"Alabama's next star is already on campus" (And it's not Tua) ;)

bamamick said:

Billy Ray was damn good at Duke! Good enough to star in the Blue/Gray Game.

rtr

Click to expand...

From what I remember, Homer Smith didn't have a high opinion of him.

CrimsonForce said:

I think the biggest difference between Najee and Derrick is acceleration / top end speed. Henry ran a laser timed 4.54 40 at the NFL combine and recorded the fastest TD in the NFL one week. Henry is freakishly fast for his size. Najee ran a 4.66 40 which probably wasn't laser timed so it's safe to assume he's about a step slower than Henry when talking about pulling away speed. I do agree with you that Najee is more agile than Henry so he may not get tripped up as much at the LOS and be able to sift through traffic better..

Click to expand...

I agree with this. Najee does not have quite the burst or top end speed many of our RB's have had but he is agile, instinctive and powerful. He will have a great career and be a Heisman candidate or winner his junior year (Tua will be also IMO).

Top end speed can be a bit overrated. Henry and Drake had the best of it under Saban, but Eddie Lacy (among others) didn't. He was still pretty good.

Never want to jinx a guy or overload him with "this is the next ____________". However, I will say that based on the relatively little we got to see of him this year, his high school films, and reports from practice he has the potential to be a really outstanding running back. He is being coached by one of the best S&C coaches ever and a position coach whose players have been extraordinarily successful. He should be running behind an outstanding offensive line on an offensive team with serious passing threats to keep the DBs honest.

I think that combination promises a very bright future for him. And whether you end up rated as the "best" running back in Saban's Alabama tenure or just "one of the best" it is pretty darned impressive. I'm excited to see him take the field in the fall.

CoachJeff said:

Apparently some folks have forgotten how good Derrick Henry was.

Click to expand...

uaintn said:

Never want to jinx a guy or overload him with "this is the next ____________". However, I will say that based on the relatively little we got to see of him this year, his high school films, and reports from practice he has the potential to be a really outstanding running back. He is being coached by one of the best S&C coaches ever and a position coach whose players have been extraordinarily successful. He should be running behind an outstanding offensive line on an offensive team with serious passing threats to keep the DBs honest.

I think that combination promises a very bright future for him. And whether you end up rated as the "best" running back in Saban's Alabama tenure or just "one of the best" it is pretty darned impressive. I'm excited to see him take the field in the fall.

Click to expand...

I hadn't even thought of that

Bamabuzzard said:

And I think that's what some in this thread are missing. No one is saying that N Harris is or will be better than D Henry. But he does have the potential to be as good or better than Henry. There are some things Henry had that Harris does not. But there's also some things Harris has that Henry didn't. Should be fun to watch him play.

Click to expand...

Exactly! I don't think anyone here thinks he is guaranteed to be better than even Glenn Coffee necessarily (though it would be a huge disappointment if he isn't better than Coffee) but based on his physical skills and flashes of play we have seen there is a TON of potential. There is a reason he was so highly rated as a recruit. He has got to be the highest rated RB recruit under Saban right?

RollTide_HTTR said:

I hadn't even thought of that


Exactly! I don't think anyone here thinks he is guaranteed to be better than even Glenn Coffee necessarily (though it would be a huge disappointment if he isn't better than Coffee) but based on his physical skills and flashes of play we have seen there is a TON of potential. There is a reason he was so highly rated as a recruit. He has got to be the highest rated RB recruit under Saban right?

Click to expand...

Yes. Trent was a 5* top 10 nationally by some services but Najee was #1 at one point and was in everybody's top 5 or 10 nationally.

Najee shined when the entire field had to be defended. The physical gifts are there, with a multiple offense he has the chance to put up video game numbers when it's his turn.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bamabuzzard said:

The same type offense Derrick Henry shined in when Coker and Kiffin were running the offense. The offense was run heavy but the offense also had the ability to kill you deep at any moment as well. Ask Jawja about that one when there was more than water "raining" down on the field in Athens.

Click to expand...

I would hazard a guess as say Tua has better quarterback skills than Coker. The leadership and toughness aren't up for debate, but right now Tua is a more mechanically sound quarterback than Coker and I think he will help pave the way for monster running numbers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One of Najee's overlooked qualities is his fierce desire. He has a nonchalant, laid back, California personality, but like Saban, he is driven almost like a madman and runs with ferocity. He's a great athlete and a great receiver, both as a route runner and pass catcher. He is slow for a RB, but has good agility, size, strength, vision and balance. Maybe he will improve his speed like Damien did. DHarris, along with MI and Coffee made breathtaking overall improvement from year 1 to 2. NH will work at it. He has a bit of an oddball personality but is conscientious, intelligent and very serious.

If you just watched him on A-Day, you'd know he was legit.

Hurts got a lot of rushes, so did Bo. In theory there's a lot more carries available now. I fully expect him to put up big numbers next year.

selmaborntidefan said:

Well, I hope for our (and his success) but I’ve lived too long and seen too many “The next Bo Jackson/Herschel/Manning” to get overly excited.


I remember when a quarterback named Billy Ray came to Alabama as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Did he even play a down for us?

And too many names to go through. Hey, hope he’s great but it’ll happen or it won’t.

And it IS football so it only takes one hit.

Click to expand...

I remember that he got into the doghouse with Coach Homer Smith who was our Offensive Coordinator back then. He was beaten out by Jeff Dunn and never seemed to recover. Always heard that he and Homer didn't match up well. He transferred to Duke. I was disappointed.

Bamabuzzard said:

The freshman QB that through the pass that "shook up the world" is definitely a "star". But there is another star that is in that same backfield that probably hasn't gotten the attention the other star has, and that's N Harris. Tom Luginbill compares him to an "Adrian Peterson" type back in article. Good read.



http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...ama-crimson-tide-najee-harris-ready-break-out

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing this. Exciting days continue to roll on...