Jumbo Package: Anonymous SEC Football Coach talks up Alabama’s Mac Jones

Happy Gump Day, everyone!

This is your friendly reminder that Alabama should have two healthy inside linebackers in 2020, at least one of which is actually fast enough to shut down outside run plays:

“At quarterback, Mac Jones is a very good football player. It’s a team sport, and not to take anything away from Greg McElroy at all, but he’s not playing in the NFL, he’s an announcer, and Alabama won a national championship with him because they’ve got a lot of really, really good players. A lot,” one SEC coach said about the Crimson Tide’s new starting quarterback. “And they have a coach that knows how to win. The defense will be better than last year. No doubt.

“The coordinator (Pete Golding) will have been there a year longer to adjust to Coach Saban’s way and they were hit with a lot of injuries — not a tot of teams could have done what they did with as many injuries. At the end of the year, they were playing with several guys that wouldn’t have been on the field. Not that they were bad players. It just wasn’t their turn.”

Gotta love the “anonymous SEC coach” thing. Whoever it is, though, did at least pay attention to Alabama’s situation last year. For my money, I bet this is our very own Lane Kiffin.

The New Orleans Saints will soon honor former safety Roman Harper.

The team announced on Tuesday that Harper and former Saints offensive guard Jahri Evans will be inducted into the franchise’s Hall of Fame later this fall.

Well how about that? Within the last three days, Roman Harper has had a child born, got a job with SEC Network, and been named to the New Orleans Saints’ Hall of Fame. It’s been a tremendous week for the former Crimson Tide safety and Prattville alum. I look forward to having him on TV every week for seasons to come.

Speaking of former Alabama safeties, check out HaHa Clinton-Dix’s recent run in with nature:

The real question is which bears he ran from the fastest: these two, or Chicago?

We present eight candidates, alphabetically by school, with their 2019 credentials and invite you to vote for one. They are:

Christian Barmore, Alabama – 26 tackles, 2 sacks, 6 tackles for loss. Very aggressive defensive lineman with impressive play as redshirt freshman in 2019.

T.J. Slaton, Florida – 29 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 tackles for loss. One of leaders of solid Florida defense.

Jordan Davis, Georgia – 18 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss. Space-eater in the middle and already on some preseason all-star teams.

Quinton Bohanna, Kentucky – 17 tackles, 1 sack, 4 tackles for loss. Another one of those big inside defensive linemen, meaning his stats aren’t all to his play.

Tyler Shelvin, LSU – 39 tackles, 0 sack, 3 tackles for loss. Quite a few losses for LSU’s defensive squad, meaning opportunities for Shelvin in 2020.

Kobie Whiteside, Missouri – 27 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss. Interesting that all of his tackles for loss were sacks in 2019.

Bobby Brown, Texas A&M – 21 tackles, 0.5 sack, 2 tackles for loss. Gained weight that may have hurt him last season, but should have improved 2020

Jayden Peevy, Texas A&M – 34 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss. Good production as a third tackle last year and moves into starting role this season.

Take a few seconds to chuckle at 247 attempting to create a pre-season All-SEC team by popular vote on an Alabama blog page. Obviously, Barmore (an Alabama player) is leading the polls with nearly 80% of the votes.

While you’re at it, go ahead and head over there and vote for Barmore yourself. It can’t hurt.

Finally, here’s a nice clip to enjoy to start your Wednesday:

A decade ago, Gerogia running back Knowshon Moreno got all kinds of national attention for hurdling all of about 3 players in one season. In the last three years, Najee Harris has hurdled someone in nearly every other game he played in and still gets almost no love for it.