Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

[rgw]

Projections at this juncture doesn't really mean much. I thought we were going to have one of the all-time great tailback tandems in 2015 with Henry and Drake. We did end up having one of the all-time great seasons by a college tailback but the tandem never really developed. Heck, I even thought as much after the Wisconsin game where both Henry and Drake looked excellent. As the season wore on, the narrative turned to whether Drake could get back on track.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

I'm curious about the OL line, with all of the experiments going on.... I wonder if Baldwin will eventually end up somewhere beside RT? LG or RG? Cotton stays at RT?

Wide Receivers: know Ridley has a starting spot locked, but rest of others, I think its currently up for grabs. I think Stewart is an odd man out on this one. Can Falkins, Sims and Charlot grab those spots?

QB: I don't expect this to be settled until 1st game.

On defense: I'm curious to see what happens at CB and Star position. Tony Brown has been practicing with the CBs lately. I'm wondering who will grab the starting spot... Minkah and Sheffield. Where will Tony Brown ends up at? Who will start along Foster? Hamilton? Miller?

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Projections at this juncture doesn't really mean much. I thought we were going to have one of the all-time great tailback tandems in 2015 with Henry and Drake. We did end up having one of the all-time great seasons by a college tailback but the tandem never really developed. Heck, I even thought as much after the Wisconsin game where both Henry and Drake looked excellent. As the season wore on, the narrative turned to whether Drake could get back on track.

Yeah, Drake was trying so hard early in the season, and just when he settled down, he got hurt. He actually played well in last three games, but by then Henry was already in groove. I don't think we'll give Bo lot of balls this fall because he is prone to getting hurt. They will try and protect him as much as they can for first half of the season before turning him loose.

 

[KrAzY3]

I was listening to a local sports radio show here in Huntsville called Talking Ball hosted by Drew DeArmond. He had Ryan Fowler (another radio show host) on today and Fowler was talking about there being a pretty big drop off at the running back position after Bo. Sounds like we could be one injury away from not being able to lean on the running game as much. The running back position, after Bo, being a question mark isn't exactly breaking news. Just kind of confirming what a lot of folks on this board and elsewhere have been talking about..

Yeah Alabama doesn't have an EE running back right? So that's not counting two guys. In either case I think the same could be said last year about Henry. So yeah, we don't want Bo getting hurt but I'd hope this year Alabama doesn't have to lean as much on the running back anyway.

 

[CrimsonForce]

I'm curious about the OL line, with all of the experiments going on.... I wonder if Baldwin will eventually end up somewhere beside RT? LG or RG? Cotton stays at RT?

Wide Receivers: know Ridley has a starting spot locked, but rest of others, I think its currently up for grabs. I think Stewart is an odd man out on this one. Can Falkins, Sims and Charlot grab those spots?

QB: I don't expect this to be settled until 1st game.

On defense: I'm curious to see what happens at CB and Star position. Tony Brown has been practicing with the CBs lately. I'm wondering who will grab the starting spot... Minkah and Sheffield. Where will Tony Brown ends up at? Who will start along Foster? Hamilton? Miller?

I'm not sure I agree with the bold part about Ardarius Stewart given the fact that we play a lot of 3+ WR sets. I see those 3 WRs being Foster, Ridley and Stewart. Of course other guys will get some snaps also but I would think those 3 are at the front of the line..

 

[RTR91]

Wide Receivers: know Ridley has a starting spot locked, but rest of others, I think its currently up for grabs. I think Stewart is an odd man out on this one.

How is the second leading receiver from last year the "odd man out?"

Can Falkins, Sims and Charlot grab those spots?

Falkins has yet to do anything since arriving. Sims and Charlot have a much better chance of doing something than Raheem.

Who will start along Foster? Hamilton? Miller?

The obvious choices would be Anderson and Williams at OLB with Foster and SDH at ILB and Evans rotating.

 

[CrimsonForce]

Yeah Alabama doesn't have an EE running back right? So that's not counting two guys. In either case I think the same could be said last year about Henry. So yeah, we don't want Bo getting hurt but I'd hope this year Alabama doesn't have to lean as much on the running back anyway.

