in my opinion.
 

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