With Erik at SEC Media Days and covering basically everything you need to know there, I’ll try to put together a short Jumbo Package on the few other things going on in the world of sports.
Nation's No. 1 outside linebacker has Alabama in top group
Alabama is back in the running for Adam Anderson, who is now ranked as the nation's top outside linebacker per the 247Sports composite.
The 6-foot-4, 214-pound Anderson, from Rome, Ga., is a four-star recruit ranked No. 37 nationally.
He tweeted a top five of Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Clemson and Georgia late Monday night, adding that it was in no order and he plans to see each school before making a commitment.
Of note, Anderson has decommitted from two schools. He flipped from Georgia to LSU in April, but decommitted from LSU last week. Georgia holds more predictions in the 247Sports crystal ball. JJ Peterson, now the nation's No. 2 outside linebacker, has a better chance to land with Alabama
The top outside linebacker in the nation is a bit volatile in his school choice, it seems. That said, Rome is right in the heart of the pipeline of recruits in the peach state that come to play for Alabama. Who knows, we just may swoop in and pluck him after LSU and Georgia missed out.
New Atlanta stadium 'ready' to welcome Alabama
"We will be ready," he said at SEC Media Days.
There were questions as late as April about whether construction would be completed in time for the facility to be fully operational. But those concerns have since been allayed.
McKay discussed the features of the 71,000-seat building that will replace the Georgia Dome, the former site of the SEC Championship game that is scheduled to be imploded Nov. 20. The new domain of the Atlanta Falcons has 83,000 square feet of LED boards and an unusual eight-panel retractable roof.
"We did not want to build a better Georgia Dome," McKay said. "If we would have done that, we would have renovated the Georgia Dome. We truly wanted to change the game."
I never really thought that it wouldn’t, but it’s good to hear that the new stadium in Atlanta will be ready to go for the match between Alabama and FSU. It’ll be cool to get to be the first teams to play in it.
Summer enrollee could add to Alabama right tackle competition
Alabama and other schools told Wills and Shaw throughout the recruiting process how much they loved that power and nastiness along with Wills' long arms and movement skills for someone as big as he is.
Tide coach Nick Saban has said that Alabama coaches thought Wills was "one of the best guys at his position in the entire country" in this year's recruiting class.
"I've never called a players' feet smooth, but he's just smooth," Shaw said. "And he's going to try to punish you. He's going to try to embarrass you. And he works his butt off and worked his butt off after the season getting ready to go down there to Alabama. He's just a very special young man with a great upside, and I'm so excited about his future."
Jedrick Wills is one of my favorite offensive linemen I’ve watched in high school since I started following Alabama recruiting. On top of that, he’s one of the top SPARQ athletes Saban has recruited. He’s not only big and powerful, but a smooth, explosive athlete as well.
Alex Leatherwood got all the hype this year, but look for Wills to make an impact sooner rather than later.
Roster Countdown: Baker, Womack and Lashley
Legitimate candidate for a starting job who will provide quality depth at a minimum. Outside of Williams, Lashley is probably the one Alabama offensive tackle who is most comfortable in matchups against twitchy edge rushers. Not as powerful in the run game as some of his competitors, but continued advancements made during offseason workouts will help out in that regard, as well as his ability to anchor better in pass protection.
Speaking of offensive linemen, Lashley is definitely a dark horse candidate to lock down a starting job after redshirting last year. Matt Womack is the presumed favorite at RT, while Elliot Baker is the JUCO transfer with all the hype (though that definitely cooled after his terrible showing in spring workouts and not participating in A-Day). But Lashley will be right in the mix, and is built of leaner, quicker stuff than the others.