JessN: 2023 Previews: Alabama Crimson Tide

[STONECOLDSABAN]

BoB called plays like a NFL OC because that is who/what he is. It is a different game at the college vs pro level. BoB will do some great things in New England.

Kind of like how Sark's name is Mud in the NFL but if he gets fired from Texas, he is going to get offers from so many college programs to be their OC.

 

[JDCrimson]

This team has a 2008 feel to me...

 

[Windsortide]

Sort of kind of. You mentioned coker. A lot of CTR's pre-snap motion stuff reminded of when kiffin was here. I think you'll see some dynamic things in the rushing attack. The thing I noticed about rees compared to BoB. While he is a run first guy, Rees set things up to Get your receivers/tight end wide open. Unlike Bob who seemed to call plays like you had to take all 3 downs to get a first down or the DB should always be in coverage for the catch. Thats why I have a lot of frustration with wide receiver drops. Its not like it's as bad as some of us make it sound but Rees is going to get our guys easy layups. So Just catch the ball.

It would be nice to see open guys again. Howard versus Clemson. The Sark years.

 

[Bill from NYC]

The following is the yards per attempt (YPA) of our recent QBs (career stats):
Jalen Hurts - 8.0 (11.3 at Oklahoma)
Bryce Young - 8.8
Tua Tagovaiola - 10.9
Mac Jones - 11.0

Jaylen Milroe - 5.6

My contention is that if Milroe does not vastly improve this horrible statistic, we will be lucky to win 8 games. Can he? Maybe. He had worse receivers and a worse OL than any of the above. Still, his YPA numbers are terrible. He would have to raise his YPA a full 30% to catch Hurts, 34% to catch Bryce.

Do I think he will make significant gains in YPA? Perhaps, but I am not so sure. The man is physically gifted with a great arm, speed, size, and strength yet he isn't highly regarded. He also seems to be a really good, hard working person, an easy player to root for.

I have not looked up the YPA stats for other college QBs but from what I hear YPA is very important even in the NFL.

If I HAD to make a prediction, I would say that he will not finish the season as our starter.

Of course, this is jmo.

 

[TiderJack]

The following is the yards per attempt (YPA) of our recent QBs (career stats):
Jalen Hurts - 8.0 (11.3 at Oklahoma)
Bryce Young - 8.8
Tua Tagovaiola - 10.9
Mac Jones - 11.0

Jaylen Milroe - 5.6

My contention is that if Milroe does not vastly improve this horrible statistic, we will be lucky to win 8 games. Can he? Maybe. He had worse receivers and a worse OL than any of the above. Still, his YPA numbers are terrible. He would have to raise his YPA a full 30% to catch Hurts, 34% to catch Bryce.

In Jaylen's defense, incredibly small sample size. While I don't think Jaylen is the answer this particular stat is irrelevant IMO.

 

[Bill from NYC]

In Jaylen's defense, incredibly small sample size. While I don't think Jaylen is the answer this particular stat is irrelevant IMO.

I think it is quite relevant, especially if Coach Saban wishes to make the Tide more of a ground attack based offense. It takes longer to score on the ground than in the air (generally speaking). Coming from behind with a poor YPA would seem all but impossible.

Yes, Milroe's sample size is quite small but remember; I was including the rookie year of all of the qbs in the stats that I mentioned, not just their best years.

5.6 YPA is atrocious and would surely lose us football games with our very tough schedule. Can he improve? I am not saying that he can't. My point is that driving this number up will require massive improvement. Is he capable of this? What say you?

 

[CoolBreeze]

I think we are going back to a defensive minded football team in 2023. We have dogs all over the field on D especially the DBs and backers. I think we are going to be stifling opposing offenses and making a living on the turnover game. We have no Heisman candidates on offense except maybe at the running back position so we are not going to have the video game numbers offensively like we have had the past 5 years or so. I like this team and it will be balanced much more than we have seen. We are not going to be outscoring opponents, rather, we will be dominating them...in time of possession and the score board.

 

[davefrat]

I think we are going back to a defensive minded football team in 2023. We have dogs all over the field on D especially the DBs and backers. I think we are going to be stifling opposing offenses and making a living on the turnover game. We have no Heisman candidates on offense except maybe at the running back position so we are not going to have the video game numbers offensively like we have had the past 5 years or so. I like this team and it will be balanced much more than we have seen. We are not going to be outscoring opponents, rather, we will be dominating them...in time of possession and the score board.

I'll dare to say it and risk getting blasted, but I think we're basically trying to do what GA has done the last few years.

 

[CoolBreeze]

I'll dare to say it and risk getting blasted, but I think we're basically trying to do what GA has done the last few years.

Not sure it is the georgia model as much as it simply makes sense. That horror show in knoxville last year was just too much. Your own defense gets tired when you score in a flash. Better to methodically move down the field and score to wear their defense out. Then you own the 4th quarter. We will still put up big numbers on offense but it will be later in games when their defensive team just cannot hang with us any longer.

 

[davefrat]

Not sure it is the georgia model as much as it simply makes sense. That horror show in knoxville last year was just too much. Your own defense gets tired when you score in a flash. Better to methodically move down the field and score to wear their defense out. Then you own the 4th quarter. We will still put up big numbers on offense but it will be later in games when their defensive team just cannot hang with us any longer.

