JessN: Spring practice: 10 positions, 10 questions

JessN · Mar 9, 2019

Spring practice: 10 positions, 10 questions
by Jess Nicholas
TideFans Editor-In-Chief
March 9th, 2019 05:09 PM

Alabama’s first spring practice is in the books. Given the way the 2018 season ended, there will probably be greater fan scrutiny on 2019 spring practices than in recent years. Here’s our look at 10 key positions headed into spring, which could see more shuffling of personnel […]

Read More Here

CrimsonEyeshade · Mar 10, 2019

A must read. I love reporting/writing that makes its audience smarter. Thanks, and well done.

Saban4Ever · Mar 10, 2019

Thanks, Jess. Nice to read your analysis again.

GrayTide · Mar 10, 2019

Great analysis, lots of holes to fill and lots of backups who need game experience. Thanks Jess.

Bamabuzzard · Mar 11, 2019

I'm curious to see just how different the offensive philosophy will be from Locksley to Sark (as Jess mentioned in his review). I felt we tended to get a little soft on the OL at times from being a more pass first oriented offense. It's tough to find the balance of keeping your OL "physical" yet not becoming so one dimensional in doing so. But I definitely felt there were times when we'd gotten away from the running game to the point that our OL just lost some of it's physicality.

JDCrimson · Mar 11, 2019

Based on these comments from Jess, I wonder what his assessment would be in regards to this team being championship caliber this year.

The offense certainly is capable but I really worried about this defense and our special teams for the upcoming season.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

JessN · Mar 11, 2019

JDCrimson said:
Based on these comments from Jess, I wonder what his assessment would be in regards to this team being championship caliber this year.

The offense certainly is capable but I really worried about this defense and our special teams for the upcoming season.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

I would be a little surprised if Bama doesn't make the playoffs. Too soon to tell what happens from there because everyone has to establish an identity first.

Georgia is the biggest stumbling block. Auburn will be a tough out if they find a quarterback. Texas A&M will be better. Not sure what to think about LSU. Arkansas is improving but they can't do much with us yet. I think State and Ole Miss will be matching dumpster fires.

I would not be surprised at all for the loser of a UGA-UA conference championship game making the playoffs this year.

JessN · Mar 11, 2019

Bamabuzzard said:
I'm curious to see just how different the offensive philosophy will be from Locksley to Sark (as Jess mentioned in his review). I felt we tended to get a little soft on the OL at times from being a more pass first oriented offense. It's tough to find the balance of keeping your OL "physical" yet not becoming so one dimensional in doing so. But I definitely felt there were times when we'd gotten away from the running game to the point that our OL just lost some of it's physicality.

Just my opinion: Having yet to see a lot of Flood in person as an OL coach, I think the chances we end up better there are substantially higher than us remaining the same or getting worse. I was subtle about it the last couple of years, maybe too subtle, but I was not a Key fan.

tide power fan · Mar 12, 2019

Great write up Jess

ccc2259 · Mar 14, 2019

Well done, Jess. Thanks for the insight.

gtgilbert · Mar 15, 2019

JessN said:
Just my opinion: Having yet to see a lot of Flood in person as an OL coach, I think the chances we end up better there are substantially higher than us remaining the same or getting worse. I was subtle about it the last couple of years, maybe too subtle, but I was not a Key fan.

Would love to get more of your thoughts on Key/OL. After watching closely for the last couple of years I honestly couldn't tell if the issue was coaching, or with some individual players. For example, IMO, while Cotton did a lot of things well, his execution on combo blocks in the run game caused a lot of problems. It seemed he very often left the initial block to early, before the combo was really sealed and his teammate was able to turn his hips, allowing the defender to slide into the gap easier than he should. It's hard to know if this is a problem with the coach not addressing it or helping a player fix it, or if the coach is trying, but the player just isn't getting it.

BamaMoon · Mar 16, 2019

When does practice resume?

Blindside13 · Mar 16, 2019

BamaMoon said:
When does practice resume?

Monday afternoon.

JessN · Mar 17, 2019

gtgilbert said:
Would love to get more of your thoughts on Key/OL. After watching closely for the last couple of years I honestly couldn't tell if the issue was coaching, or with some individual players. For example, IMO, while Cotton did a lot of things well, his execution on combo blocks in the run game caused a lot of problems. It seemed he very often left the initial block to early, before the combo was really sealed and his teammate was able to turn his hips, allowing the defender to slide into the gap easier than he should. It's hard to know if this is a problem with the coach not addressing it or helping a player fix it, or if the coach is trying, but the player just isn't getting it.

