This week has seen a few roster moves that included the addition of graduate-transfer WR Richard Mullaney from Oregon State and the departures of Jonathan Cook and DeSherrius Flowers
DEPARTURES
The story on Cook is currently unknown. The defensive back had never been in discipline trouble as far as the public knew. Therefore, it may have been a depth chart concern or possibly personal issues. Cook redshirted during his first season at Alabama and only played in three games (Southern Miss, Texas A&M and Western Carolina) this past season in which the outcomes were assured. He did not record a defensive statistic.
The Flowers story is a little more bizarre as he was an early enrollee this year. After joining the team in January and going through the entire spring practice, he injured his his shoulder on his first carry of the A-Day game and did not return. The official release is that he is ineligible this fall due to a "recently discovered initial eligibility issue". The former 4-star running back will not be cleared for enrollment at Alabama this fall despite going through the spring semester at the Capstone. He will be attending juco this fall.
There has been much speculation that one of the quarterbacks might depart but it does not seem like it will happen at this point. The last potential candidate I can think of for departure would be fifth-year senior offensive guard Isaac Luatua who has been surpassed in the starting lineup by redshirt freshman Ross Pierschbacher, sophomore Bradley Bozeman, and others.
DEPTH CHART
Although the safety positions are looking for someone to step up and claim the starting roles, Cook was not looking like a contender for 2015. If the Tide were to play today (wouldn't that be nice?), the depth chart may look something like the following:
CB | Tony Brown | Bradley Sylve | - |
SS | Eddie Jackson | Hootie Jones | Deionte Thompson |
FS | Geno Smith | Ronnie Harrison | Anthony Averett |
CB | Cyrus Jones | Marlon Humphrey | - |
STAR | Maurice Smith | Jabriel Washington | - |
Also joining the team this fall are 5-star cornerbacks Kendall Sheffield and Minkah Fitzpatrick along with safety Shawn Burgess-Becker. I would put Ronnie Clark on the above chart as well, but he might continue on the offensive side running the ball.
Speaking of the running back position, the current depth chart appears to be Derrick Henry/Kenyan Drake/Ronnie Clark/Lawrence Erekosima (walk-on). 5-star freshman Damien Harris joins the team this summer. Hopefully, Bo Scarbrough may be able to contribute by mid-season after tearing his ACL this past spring.
THE BIG NUMBER
According to my calculations, Alabama now stands at 85 scholarshipped players on the roster. There are reports that the Tide has been looking at graduate transfer running backs and may have someone in particular in their cross hairs.
There is also news that former Blount HS running back Demetrice Vaughan is expected to join Alabama's team as a walk-on but I cannot see him having any impact on the 2015 season.
If Bama does not add a second grad-transfer to go with Mullaney, it is possible that Hoover DE Christian Bell can remove his greyshirt and join the team this fall or they will stand pat with what they have.
Below is my unofficial 85-man roster:
PLAYER | POS | YR | EXP |
Richard Mullaney | WR | SR | Oregon St |
Denzel Devall | LB | SR | 3L |
Kenyan Drake | RB | SR | 3L |
Cyrus Jones | DB | SR | 3L |
Ryan Kelly | OL | SR | 3L |
Darren Lake | DL | SR | 3L |
Dillon Lee | LB | SR | 3L |
Reggie Ragland | LB | SR | 3L |
Geno Smith | DB | SR | 3L |
Bradley Sylve | DB | SR | 3L |
Jabriel Washington | DB | SR | 3L |
Isaac Luatua | OL | SR | 2L |
D. J. Pettway | DL | SR | 2L |
Jake Coker | QB | SR | 1L |
TY Flournoy-Smith | TE | SR | 1L |
Dominick Jackson | OL | SR | 1L |
Jarran Reed | DL | SR | 1L |
Anthony Averett | DB | SO | 1L |
Cooper Bateman | QB | SO | 1L |
Bradley Bozeman | OL | SO | 1L |
Tony Brown | DB | SO | 1L |
Rashaan Evans | LB | SO | 1L |
Robert Foster | WR | SO | 1L |
Joshua Frazier | DL | SO | 1L |
Shaun Dion Hamilton | LB | SO | 1L |
Da'Shawn Hand | DL | SO | 1L |
J.C. Hassenauer | OL | SO | 1L |
Laurence Hootie Jones | DB | SO | 1L |
Walker Jones | LB | SO | 1L |
Cam Robinson | OL | SO | 1L |
JK Scott | P | SO | 1L |
Cam Sims | WR | SO | 1L |
ArDarius Stewart | WR | SO | 1L |
Jonathan Allen | DL | JR | 2L |
Ryan Anderson | LB | JR | 2L |
Chris Black | WR | JR | 2L |
Raheem Falkins | WR | JR | 2L |
Reuben Foster | LB | JR | 2L |
Brandon Greene | TE | JR | 2L |
Adam Griffith | PK | JR | 2L |
Derrick Henry | RB | JR | 2L |
Grant Hill | OL | JR | 2L |
O.J. Howard | TE | JR | 2L |
Eddie Jackson | DB | JR | 2L |
Korren Kirven | OL/DL | JR | 2L |
Cole Mazza | SN | JR | 2L |
A'Shawn Robinson | DL | JR | 2L |
Maurice Smith | DB | JR | 2L |
Alphonse Taylor | OL | JR | 2L |
Dalvin Tomlinson | DL | JR | 2L |
Tim Williams | LB | JR | 2L |
Dakota Ball | TE/DL | JR | 1L |
Alec Morris | QB | JR | 1L |
Josh Casher | OL | FR | RS |
Ronnie Clark | DB/RB | FR | RS |
David Cornwell | QB | FR | RS |
Johnny Dwight | DL/TE | FR | RS |
Keith Holcombe | LB | FR | RS |
Marlon Humphrey | DB | FR | RS |
Derek Kief | WR | FR | RS |
Christian Miller | LB | FR | RS |
Ross Pierschbacher | OL | FR | RS |
O.J. Smith | DL | FR | RS |
Blake Barnett | QB | FR | HS |
Ronnie Harrison | DB | FR | HS |
Brandon Kennedy | OL | FR | HS |
Bo Scarbrough | RB | FR | HS |
Deionte Thompson | DB | FR | HS |
Dallas Warmack | OL | FR | HS |
Calvin Ridley | WR | FR | HS |
Adonis Thomas | LB | FR | HS |
Damien Harris | RB | FR | HS |
Daron Payne | DT | FR | HS |
Daylon Charlot | WR | FR | HS |
Hale Hentges | TE | FR | HS |
Joshua McMillon | LB | FR | HS |
Keaton Anderson | LB | FR | HS |
Kendall Sheffield | DB | FR | HS |
Lester Cotton | OL | FR | HS |
Matt Womack | OL | FR | HS |
Mekhi Brown | DE | FR | HS |
Minkah Fitzpatrick | DB | FR | HS |
Richie Petitbon | OL | FR | HS |
Shawn Burgess-Becker | DB | FR | HS |
Anfernee Jennings | DE | FR | HS |