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Happy Monday, everyone. Well, the Tennessee Titans led by Derrick Henry on offense and Rashaan Evans on defense came up short in the conference title game, but Alabama will have Super Bowl representation in the form of Reggie Ragland. Even though he came up short, this was a banner season for King Henry.
“I think that he’s playing right now for the Titans like he did when he was here,” Saban said during an appearance on “Morning Drive” on WPRT-FM in Nashville. “I think if you go back and look at his senior year here … some of the same features show up now — great stiff arm, a big, long guy that’s really, really hard to tackle, can make you miss, has tremendous power, and I think what people miscalculate is a guy that big being that fast. But he was really that way here. You all just didn’t see it out of him for several years as he learned and evolved.
And I think every player — and Derrick probably went through this when he went from college to the NFL — when you’re going from high school to college or college to the NFL, I think there’s sort of an acclimation that you sort of go through to sort of learn a system and figure out how you’ve got to play to be successful at that level. I think it’s a little different. That took a little time, and now that Derrick’s got his opportunity, he’s certainly taking advantage of it.”
The Chiefs were the first team in these playoffs to successfully commit to slowing him down and forcing Ryan Tannehill to win the game. More importantly, Patrick Mahomes and company were able to put 30+ points on the board and force the Titans’ hand a bit.
The Super Bowl is two weeks away. In the meantime, we still have the Senior Bowl that will likely dominate the news this week. Unsurprisingly, Jalen Hurts is the most polarizing figure at the event.
Despite posting a career-best 3,851 yards passing and 32 touchdowns as the facilitator for the Sooners leading to Heisman finalist candidacy, there were some inconsistencies and decision-making issues — negatives during his tenure at Alabama as well — that give NFL scouts and evaluators pause.
NFL evaluators care little about college statistics that are largely based on the system and talent disparity across the board. Cole Cubelic has an interesting idea that Taysom Hill may have carved out a role for Jalen, and that makes some sense. Of course, Hill also went undrafted.
Tua Tagovailoa is going to be in the green room as the April NFL Draft unfolds.
“I’m feeling good,” Tagovailoa said Saturday, according to TJ Horgan of KITV4.
The Ewa Beach, Hawaii, is reportedly expected to be healthy by April and able to take part in a 40-minute workout for teams, according to AL.com’s Mike Rodak, who spoke with Tagvailoa’s agent, Leigh Steinberg. Whether at Alabama’s Pro Day on the morning of March 24 or later in April, Tagovailoa will throw roughly 60-80 passes in front of NFL scouts, Rodak reports.
There won’t be a more hotly debated prospect. Plan to know everything you need to know about hip anatomy and function by the end of it.
Joe Burrow was asked about his Heisman moment at the LSU championship parade, and guess what he came up with?
What was the Heisman moment this year?
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 18, 2020
Burrow: "It's gotta be going into Tuscaloosa ... that was complete dominance." pic.twitter.com/HgnE34iPm1
Honestly, it seems like the championship was just icing on the cake. They would have been thrilled with just the win over Alabama. Next season isn’t likely to go so well for them, now that everyone has bailed. What a shame.
Last, D’Eriq king is probably the biggest name on the board as far as QB transfers, and his recruitment as a grad transfer pretty well sums up journalism today. Multiple reports broke claiming that he had informed coaches of his intent to transfer to Miami and would be starting classes on Tuesday. His response?
D’Eriq King (@DeriqKing_), who is transferring from @UHCougarFB, says he has yet to make a final decision on where he’s going: “I haven’t committed to anybody yet. I’m still looking at my options. I visited Miami. I liked it, but there are other options I’m still trying see to..” pic.twitter.com/E4kz2xypWR
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 19, 2020
That doesn’t sound like someone who is starting class tomorrow, does it?
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.