What's the Plan for Taulia this year?

BamaMoon

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Agreed that both Taulia and Paul will both red-shirt and compete in 2020 with Mac for the starting job.

Taulia and Paul need to develop quickly since the kid we have a commitment from in the 2021 class is going to come in ready to compete.
Upstream there was a comment or two about a possible recruit who might come next year who would be a "day one" type starter. Is this a "flip" some are predicting?
 

TiderJack

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RollTide_HTTR

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Upstream there was a comment or two about a possible recruit who might come next year who would be a "day one" type starter. Is this a "flip" some are predicting?
Pretty sure they're talking about USC commit Bryce Young. Hence the capitalized "Young" that one of them used IIRC
 

Ole Man Dan

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Has anyone bothered to ask Lia what his football plans are?
How long does he see himself staying at Alabama?
At some point that could be a consideration.
I realize plans are contingent on him being #2 then later being #1.
If Lia doesn't beat out Mack... What then?
 

B1GTide

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Has anyone bothered to ask Lia what his football plans are?
How long does he see himself staying at Alabama?
At some point that could be a consideration.
I realize plans are contingent on him being #2 then later being #1.
If Lia doesn't beat out Mack... What then?
I believe that his father will make that choice for him. Frankly, that is a good thing as he is very young and young men need guidance.

I suspect that he will wait out this year as a red shirt and next year if he is solidly the #2. But if he is passed up by others - all bets are off.
 

BamaMoon

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I believe that his father will make that choice for him. Frankly, that is a good thing as he is very young and young men need guidance.

I suspect that he will wait out this year as a red shirt and next year if he is solidly the #2. But if he is passed up by others - all bets are off.
Well, this much we know for sure...assuming his brother's health is good, Lia didn't expect to play this year except in some type of backup role and I imagine he'd be OK with limited play to preserve his redshirt.

As someone said earlier, MJ, by virtue of this being his 3rd year in the program, ought to have been the logical #2 for Tua...at least early on. Also, the reports about the gap between MJ and Lia and Tysen seem "normal" to me in this regard.

The problem is we just don't know how good Lia is at this point. I know those who have seen him in HS rave about his potential/ceiling. But how does that compare to Tua? I haven't heard anybody say they think his ceiling is higher.

Without a "day one starter" in this recruiting class, I'd say Lia probably has the confidence to think by next year he could beat out MJ, if he stays for his final year.

But what if a new, hotshot recruit shows up and now he's the new hot guy that seems to have an angle on starting day one?

I don't know how the coaches will manage this situation with the new transfer portal potential.
 
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81usaf92

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I know many REC members who went to the spring and fall scrimmages who said MJ was far far better than Lia and PT at this point.

Personally after watching many Lia games, I think Lia is far more of a work in progress than Tua or Jalen ever was. He will be good but it’s going to take time. So I wouldn’t be surprised if MJ hangs around next year to seriously compete for the job.
 

81usaf92

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Well, this much we know for sure...assuming his brother's health is good, Lia didn't expect to play this year except in some type of backup role and I imagine he'd be OK with limited play to preserve his redshirt.

As someone said earlier, MJ, by virtue of this being his 3rd year in the program, ought to have been the logical #2 for Tua...at least early on. Also, the reports about the gap between MJ and Lia and Tysen seem "normal" to me in this regard.

The problem is we just don't know how good Lia is at this point. I know those who have seen him in HS rave about his potential/ceiling. But how does that compare to Tua? I haven't heard anybody say they think his ceiling is higher.

Without a "day one starter" in this recruiting class, I'd say Lia probably has the confidence to think by next year he could beat out MJ, if he stays for his final year.

But what if a new, hotshot recruit shows up and now he's the new hot guy that seems to have an angle on starting day one?

I don't know how the coaches will manage this situation with the new transfer portal potential.
Lia isn’t even close to being as good as Tua. Sure he does somethings better than Tua, but as a whole he isn’t. It’s like comparing Peyton and Eli. Both are good but there is wide gap in how good they are.


For those expecting or saying Lia is better than or equal to Tua are probably going to be disappointed. Tua is a generational qb, Lia isn’t.

