More Shuffling in the Tide's Front Seven: Dont'a Hightower (Back) to Will

at all- Hightower was noot getting it done though I never thought of the signal calling angle.

And being at the game I did not watch Hightower and Barron walk off the field at half, but this really concerns me.

There is a good chance we will give up a lot of yards against UF, but we are at home and we can beat them.

One thing all Bama fans need to remember—don’t believe this 9 pt. spread. That is crazy. Since UF lost to Ole Miss on Sept 27, 2008 they are 27-1. Even though we are the one loss, this is a very very good team. We would be very fortunate to take a 1 or 2 pt. victory on Sat.

Is that Dareus who seems to be the emotional leader of the group might not play enough to be effective on Saturday. Somebody really needs to step up and lead

as this continuous shuffle looks and feels to us, does it make us at all more difficult to prepare for?

Nico Johnson got his first start of the year against Arkansas after filling the injured shoes of Dont’a Hightower

When did Donta’s shoes get injured?

Jest aside, it if it helps us achieve and maintain containment on the edges, a notable problem this year, then it should probably be taken in stride. Dont’a is going back to his natural position: For a guy coming off a major injury, which is still hampering him, why add the stress of trying to be the signal caller on defense. This tells me that Barron needs to step up, assume leadership of the defense, and make those reads.

I am clearly too sober.

did not look good against Arkansas at all. Although he had the interception, he did not play fundamental football whatsoever……(But this is true of most of our defense in the first quarter) .

This seems like a very understandable move of Hightower. Whether or not it was the injury, the signal-calling duties, the position change, or whatever, he has looked out of sorts at Mike, so perhaps moving him back to Will can help. Obviously it’s hard for us to say to what extent the impact of this will be, but getting Hightower in a position that is more acclimated to probably has to help at least somewhat. It’s hard to see him performing worse by moving him to a position that he is more familiar with.

Now, the question I have, then, is who becomes the defensive signal-caller? Hightower could still do it from the Will position, but if the signal-calling was his shortcoming (and we don’t know that for certain, to be sure) then this move doesn’t change that. And if Nico Johnson becomes the signal-caller, how we will he handle that role? Also, how will Johnson handle the Mike position? He’s gotten some reps there the past two years, but he has spent most of his time at Will. I think this move helps Hightower, but admittedly it could put Johnson in a bit of a tough spot, so we’ll see to wait and see what the net effect is moving forward.

Also, a final note, against Arkansas we ran some variation of the base nickel package on probably about 80% of all defensive snaps. Jerrell Harris, the starting Sam, almost never played, and Upshaw spent most of the day with his hand on the ground. Both Hightower and Johnson spent most of their afternoons playing linebacker in the nickel, so even though we have switched positions with these two I’m not sure it’s going to make a very big difference there. In that package, at least, the personnel itself is going to remain the same.

is what a redshirt sophomore? Not much more experienced than a freshman. Anyway you look at it he’s a first year starter in a hostile environment on the road. If Bama can stop or at least slow down the run and speed around the corners they can put a ton of pressure on a green QB. That in itself could make the difference for our young D.