News Article: BREAKING: Alabama jumps to No. 1 in latest Amway Coaches Poll

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,932
15,935
282
Boone, NC
In my opinion, as far as running the football, Najee Harris is the worst lead running back in the Saban era. Terry Grant was better in Saban's first year. Comparing him to the others since then, it's not even close. And that's a shame with a historically great quarterback and receiving corps. I'm certainly pulling for him and Brian Robinson to improve though. Robinson looked much improved to me on Saturday.
Kinda curious what's happened to Jerome Ford. I know it's late in games, but KRob is really a nice change of pace back. If there is a sliver of a hole he hits it hard. Would kinda like to see him in with the starters, but I imagine he might not be up to speed on picking up blitzes just yet.

But Harris and BRob just don't offer much diversity right now. FWIW, I think Ford and K. Rob. hit the holes harder right now.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
I think Najee Harris is more like Derrick Henry before the light turned on for him in late 2014. Henry early in his tenure was really just using his athletic ability to make plays but he became the 2015 Heisman winner by developing some mastery over the subtle parts of the run game like setting up blocks and make better decisions in the backfield on when to follow blocks or cut outside. Najee is getting better with more snaps so I think that light bulb moment is possibly around the corner.

I'm a dispassionate, analytical, big picture kinda guy but comparing Najee Harris in talent to Terry Grant is a bridge too far for me. I'm frankly floored by that take.
 

BamaInBham

All-American
Feb 14, 2007
4,465
2,110
187
In my opinion, as far as running the football, Najee Harris is the worst lead running back in the Saban era. Terry Grant was better in Saban's first year. Comparing him to the others since then, it's not even close. And that's a shame with a historically great quarterback and receiving corps. I'm certainly pulling for him and Brian Robinson to improve though. Robinson looked much improved to me on Saturday.
Harris is much better than Grant was and B. Robinson is - IMO, of course. He is a very good receiver too. I would prefer K. Robinson to be second - he has great quickness and seemingly good vision though he is small but runs hard. B. Robinson did look better vs OM - but IMO, at this point he is a serviceable SEC backup.
 
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Saban4Ever

All-American
Sep 27, 2016
3,768
2,913
187
Cobb County GA
Kinda curious what's happened to Jerome Ford. I know it's late in games, but KRob is really a nice change of pace back. If there is a sliver of a hole he hits it hard. Would kinda like to see him in with the starters, but I imagine he might not be up to speed on picking up blitzes just yet.

But Harris and BRob just don't offer much diversity right now. FWIW, I think Ford and K. Rob. hit the holes harder right now.
I was hoping to see Jerome Ford play also. I really like him.

I went to the Nick at Noon lunch Friday. Someone asked him a question about team leadership. He said in the past he picks a leadership team for the year, but sometimes those leaders would slack off and be "bad leaders"/show bad leadership. So, this year he picks a leadership team each week.

The leadership team makes some decisions. If a player gets a certain amount of "points" for not doing what they are supposed to be doing (late for class, etc) , it means they won't play in that next game. Saban said there were 2 players for the Ole Miss game that were on the verge of not getting to play based on that. He made it sound like the leadership team decides. Then he said some fans may say, "But what if we lose because those players did not play?" . Saban said something to the effect of "It's not my fault if the players can't follow the rules". They know what the rules and consequences are.

So, maybe Jerome Ford was one of those players. I don't think he was injured, so who knows why. He never mentioned names. Saban said a lot of good things, especially about his leadership philosophy. Another thing he said was that Lia was kind of wondering why he wasn't getting more snaps with the 2's in practice. He talked with him and gave him an example of when AJ Macarron had a similar situation and got mad about his lack of playing time at one point. Saban basically told Lia he had to show leadership on the scout team before some things could happen. Sure enough, Lia got scout team player of the week the next week.

I sure would like to know the details of his leadership plan, point system, etc. Most everything Saban talks about is interesting and fascinating to me.
 
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RTR2u

Hall of Fame
Nov 30, 2013
10,529
2,822
187
Georgia
I was hoping to see Jerome Ford play also. I really like him.

I went to the Nick at Noon lunch Friday. Someone asked him a question about team leadership. He said in the past he picks a leadership team for the year, but sometimes those leaders would slack off and be "bad leaders"/show bad leadership. So, this year he picks a leadership team each week.

The leadership team makes some decisions. If a player gets a certain amount of "points" for not doing what they are supposed to be doing (late for class, etc) , it means they won't play in that next game. Saban said there were 2 players for the Ole Miss game that were on the verge of not getting to play based on that. He made it sound like the leadership team decides. Then he said some fans may say, "But what if we lose because those players did not play?" . Saban said something to the effect of "It's not my fault if the players can't follow the rules". They know what the rules and consequences are.

So, maybe Jerome Ford was one of those players. I don't think he was injured, so who knows why. He never mentioned names. Saban said a lot of good things, especially about his leadership philosophy. Another thing he said was that Lia was kind of wondering why he wasn't getting more snaps with the 2's in practice. He talked with him and gave him an example of when AJ Macarron had a similar situation and got mad about his lack of playing time at one point. Saban basically told Lia he had to show leadership on the scout team before some things could happen. Sure enough, Lia got scout team player of the week the next week.

I sure would like to know the details of his leadership plan, point system, etc. Most everything Saban talks about is interesting and fascinating to me.
Thanks for this post. I'd like to know those plan details as well.
 

Bama Shoals

1st Team
Jan 17, 2007
336
181
67
Killen, AL
I think Najee Harris is more like Derrick Henry before the light turned on for him in late 2014. Henry early in his tenure was really just using his athletic ability to make plays but he became the 2015 Heisman winner by developing some mastery over the subtle parts of the run game like setting up blocks and make better decisions in the backfield on when to follow blocks or cut outside. Najee is getting better with more snaps so I think that light bulb moment is possibly around the corner.

I'm a dispassionate, analytical, big picture kinda guy but comparing Najee Harris in talent to Terry Grant is a bridge too far for me. I'm frankly floored by that take.
There was a play Saturday that was perfectly blocked by the OL that got Najee past the line and he was one on one versus a safety or linebacker. That was the only thing standing between him and a long gainer. He could not make him miss. Terry Grant made that type of play many times in 2007. Harris just does not have the explosiveness of the typical Alabama backs and his vision and initial burst are subpar. Hopefully he will improve.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
Not quite the same thing but he made a buncha folks miss here:


As much as I'd like him to throw on some Halo active camo to elude a safety that has him dead to rights, alas...
 

Al A Bama

Hall of Fame
Jun 24, 2011
6,658
934
132
I could care less about being #1 NOW. I want Alabama to be #1 when all the DUST settles in January 2020!

With Alabama's DEFENSE, they do NOT deserve a #1 ranking NOW. Maybe by January 2020, they will deserve it.

With the way the defense is playing, here's hoping the OFFENSE puts up all the points necessary to WIN every week.

I would place the following teams ahead of Bama at this time: Oklahoma, Ohio State, Gawga, Clemson, maybe LSWho, and maybe Wisconsin (they didn't look very good this past weekend).
 

Jay Hughes

All-SEC
Aug 28, 2008
1,092
909
137
Newnan, GA
I was listening to a former coach who is on a show on ESPNU and he said that Bama fans shouldn’t be down on our running game. He said that when you run a RPO offense, the defense dictates what you do. He said that Bama has done an excellent job of taking what the defense gives them and that he thought our running game would be just fine. I thought it looked great in limited action. The less attempts you have, the less opportunity to break big plays that adds to the running production.
 

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