That is not to say Lia won’t be a great starter. It is more to pump the brakes on this non stop comparison that has been going on for 3 years now. I personally think when Lia gets use to the college game then he will be good, but not Tua good.
 
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BamaMoon

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Lia isn’t even close to being as good as Tua. Sure he does somethings better than Tua, but as a whole he isn’t. It’s like comparing Peyton and Eli. Both are good but there is wide gap in how good they are.


For those expecting or saying Lia is better than or equal to Tua are probably going to be disappointed. Tua is a generational qb, Lia isn’t.
FWIW, I don't think I've heard anyone claim they think Lia is equal or better.

I do think there's probably a lot of "hope" regarding Lia that maybe he's a late bloomer and the football genetics of Tua will show more and more especially after a year or so of college coaching.

Probably a good comparison to the Mannings, at least until we see Lia's development in college.
 

81usaf92

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FWIW, I don't think I've heard anyone claim they think Lia is equal or better.

I do think there's probably a lot of "hope" regarding Lia that maybe he's a late bloomer and the football genetics of Tua will show more and more especially after a year or so of college coaching.

Probably a good comparison to the Mannings, at least until we see Lia's development in college.
There have been plenty of folks in the State of Alabama try to say Lia is on par with Tua, but they went quite after Central phoenix destroyed him.
 

RollTide_HTTR

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IIRC didn't Lia start playing QB a little bit later in his life? Didn't his dad play him at OL or something at first?

Regardless, anyone expecting us to replace Tua with someone on par or better is probably going to be disappointed no matter who starts next year. Even if it is a true freshman who wins the job right away.
 

Saban4Ever

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I would love to see Taulia and Paul play their 4 games but redshirt. Hopefully Tua and Mac stay healthy.

What if BAMA gets Bryce Young for next year and he wins the job over Mac? That will be interesting to see if everyone stays or if someone transfers.

Or, if for some reason, Tua does stay ( I think he leaves) ... that probably means Bryce Young will stay committed to USC and Mac would stay at Bama as a backup again.
 

BamaMoon

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I would love to see Taulia and Paul play their 4 games but redshirt. Hopefully Tua and Mac stay healthy.

What if BAMA gets Bryce Young for next year and he wins the job over Mac? That will be interesting to see if everyone stays or if someone transfers.

Or, if for some reason, Tua does stay ( I think he leaves) ... that probably means Bryce Young will stay committed to USC and Mac would stay at Bama as a backup again.
I don't see a scenario where Tua stays. Even if he got hurt sometimes this year and couldn't finish the season I think he'd still get drafted...just not as high.

I just don't know how another year at Bama would improve his draft status.
 

JamieSPC

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There have been plenty of folks in the State of Alabama try to say Lia is on par with Tua, but they went quite after Central phoenix destroyed him.
I've been reluctant to respond in this thread as a Thompson fan, but I'd like to respectfully "pump the brakes" on the statement above.

The state championship game with Central-Phenix City was on the heels of a wet, wild, rainy battle with Hoover, in which Lia was injured. Frankly, the whole team got beat up in that game, essentially a de facto state championship; there is a cost in beating a team like Hoover. It's a lot like what happens to teams after they play Bama.

Say what you will about whether he is/will be a generational QB for Bama, but he was for THS, and he had to have a go in the championship game, even with an injury. He was unable to finish the game. C-PC didn't "destroy" him. THS couldn't score, got behind, and had to eventually go with backup QB Sawyer Pate.

FYI, the Pate-led THS Warriors are now the #1 team in the state in 7A, after a game last week that saw Hoover's QB Robby Ashford, an Ole Miss commit, go down with injury in the 4th qtr of a tight game. We didn't "destroy" Hoover either. Losing an elite starting QB, even for the best HS teams like Thompson and Hoover, is too much to overcome.

Lia will be great at Bama, or wherever he plays (but like many, I believe for many reasons including family that he will stay here). Anyone using the state championship game last year as a reason to "go quiet" on his upside, or as a barometer of his ability, without accounting for what he did throughout his historic career at Thompson, is missing some data.
 

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