I'm not sure if either is an EE but Josh Jacobs and BJ Emmons are the 2 incoming freshman. There isn't a lack of talent just a lack of experience. You're right though, I expect the offense to feature the WR core and TE position more than the running game. Should be interesting to see how it all comes together..

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Interesting!

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/i...ervations_things_to_c.html#incart_river_index

-- This isn't scientific, but it seems like there are more former players around the Alabama football complex this spring than in the past. Not sure what that means, if anything. But there are faces from the last several years walking the halls and watching the practices. Even former coach Sal Sunseri, who departed in 2011, was back with son Vinnie Sunseri at Friday's practice.

I've wondered about that when I read the article...

 

[Intl.Aperture]

How is the second leading receiver from last year the "odd man out?"

I can see the logic on this one. If we can agree that Ridely is a lock, we also get Robert Foster back, who was on track to (debatably) an even better season than Stewart (he was tracking ahead in the few games he was in) and also the arrival of a WR who posted a 1,000 yard season last year - regardless of strength of competition. The comments coach has made about Robert Foster this off-season leads one to believe he is AT THE VERY LEAST as good as he was showing us at the beginning of the year last year, and likely even better; so I give him the 2nd spot. I think that leaves Sims, Stewart and Dieter to hash it out amongst themselves. Dieter obviously didn't transfer in to ride the pine and I'd imagine he would even like more playing time than situational occurrences. Factor in the ability to split O.J. Howard out and it gets crowded real quick and only the best of the best will be there.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

I can see the logic on this one. If we can agree that Ridely is a lock, we also get Robert Foster back, who was on track to (debatably) an even better season than Stewart (he was tracking ahead in the few games he was in) and also the arrival of a WR who posted a 1,000 yard season last year - regardless of strength of competition. The comments coach has made about Robert Foster this off-season leads one to believe he is AT THE VERY LEAST as good as he was showing us at the beginning of the year last year, and likely even better; so I give him the 2nd spot. I think that leaves Sims, Stewart and Dieter to hash it out amongst themselves. Dieter obviously didn't transfer in to ride the pine and I'd imagine he would even like more playing time than situational occurrences. Factor in the ability to split O.J. Howard out and it gets crowded real quick and only the best of the best will be there.

He beat me to this. The thing is, Can Stewart continue to be consistent as he was in second half ? I don't think he can afford to struggle for 2 games, when someone can take over and plays well. That's why I said Stewart could be the odd man out.... They will play the best players on the field.

 

[CrimsonForce]

He beat me to this. The thing is, Can Stewart continue to be consistent as he was in second half ? I don't think he can afford to struggle for 2 games, when someone can take over and plays well. That's why I said Stewart could be the odd man out.... They will play the best players on the field.

I thought Stewart got better as the season wore on. He had a huge TD catch vs AU, UF and one of the biggest plays in the national championship game when he caught that deep sideline pass on 3rd and long in the 4th quarter. I think as long as he continues to develop his consistency he'll be right there with Ridley and Foster at the top of the WR group. Of course, if he regresses then he may start to cede some playing time but that can be said about every position group on the team. There's talent everywhere and if whoever is playing isn't performing to the standard their playing time will go to the next man in line..

 

[JustNeedMe81]

I thought Stewart got better as the season wore on. He had a huge TD catch vs AU, UF and one of the biggest plays in the national championship game when he caught that deep sideline pass on 3rd and long in the 4th quarter. I think as long as he continues to develop his consistency he'll be right there with Ridley and Foster at the top of the WR group. Of course, if he regresses then he may start to cede some playing time but that can be said about every position group on the team. There's talent everywhere and if whoever is playing isn't performing to the standard their playing time will go to the next man in line..

I agree.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

I was listening to a local sports radio show here in Huntsville called Talking Ball hosted by Drew DeArmond. He had Ryan Fowler (another radio show host) on today and Fowler was talking about there being a pretty big drop off at the running back position after Bo. Sounds like we could be one injury away from not being able to lean on the running game as much. The running back position, after Bo, being a question mark isn't exactly breaking news. Just kind of confirming what a lot of folks on this board and elsewhere have been talking about..

