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Happy Thursday, everyone. Chip Patterson of CBS Sports is counting down his top 25, and he’s pretty bullish on Alabama.
Consider the 2015 season, with an Alabama team fresh off the embarrassment of an upset loss to Ohio State in the first College Football Playoff semifinals. That 2015 team led with its defense and heavy doses of Derrick Henry on the way to 14-1 season (shoutout Swag Kelly and that bananas Ole Miss game) and national championship win against Clemson. If Jake Coker can guide that team to a national championship, then there is absolutely a ceiling for Mac Jones and/or Bryce Young to do the same.
So forget about replacing Tua because he can’t be replaced and understand that 2020 is set to be a year of evolution for the Tide. When there’s enough uniquely motivated talent moving in the same direction, national championship is the ceiling for a program like Alabama. And as we sit here in late May, that’s exactly who I’m picking to win it all in the season ahead.
Sounds good to us, Chip. If it happens, a return to dominance along the defensive front will be a likely catalyst.
It starts, as you note, with Christian Barmore. He’s got a ton of potential, and I think he’s beginning to realize what kind of player he can be if he plays with more discipline. He has to prove he can be trusted up front. That means that if his assignment means holding a run gap, he’d better be in that run gap and not freelancing trying to do something else. He had six tackles for loss and a couple of sacks last season. At 6-foot-5, 310 pounds, he fits the part.
If LaBryan Ray is healthy, and a couple of foot injuries he sustained last summer and in the season make that somewhat of question mark, he has the potential to be the difference-maker that most observers thought he’d be last season.
Those guys along with the bevy of second year players behind them will hopefully lead a resurgence. Edge players are important and we have plenty of candidates out there, but immediate pressure in the face of the QB is always the most disruptive, and when teams have to spend extra resources to prevent that, the edge rushers and secondary end up with favorable matchups. The combination of talent and depth in this group could be the best we’ve seen since 2015.
Jedrick Wills, Jr. made a fancy purchase with his bonus check.
I Don’t Play Fair pic.twitter.com/zXdtfKzI2k
— Jedrick Wills Jr.® ➕ ☄️ (@JWills73) May 26, 2020
That thing is a bit gaudy for my taste, but good news! Jedrick didn’t ask my opinion. Unfortunately, some trolls decided to tell him that he was wasting his money and would end up as another broke pro athlete.
Some of y’all in my mentions sound like complete Imbeciles. Let me do me and y’all worry about your family and kids. I didn’t leave college with a 3.45 GPA in finance for no reason.
— Jedrick Wills Jr.® ➕ ☄️ (@JWills73) May 27, 2020
Good for you, Jedrick. Good for you.
D.J. Fluker weighed in with a thoughtful comment about the awful, disturbing killing of George Floyd and the aftermath.
Wise words from an outstanding young man and ambassador for Alabama football.
Last, O.J. Howard spoke with Brad Crawford at 247sports about why he chose Alabama.
“When you look at Coach Saban’s resume, at the time I think he had won maybe like four championships, Howard said during a recent video on why he chose Alabama. “You watch him coach on TV and be like ‘Man, I would love to play for a guy like that.’ No matter if we were up by a lot of points or if we were down, he would always finish coaching the game. When you see that as a recruit, you’re like, ‘I would love to play for a guy like that, break my neck out for a guy like that.’
“When I got here, it was nothing short of that. Coach Saban treats every payer the same, everyone is going to get coached hard.”
Great stuff.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.