How to put this ... I haven't been a fan of our personnel rotations at DL, WR or OL over the last 10 years. I realize it sounds like nitpicking but we've all seen enough objective evidence as to what happens when we let key people get too tired in high-snap games (Clemson '16, for example).

While OL isn't as prone to the issue as the DL, for instance, I've watched OL coaches all over the nation try different personnel groupings and especially pull struggling linemen when they commit the same mistakes over and over again. That's something we didn't do a lot of the last couple of years, to our detriment.

I would have loved to have seen more of Womack, Casher, Owens, etc., when Cotton (or early in the year, Leatherwood) was struggling. When it comes to sports I think sometimes you have to light a fire under a butt or two to get their attention. And the best kindling of all is a hungry backup.

Overall, I'm not sure we ever reached potential under Key. Bama has shockingly high talent and depth on the OL but at times, didn't play like it at all.

Padreruf · Mar 18, 2019

JessN said:
How to put this ... I haven't been a fan of our personnel rotations at DL, WR or OL over the last 10 years. I realize it sounds like nitpicking but we've all seen enough objective evidence as to what happens when we let key people get too tired in high-snap games (Clemson '16, for example).

While OL isn't as prone to the issue as the DL, for instance, I've watched OL coaches all over the nation try different personnel groupings and especially pull struggling linemen when they commit the same mistakes over and over again. That's something we didn't do a lot of the last couple of years, to our detriment.

I would have loved to have seen more of Womack, Casher, Owens, etc., when Cotton (or early in the year, Leatherwood) was struggling. When it comes to sports I think sometimes you have to light a fire under a butt or two to get their attention. And the best kindling of all is a hungry backup.

Overall, I'm not sure we ever reached potential under Key. Bama has shockingly high talent and depth on the OL but at times, didn't play like it at all.

I think you are right on target regarding Key and the OL. Offense starts there -- and without a dominant OL it is incredibly difficult to win against teams with a dominant DL. I don't know if it was technique, attitude -- or a combination. I do think we will see a big difference this coming year...a stronger run game will take some of the pressure off Tua and the receivers.

westide · Mar 29, 2019

Any stats on Jack Martin, the preferred walk-on punter from McGill?

4Q Basket Case · Mar 31, 2019

JessN said:
How to put this ... I haven't been a fan of our personnel rotations at DL, WR or OL over the last 10 years. I realize it sounds like nitpicking but we've all seen enough objective evidence as to what happens when we let key people get too tired in high-snap games (Clemson '16, for example).

While OL isn't as prone to the issue as the DL, for instance, I've watched OL coaches all over the nation try different personnel groupings and especially pull struggling linemen when they commit the same mistakes over and over again. That's something we didn't do a lot of the last couple of years, to our detriment.

I would have loved to have seen more of Womack, Casher, Owens, etc., when Cotton (or early in the year, Leatherwood) was struggling. When it comes to sports I think sometimes you have to light a fire under a butt or two to get their attention. And the best kindling of all is a hungry backup.

Overall, I'm not sure we ever reached potential under Key. Bama has shockingly high talent and depth on the OL but at times, didn't play like it at all.

I’ve thought the OL under-achieved its talent level for some time. My guess would be that Key was nudged to explore his options.

JustNeedMe81 · Apr 1, 2019

Bamabuzzard said:
I'm curious to see just how different the offensive philosophy will be from Locksley to Sark (as Jess mentioned in his review). I felt we tended to get a little soft on the OL at times from being a more pass first oriented offense. It's tough to find the balance of keeping your OL "physical" yet not becoming so one dimensional in doing so. But I definitely felt there were times when we'd gotten away from the running game to the point that our OL just lost some of it's physicality.

I saw an interview from Forristall and he mentioned that the new offense theme is tempered. It sounded like they will run the ball little more than usual, but it'll be the same.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

JessN: Spring practice: 10 positions, 10 questions

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief

Hall of Fame

All-American

Hall of Fame

FB Moderator

Hall of Fame

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief

All-SEC

All-American

All-American

Hall of Fame

All-SEC

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief

Hall of Fame

All-SEC

FB|BB Moderator

Hall of Fame

TideFans.shop - NEW Stuff!