Jumbo Package: I Hate the Offseason

Freshman Davis Riley had best round of day in leading Alabama charge in NCAA golf - Alabama - Scout

The Alabama men’s golf team didn’t gain ground on the leader in the second round of the Tuscaloosa NCAA Regional Tuesday, but the Crimson Tide did move up the leaderboard with 18 holes to play at Ol’ Colony.

Alabama freshman Davis Riley tied his career low round with a 5-under-par 67 – the lowest round in the tournament – and the Crimson Tide improved eight strokes over its opening round with a 4-under-par 282 that puts Bama in fourth place going to Wednesday’s final round. Alabama is at 576 on rounds of 294 and 282.

Amidst the softball and arrested football players, the Alabama golf team is doing quite good for itself yet again. The freshman had an outstanding day, and we all look forward to seeing Davis continuing his play for years to come. His performance bumped the Tide up to 4th in the tournament. The top five teams at the end of the regionals will get to advance to the NCAA Men's Golf National Championships.

During Monday visit, Stephen Guidry vaulted Alabama to the lead and nearly made a verbal commitment - Alabama - Scout

"I was urged to end it right there," Guidry said. "They care that you play football but it's not the most important thing while you're there. They talk about all the academic stuff with you and your classes.

"Alabama is the number one school in my recruitment. Growing up, Alabama was my dream school. It's how Nick Saban wins SEC championships, all kind of championships. And it's my mama's dream for me to go to Alabama, too. She wants me to be different."

Guidry is (by 247sports rankings) the 4th ranked JUCO prospect and top JUCO receiver in the 2017. He's a towering, yet lanky player at 6'4" 190 from Louisiana. Guidry plans to take a visit to LSU, and then make a final decision on his college.

With Robert Foster, Ardarius Stewart, and Calvin Ridley all in their respective penultimate years at Alabama, Guidry would arrive just in time to be a stabilizing senior presence after these three depart.

Take two: Debating our picks for the SEC's best RBs in the past decade - SEC Blog- ESPN

I wouldn’t have disagreed at all if you went with Richardson over Ingram. In truth, I didn’t even include Ingram on my Heisman ballot in 2009, but I gave Richardson a first-place vote in 2011. I thought Richardson was the superior runner the entire time they were on the same roster, although Richardson’s pro career certainly has not validated my opinion in the slightest. I also don’t think Henry can hold a candle to Fournette – who is a once-in-a-generation talent – but time will tell there.

With Richardson's monumental failure in the NFL, it's easy to forget just how great he was in college. Most of us believed that he was a better back than Heisman-winning Mark Ingram before him.

The rest of the article is a few ESPN talking heads arguing about Todd Gurley, Knowshon Moreno, Darren McFadden, Ingram, Henry, Richardson, and Fournette. While you may not agree with where these guys rank them, just take a second to realize just how many amazing running backs Alabama has produced lately. The same can be said about the SEC in general. That is a lot of talent.

AL.com All-Access: Predictions for the 2016 NFL season | AL.com

Rookie Derrick Henry will finish with more rushing yards for the Tennessee Titans than DeMarco Murray. Tennessee coach Mike Mularkey has indicated Murray is the Titans' lead back after Tennessee traded to get the 2014 NFL rushing leader from the Philadelphia Eagles. Henry, although he won the Heisman Trophy at Alabama, was a second-round draft choice last month, and his running style, agility and footwork all were brought into question as was his Alabama pedigree (because of Trent Richardson). Let's see how long Henry stays a reliever this season.

Some AL.com writer makes some NFL season predictions as they pertain to players from Alabama (college or high school). I'd say that most are pretty unlikely, but it will be interesting to see what Tennessee does with Derrick Henry. They already have a young, talented QB in Marcus Mariota, and have been stocking up high first round draft picks along the offensive line for four years now. If the receiving corps can figure it out (looking at you, Dorial Green-Beckam), then this could become a dark horse top-10 offense.

Nick Saban to cryogenically freeze team during offseason | AL.com

"Once the athlete is frozen solid at minus 384 degrees Fahrenheit, there is practically no way for us to commit an NCAA violation," explained compliance coordinator Cason McGee. "The rule book is clear about how many protein shakes or granola bars we can give them, but there is nothing in there about administering cryoprotectant through intravenous therapy."

Others close to the football program say cryogenics would likely serve as a supplement to other character-building initiatives. Like most coaches, Saban has been known to invite motivational speakers into the locker room. If implemented, players would be frozen immediately following a motivational speech, thereby preserving their current mental state through the entire off-season.

Beginning in August, players would be "thawed" so they can return to practice. This would eliminate the possibility of players breaking team rules, the law, or transferring to another school to increase their playing time.

Given the complexity of the cryogenic process, University staff will need extensive training on how to successfully freeze and thaw student-athletes. While no one with the athletic department would confirm, sources say the school has lured Tom Brokaw into one of the cryo-chambers for a test run. Should they fail, condolences will be sent to Mississippi using small words and short sentences.

Gotta love a good satirical article. The writer is actually fairly well-versed in your storylines that surround the Crimson Tide, and does a decent job of incorporating quite a few different headlines from this offseason. You have to admit though, it would be really nice to cryogenically freeze all the players until the next season started. It would keep us from having any "Skittles Four" or Jonathan Taylor incidents again.

But then again, if we can't use the legal system, how will Nick Saban kick older players off the team to make room for his oversigned freshman class?