Jumbo Package: A new kind of Tuesday

There actually isn’t anything different or new surrounding the Alabama program this Tuesday. I would say I’m sorry for the misleading headline, but I’m not. The real difference today is that, for the month of July, our fearless Erik has abandoned us to do real life things, so now you’re all stuck with me three days in a row every single week until August.

Three SEC teams return unsold tickets to Alabama, some being sold for $110

Tickets remain available for six of the seven Alabama home games on the 2018 schedule.

The school on Monday announced single-game seats are for sale after three SEC opponents returned a portion of their visitors’ allotments. It’s not uncommon for tickets in those blocs to go unsold but it’s mostly with non-conference games and the occasional SEC contest.

Yet another sign of the totally resigned defeat that is felt by all of Bama’s opponents. The fans aren't even attending games against the Tide anymore. All hope has been crushed out of them. Times are good.

Several freshmen among players impressing during Alabama summer workouts

McKinney is emerging as one of Alabama’s defensive leaders.

He’ll start at safety, can slide down and play the Money spot when the Tide goes into its dime defense and appears to be ready for a breakthrough year.

People at Alabama believe McKinney has first round-type ability.

AL.com posted an article here with some of the players that they’ve “been hearing good things about from within the program.” Obviously, take it all with a grain of salt. I highlighted the blurb on my favorite 2017 recruit, Xavier McKinney, but they also mention Jalyn Armour-Davis, Patrick Surtain, Jr., Josh Jobe, Derek Keif, Jalyn Waddle, Jared Mayden, and Quinnen Williams. All with some scattered video clips of spring highlights or weightlifting videos, if you’re interested.

Colts’ Ryan Kelly carrying ‘scars that build calluses’ into third NFL season

Kelly said missing so much practice last season made him appreciate it more, especially its importance in shaping the offensive line.

”You kind of get that mojo going, and then you build confidence,” Kelly said. “I think you have to have that. As much as practice can be a drag sometimes, it’s absolutely necessary. That’s probably something I’ve learned a lot from this past season.”

Last year, Kelly suffered a foot injury in the second week of training camp that required surgery. He missed the first four games of the season, returned for seven games, then missed the final five games of the year because of a concussion.

”My rookie year, I started every game,” Kelly said. “I felt really good coming off that season. ... As a player, you want to go out there and play and perform to the best of your ability. When you can’t do that, that’s frustrating. To end the season on IR after having done that, obviously, that’s not very fun. But as a competitor, you’re going to go through those eventually. You’re going to miss time.”

Kelly said he’s “feeling good, totally got cleared for everything” and “looking forward” to his third NFL season.

It wasn’t long ago that, after only one season in the pros, Ryan Kelly was viewed as one of the top centers in the entire NFL. Then he messed up his foot before year 2 and never got back on track. With only one year of solid play backing up his reputation, most of the media has forgotten about him, as with so many other offensive linemen.

A year removed from his injury, now is his chance to put himself back on the radar and become a top name in the highest echelon of football in the world.

Here’s an article from the Courier Journal that is scouting Alabama from the Louisville perspective. For some reason, their website wouldn’t let me copy/paste any text, so you’re stuck with no pull quotes. They go into looking at what it would take for Louisville to win... and also what it will look like for them to lose. It’s a solid piece on the perspective of the enemy, if you’re interested.

That’s it for today. See you all again tomorrow. Roll Tide.