You've been listening to a 'Doom and Gloom' type show.
I suspect the guys behind Bo are going to be pretty good athletes too.
They wouldn't be in T-Town if they weren't.

Most of the guys behind Bo are being brought along. Sometimes it's learning blocking schemes,
sometimes it's getting them in the weight program and putting some muscle on them.

Remember that every couple of years we will have a up and coming QB or RB transfer for more playing time elsewhere.
They don't all work out, but some become starters. It's because we are deep, even in guys we seldom hear about.

 

[CrimsonForce]

You've been listening to a 'Doom and Gloom' type show.
I suspect the guys behind Bo are going to be pretty good athletes too.
They wouldn't be in T-Town if they weren't.

Most of the guys behind Bo are being brought along. Sometimes it's learning blocking schemes,
sometimes it's getting them in the weight program and putting some muscle on them.

Remember that every couple of years we will have a up and coming QB or RB transfer for more playing time elsewhere.
They don't all work out, but some become starters. It's because we are deep, even in guys we seldom hear about.

What's doom and gloom about stating that the running back position is uncharacteristically inexperienced? No one has ever said that the running back position lacks talent. Every team has a position that is a weakness OR needs the most improvement. At this point it looks like running back is that position group.

Oh, and I will say that particular sports talk show isn't the best I've ever listened to but it's the only sports radio show in Huntsville that consistently talks about Alabama football. Beggers can't be choosers

 

[Tideflyer]

I thought Stewart got better as the season wore on. He had a huge TD catch vs AU, UF and one of the biggest plays in the national championship game when he caught that deep sideline pass on 3rd and long in the 4th quarter. I think as long as he continues to develop his consistency he'll be right there with Ridley and Foster at the top of the WR group. Of course, if he regresses then he may start to cede some playing time but that can be said about every position group on the team. There's talent everywhere and if whoever is playing isn't performing to the standard their playing time will go to the next man in line..

Good Lord ! If a bunch of people don`t get hurt, we could have folks running every which way down field !

 

[81usaf92]

He beat me to this. The thing is, Can Stewart continue to be consistent as he was in second half ? I don't think he can afford to struggle for 2 games, when someone can take over and plays well. That's why I said Stewart could be the odd man out.... They will play the best players on the field.

Also consider that for the better half of the first 6 games we were debating who was going to be the qb. And also Coker was great one week, average the next, and then great again until the lsu game. It's pretty clear the numbers outside of Ridley until the later half are going to be inconsistent at best with those issues. If Blake is ready this year then it would probably come down to who can catch and block better because CLK will have a qb that has the skill set and release ideal for his offense.

 

[Moro Creek]

I thought Stewart got better as the season wore on. He had a huge TD catch vs AU, UF and one of the biggest plays in the national championship game when he caught that deep sideline pass on 3rd and long in the 4th quarter. I think as long as he continues to develop his consistency he'll be right there with Ridley and Foster at the top of the WR group. Of course, if he regresses then he may start to cede some playing time but that can be said about every position group on the team. There's talent everywhere and if whoever is playing isn't performing to the standard their playing time will go to the next man in line..

Didn't happen to a couple of O lineman.

 

[RTR91]

Monday, March 28 practice reports

Al.com

BOL

 

[Tideflyer]

I know the Spring is for experiments, but I think that it gets more difficult each day he`s there not to think of RP as the starting center. Wouldn`t surprise me either if a part of this doesn`t have something to do with getting Bozeman on the field at LG. He did well when he played and the guys a real mauler.

 

[TideFan in AU]

I know the Spring is for experiments, but I think that it gets more difficult each day he`s there not to think of RP as the starting center. Wouldn`t surprise me either if a part of this doesn`t have something to do with getting Bozeman on the field at LG. He did well when he played and the guys a real mauler.

I'm a fan of this. I think Bozeman is just too good to keep off the field and I think he has earned himself a spot on the starting 5.