Yeah Van Gogh was initially only a high three star. But he was later reevaluated and “earmarked” as a five star “can’t miss” prospect.
Transfer Portal 2023-24, v2
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Someone will contribute to additional attrition prior to season. It is inevitable.
Latham only gave up 2 sacks, 3 hits and 9 hurries last year in almost 450 pass block sets.
That's really, really good. Great actually.
Proctor gave up 12 sacks, and 36 hurries in fewer reps b/c he was splitting time with Pritchett earlier in the year.
That's not good.
Until we don't "do very well" I'm going to assume we will continue to recruit at a high level. I've seen nothing, from my armchair perspective, to really concern me and when guys that know more think we are "doing very well" I'm going to worry about other things like who will start at QB.
JC Latham- 3 years in Alabama Program.
Proctor- freshman who's learning on the fly. He got better as season went along. Pritchett didn't do well. I expect both to be much better this fall. IF I remember correctly part of issue were witht heir conditioning... they were carrying heavy weight and were getting beat by speed rushers.
OK - none of that changes the fact that Latham wasn't exactly getting burned by speed rushers as the post I replied to claimed. The data seems to indicate he held up pretty well.
The thread started with a question of why the staff didn't have Latham and Proctor swaps sides. The other poster thought it was maybe b/c Latham had trouble with the speed rush, but as I said, the data doesn't show that, it really shows the opposite.
You're 100% right that proctor was learning on the fly last year, which kinda backs up the original question and thought process that it might have been easier for him (and maybe better for the team) to do that at RT versus at LT.
Those were not just my words. Those were Saban’s words, where he has said that Latham is a great run blocker, but just “well enough” in pass protection:
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“Well, he’s really a good right tackle,” Saban said. " ... He’s big, strong, physical. He’s the prototype right tackle that everybody would look for in terms of having a power guy who is effective in being able to pass block well enough. I guess you always hope that if we move the right tackle to left tackle, that would make everything better. But I guess the question you also have to ask yourself is would that make us any better at right tackle? Or do you just try to attack the solution of trying to get the left tackle to play to the standard that you need him to play, without making multiple changes to the offensive line?
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Link:
You claimed:
and that's a HUGE difference from what Saban said - prototype right tackle. Even saying he is "able to pass block well enough" is no where close to JC being "abused" in pass pro as that simply didn't happen. 2 sacks, 3 hits, 9 pressures with a QB who was at the bottom of the pile (according to PFF) in snap-to-release time and pressure-to-sack ratio.
Thousands of starving lawyers in the world and we got folks parsing words for free over here.
Sorry, I have not consulted my lawyer (neither do I have one) or ChatGPT for the accurate choice of words describing Latham.
I just remember how badly he was abused by Daquan Evans in USF game. True, Latham has allowed only 1 sack in that game, but he has looked really bad against a small & fast rusher in that particular game.
If you’d look at his NFL draft profile (https://www.nfl.com/prospects/jc-latham/32004c41-5405-9109-f911-a29e9cf30811 ) then it mentions it as a weakness using politically correct words.
No Alabama players in top 30. First one, Milroe, is at 33. (Downs is at 22)
Of course, all ratings are subjective, but still shows that Alabama currently lacks top tier talent that it used to have in the past.
Of course, all ratings are subjective, but still shows that Alabama currently lacks top tier talent that it used to have in the past.
so you're assessment of his overall ability is based on a single play (out of the 440+ pass plays Latham played last season), where a DB blitzes from outside the TE set so was able to get to full speed before any contact could be made, in a game where the entire OL played like a steaming pile of dog poo (and many believe were quasi-sandbagging in protest), where JC is still overcompensating for having DD next to in the starting lineup? A play where JC did at least get hands on and slowed the rush down so Simpson didn't get totally creamed? A play that is one of only TWO sacks Latham gave up all year - again out of over 440 pass plays?
Sure - that makes sense.
If you really want to see what abuse looks like in that game, see what Evans did to proctor. KP totally whiffs on Evans even thought Evans started right off the OT shoulder so didn't have as much of a chance to get to full speed. Evans was past him before he really even moved.
As for the draft review - there's way more positive in there than negative. reading that, if JC can get coached to not set as deep he's gonna be in pretty good shape (the set depth might have been the issue on the ONE sack he gave up to Evans).
To be fair, JC isn't Evan Neal, or Jonah Williams, but he's probably Jedrick Wills, another guy who played RT at bama and switched to LT in the NFL. Just so happens it's the same coach who moved Wills to LT who is planning to move JC to LT.
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It's popping up here and there throughout threads, but alot of new posters are chicken littles it seems to me.
The kind of things that make you go, "Hmmm."
The kind of things that make you go, "Hmmm."
That's not super-surprising considering what the team lost:No Alabama players in top 30. First one, Milroe, is at 33. (Downs is at 22)
Of course, all ratings are subjective, but still shows that Alabama currently lacks top tier talent that it used to have in the past.
Defense:
Both Starting CBs, both starting Edge players, the most productive DL and both starting Safeties
So we return a nickel, 2ILBs and a DL from the starting lineup.
Also lost 3 2nd/3rd team S, 3 CBs who were in contention to start, and both guys who would have been second team ILBs
Offense:
top 3 pass catchers, our best OL and both RBs who played the most minutes.
That's not to say some of the guys this year won't be very productive, it's just they have not played much yet, so haven't shown what they can do. I think guys like Jam Miller and Haynes could break out. Law and Prentice could have great years. Booker could move up. On D it's harder to project since so many of them haven't really played yet. Unless it's one of the transfers I'm not sure I see an impact player on D yet - maybe Latham will blossom at Bandit with the new role being better suited to him. Just too many variables we don't know yet on this side.
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