If Deboer is smart he will use the Portal to bring in some experienced OL, DL, and RBs. Waiting on 5 and 4 star freshmen to develop will get us another 9-10 win season.
Why has Bama been terrible on both sides of the line for 4 or 5 years?
- Thread starter SMOKIESBAMAFAN
- Start date
Why do barn fans like to post on Bama boards pretending to be Bama fans? Probably little barney syndrome.
IMO, the offensive and defensive lines have more bad recruiting revaluations than other position groups - and I mean across college football. I think it can be inherently difficult to evaluate because human beings that are 6’5, 300+ pounds and reasonably athletic are rare in general, and especially at the high school level where they can just literally overpower the 225 pound DL they routinely face.
With Bama specifically - and I’m commenting more on the last two seasons - you’ve got a couple of dynamics at play. Both lines have been asked to play different techniques under CKD as opposed to CNS. And there was the concerted effort recruiting-wise from CNS the last couple of seasons of his tenure to get back to the 2008-era offensive style. Aside from Brailsford, Dear and Riley, we don’t have a bunch of 280-290 pound DL who are agile enough to pull as often as we want to and we don’t have quick-burst backs who make elite cuts. Also, particularly with Grubb running the show, we just don’t really care much about running the ball in spite of lip service to the contrary. Our offense gets the Air Raid label attached to it for a reason. Grubb wants to run the ball in a manner that Mike Leach used to do it - pretty much only when you have numbers in the box where it’s a sort of “gotcha” play. Mind you, some Air Raid teams end up with 1,000 yard rushers doing that but it’s far from conventional.
I agree that the defensive line has settled in and has been playing at a high level for much of this season - but apart from TK and Smith, you see a lot of guys on that line that are either exclusively products of the current staff or have spent the majority of their college career playing for them. The OL has some transfers like Brailsford, Dewberry and Vandermark, but only one of those guys really fits the mold for what we want to do offensively and the other two were more project type guys who Kap went after. Proctor and Formby were recruited for Saban’s idea of going back to running the ball 40 times a game with inside/outside zones.
All that said, I would say that pass blocking has been serviceable to good for most of the season. I think the pass pro issues we’ve seen have mostly been missed assignments from RBs, or pass patterns that take too long to develop. Run blocking has been mostly bad and I think it’s equal parts scheme and personnel. Hopefully some changes are made there to address it in the offseason. For 2025, it is what it is and our best hope for the playoffs is a healthy Jam.
With Bama specifically - and I’m commenting more on the last two seasons - you’ve got a couple of dynamics at play. Both lines have been asked to play different techniques under CKD as opposed to CNS. And there was the concerted effort recruiting-wise from CNS the last couple of seasons of his tenure to get back to the 2008-era offensive style. Aside from Brailsford, Dear and Riley, we don’t have a bunch of 280-290 pound DL who are agile enough to pull as often as we want to and we don’t have quick-burst backs who make elite cuts. Also, particularly with Grubb running the show, we just don’t really care much about running the ball in spite of lip service to the contrary. Our offense gets the Air Raid label attached to it for a reason. Grubb wants to run the ball in a manner that Mike Leach used to do it - pretty much only when you have numbers in the box where it’s a sort of “gotcha” play. Mind you, some Air Raid teams end up with 1,000 yard rushers doing that but it’s far from conventional.
I agree that the defensive line has settled in and has been playing at a high level for much of this season - but apart from TK and Smith, you see a lot of guys on that line that are either exclusively products of the current staff or have spent the majority of their college career playing for them. The OL has some transfers like Brailsford, Dewberry and Vandermark, but only one of those guys really fits the mold for what we want to do offensively and the other two were more project type guys who Kap went after. Proctor and Formby were recruited for Saban’s idea of going back to running the ball 40 times a game with inside/outside zones.
All that said, I would say that pass blocking has been serviceable to good for most of the season. I think the pass pro issues we’ve seen have mostly been missed assignments from RBs, or pass patterns that take too long to develop. Run blocking has been mostly bad and I think it’s equal parts scheme and personnel. Hopefully some changes are made there to address it in the offseason. For 2025, it is what it is and our best hope for the playoffs is a healthy Jam.
Haven't we beaten AU 6 in a row...even while being terrible on both sides of the line for 4 or 5 years? Just sayin'...
Our DL lately has been average...a major step down from first round draft picks year after year. The decline started under Saban. The coaching there may need to change despite recruiting chops.
They like to come on stir the pot and get us commenting. Then they go back their little pathetic boards and brag about how cool and awesome they are. Sad thing is the other barners will congratulate him (let's face it, it is a him) on his win. It is seriously warped and pretty much sociopathic behavior.
I actually am not as high on this defense as everyone else is. QBs on decent teams still have almost no pressure on them.
Part of being a fan of “us” is being able to critique the team without the crimson glasses on.
Part of being a fan is also not registering on a rival chat site to stir up trouble and be a loser.
Mind you, I am not accusing you of that, but it has been a consistent problem and it is usually quite obvious, especially when it generally only occurs after we lose a big game.
Rarely if ever do we see a spate of new posters when things are going great.
K…tell us good stuff about The Tide!
w/out a Google search…
I warn you not to look back.
For instance, a glance at our 218 roster will leave you weeping quietly.
QB - Tua, Jalen Hurts, Mac Jones
RB - Damien Harris, Joshua Jacobs, Najee Harris, Brian Robinson, Jerome Ford
RB - Jeudy, Ruggs, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle
It's the same on defense. No offense to our guys today, I mean nobody else TODAY has a roster anything like that, not even Ohio State. but we are not as talented as we were and it started after 2020, not when DeBoer arrived.
Crazy is that Jerome Ford was #5 on our depth chart there and transferred to Cincinatti, rushed for 1319 yards his senior year, helped them get to the playoffs to face us, and has a four year NFL career...
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