Basically, GA never really adopted the basketball on turf model and held on to the older way of playing defense, controlling the clock, and throttling opponents over the course of a game.

We did, and had a lot of success with that style but it's time to move back towards the power game and defense.

Just another cycle of life.

 

[Bill from NYC]

Basically, GA never really adopted the basketball on turf model and held on to the older way of playing defense, controlling the clock, and throttling opponents over the course of a game.

We did, and had a lot of success with that style but it's time to move back towards the power game and defense.

Just another cycle of life.

And it just might work, but it will not if our QB (whoever this might be) is throwing ground balls and interceptions, throwing 80 mph screens, or just flat out missing receivers.

I prefer ground game and defense too but times have changed and so have the rules. Receivers now own the middle in lieu of those human missle safeties, and you are barely allowed to touch a QB now compared to the old days.

The good news is that many defenses seem to be smaller and built to stop the pass because most teams just do not run as much as they used to. This can help us against certain teams.

I hope the new plan works. I like it and think that perhaps GOAT Coach Saban can pul it off. Can he do this without at least very good QB play? Perhaps not.

As always, jmo.

 

[Scobaman]

Not sure it is the georgia model as much as it simply makes sense. That horror show in knoxville last year was just too much. Your own defense gets tired when you score in a flash. Better to methodically move down the field and score to wear their defense out. Then you own the 4th quarter. We will still put up big numbers on offense but it will be later in games when their defensive team just cannot hang with us any longer.

This absolutely makes sense. During the Tennessee game last year, did anyone else feel like we should have run the ball on 3rd down to move the ball a couple of yards closer instead of passing when we could have been running the ball and clock and eliminating the chance that UT would not have enough time to win the game in regulation. We left them with 15 seconds and two timeouts and the rest is history. I also grew tired of seeing the opposing team's backs run over our backers and defensive backs like what happened near the end of the LSU game and against Auburn. It's like what happened to the defense is due to the law of unintended consequences when the offense scores to quickly.

 

[TideEngineer08]

The Georgia model is the Alabama model from 2008-2015.

So, if we are "going back" to anything at all, it is the roots of what Nick Saban built this dynasty on.

As for QB/WR, you cannot hide your QB in today's game. Not for long, anyway. We will need some sort of dynamic QB play to beat Texas. Whether that is with the QB making runs, or throws. But certainly he cannot be a turnover machine that evening.

I was reading through ESPN's top 100 players list earlier. With the caveat that it is ESPN, and likely put together by a team of clowns, Alabama had 4 players on the list. Two OL, Dallas Turner, and Kool-Aid. I lost count of the Georgia players.

I'm not down about anything, but the reality is we are going to have to see some unknowns come through in a big way this season if it is going to be some kind of a championship season.

 

[davefrat]

This absolutely makes sense. During the Tennessee game last year, did anyone else feel like we should have run the ball on 3rd down to move the ball a couple of yards closer instead of passing when we could have been running the ball and clock and eliminating the chance that UT would not have enough time to win the game in regulation. We left them with 15 seconds and two timeouts and the rest is history. I also grew tired of seeing the opposing team's backs run over our backers and defensive backs like what happened near the end of the LSU game and against Auburn. It's like what happened to the defense is due to the law of unintended consequences when the offense scores to quickly.

Yes. But if memory serves, didn't Gibbs drop a pass that would have converted a first down?

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

Had he made the catch, the only thing that could have stopped him was the Tennessee River.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Yes. But if memory serves, didn't Gibbs drop a pass that would have converted a first down?

Yes. But he was held, and it was not called.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Had he made the catch, the only thing that could have stopped him was the Tennessee River.

Nope. Refs would have called a penalty on Alabama because they would have made one up to call because that is how the game was going.

 

[Power Eye]

I think it is quite relevant, especially if Coach Saban wishes to make the Tide more of a ground attack based offense. It takes longer to score on the ground than in the air (generally speaking). Coming from behind with a poor YPA would seem all but impossible.

Yes, Milroe's sample size is quite small but remember; I was including the rookie year of all of the qbs in the stats that I mentioned, not just their best years.

5.6 YPA is atrocious and would surely lose us football games with our very tough schedule. Can he improve? I am not saying that he can't. My point is that driving this number up will require massive improvement. Is he capable of this? What say you?

While the sample size is small, YPA is very relevant, more relevant than completion %. Anything below 7.0 in college is bad, like lower half of all FBS teams bad, and whomever our QB is needs to be at 7.8 or higher for us to have any kind of effective passing game. We also need to be at no worse than a 4:1 TD to INT ratio. Because of the dynamic that Milroe brings in the running game, if he can have those kind of stats, then I think we will be just fine on offense.

 

[Power Eye]

I'll dare to say it and risk getting blasted, but I think we're basically trying to do what GA has done the last few years.

I think it's a combination of going back to what has worked really well, and playing to our strengths. Coach Saban has always seemed to be very willing to play to the strengths of the team, and I think that will be a dominating OL and a very talent-rich RB group this year.

 

[STONECOLDSABAN]

I'll dare to say it and risk getting blasted, but I think we're basically trying to do what GA has done the last few years.

Not sure why you would get blasted for that. Last time I checked Alabama fans didn't really care when Coach Bryant installed a wishbone like Texas had.