📡 Alabama's 3rd down issues might be bigger than you think. (link)

[T&B]

In our last 2 losses Bama is 5 of 26 on third down. During that time Hurts is 5 of 14, and NONE of those 5 completions went for a first down. Zero first downs.

Anyone want to explain this ?

 

[T&B]

In the last two losses Jalen has not thrown for a single first down on third down. Zero.

(And keep in mind Bama has a wr expected to be the first wr taken in the nfl draft)

Want to know the difference between an athlete playing qb, and a real qb ? Go look at Baker Mayfields numbers on third down.

I love Jalen, and I've supported him for two years, but at this point the numbers don't lie.

 

[utstnx]

In the last two losses Jalen has not thrown for a single first down on third down. Zero.

(And keep in mind Bama has a wr expected to be the first wr taken in the nfl draft)

Want to know the difference between an athlete playing qb, and a real qb ? Go look at Baker Mayfields numbers on third down.

I love Jalen, and I've supported him for two years, but at this point the numbers don't lie.

I agree with this. Tua seems like a qb that can run. Jalen is a runner playing qb. Jalen has some great abilities. But ever notice that when he finally throws the ball and makes a completion the player is insanely open. Im always thinking why didnt he throw it sooner? Also if you notice a lot of our big passing plays have blown plays the WR is wide open. Dint get me wrong he has been good but that was with a healthy O-line and healthy D. Now that we have injuries and our line is not nearly as good...... his issues are showing.

 

[94 Grad]

In the last two losses Jalen has not thrown for a single first down on third down. Zero.

(And keep in mind Bama has a wr expected to be the first wr taken in the nfl draft)

Want to know the difference between an athlete playing qb, and a real qb ? Go look at Baker Mayfields numbers on third down.

I love Jalen, and I've supported him for two years, but at this point the numbers don't lie.

Baker Mayfield is a 5th year senior... Let's look at his 2nd year paying and compare...

Mayfield on 3rd down: 48 complete - 81 attempts 59% @ 573 yards
Hurts on 3rd down: 32 complete - 60 attempts 53% @ 520 yards

Even then, it's hard to really compare... you'd need to dive much deeper looking at down and distance and also WHO they were playing at the time. Did that team have a decent pass rush? How were the cover corners of the other teams... There is really no way to compare.

The bottom line is that Hurts looks just fine compared to any of the other QB's we've had behind center over the last 10 years including our NC years. In my opinion, he looks better than every QB we've had play if you in the Saban ERA if you take all aspects into consideration... his poise, his running, his lack of turnovers and his throwing stats.

Everyone can say they want to see Tua... but the reality is from what I've seen in the other games if Tua where to be thrown in there at this moment, you'd see a lot of mistakes made... He'd do some great things too, but he'd most certainly turn that ball over too.

I'm absolutely fine with Hurts and the way he has played. I'm fine with the play calling we've seen. What we have lacked is a bit of execution in a few games and maybe a bit of "FIRE" to go along with that. The Auburn game really felt like we were all business and had very little emotion in the game. Being an away game I can understand that... but we didn't seem to want it as much as aU did. We didn't push that little extra to get the 1st down or to tackle a guy. It came off sloppy as a result. That game turned on about 3 or 4 different plays. Had they gone a different way, we win easily. Glad it happened AND we still got into the playoffs, because I'm hoping it focused the team and will drive them to great things.

Now we just have to wait and see if that's comes true.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

Nick has a real problem. His QB has won 25 of 27 games but the offense is hung up in neutral. Jalen has No Real confidence in his passing game. Each pass attempt is pretty much a wasted down since it puts you behind in down and distance. Stop going 4 wide and help the kid with more protection and fewer reads. We need a faster back to dump off after Jalen's initial read. At least get some positive yardage. Bo Scarbrough adds little so his downs should be to 34 and 8. Have you ever seen Bama execute a screen pass that actually made yards? We should be running the old Utah pass with our HBack every now and then to help with the pass rush...use Brian Robinson .....and roll the QB more often instead of trying to make him Joe Willie..

I hate to say it but I see the Fighting Dabo's taking us 24-14.

 

[JoshB]

In the last two losses Jalen has not thrown for a single first down on third down. Zero.

(And keep in mind Bama has a wr expected to be the first wr taken in the nfl draft)

Want to know the difference between an athlete playing qb, and a real qb ? Go look at Baker Mayfields numbers on third down.

I love Jalen, and I've supported him for two years, but at this point the numbers don't lie.

Last two losses? Seriously? Literally an entire year apart. Good grief.

 

[T&B]

Stop going 4 wide and help the kid with more protection and fewer reads.

I'm starting to hate Daboll because of this. If they want Jalen to be the man then this offense would benefit from being more like Georgia Tech than the Patriots. Literally.

 

[T&B]

Last two losses? Seriously? Literally an entire year apart. Good grief.

Most of the stats reference the last six ranked teams. If you look at the last two losses however it's easy to see why we lost those games. Bama has been extremely lucky to have only lost two games during this time. Bama can not sustain drives (convert 3rd downs) vs a decent defense.

You seem biased when it comes to the QB conversation I've noticed. I've spent the last two years defending Hurts on several different sites. However there has been a lot of statistics that have been made available this last month or so that paint a very clear picture of the Hurts era. If one chooses to look at the stats, and remove emotion or attachment from the equation there really isn't much to debate.

I understand how it can be confusing though because of all the wins. Simply put most any QB would have a lot of wins playing at Bama. Its what happens vs similarly talented teams that shed light on the truth. Thats why the stats vs the last 6 ranked teams are gloomy indeed.

I would love to see both QB's play. I think Jalen brings a lot to the table, but if this team ever wants to take advantage of its weapons someone has to get them the ball.

 

[JoshB]

Most of the stats reference the last six ranked teams. If you look at the last two losses however it's easy to see why we lost those games. Bama has been extremely lucky to have only lost two games during this time. Bama can not sustain drives (convert 3rd downs) vs a decent defense.

You seem very biased when it comes to the QB conversation I've noticed. I've spent the last two years defending Hurts on several different sites. However there has been a lot of statistics that have been made available this last month or so that paint a very clear picture of the Hurts era. If one chooses to look at the stats, and remove emotion or attachment from the equation there really isn't much to debate.

I understand how it can be confusing though because of all the wins. Simply put most any QB would have a lot of wins playing at Bama. Its what happens vs similarly talented teams that shed light on the truth. Thats why the stats vs the last 6 ranked teams are gloomy indeed.

I would love to see both QB's play. I think Jalen brings a lot to the table, but if this team ever wants to take advantage of its weapons someone has to get them the ball.

No. 1, I'm biased towards every single Alabama player but I have absolutely no issue whatsoever calling a spade a spade. When a player doesn't play well, I have no issue saying so and that includes Hurts. This fan base is very well known for begging for backup QBs no matter who is under center and the shit has grown beyond old.

No. 2, stats don't tell the whole tale. And if you want to pretend like they do then live in your fantasy world. Yes, they can be very helpful but it doesnt say it all. How many of the stats your copied and pasted mentioned dropped balls on third downs? How about missed blocking assignments? A receiver running the wrong route? Those losses you mention, have one thing in common: execution and it involves all three phases of the game and it involves Hurts, the receivers, the line, the defense, special teams, etc. And i include some of the play calling in that, too. If you can HONESTLY watch that Clemson game and make the argument that Jalen Hurts was the problem, you ARE living in a fantasy land.

I seem to recall Greg McElroy struggling mightily in 2009 when the teeth of the schedule started. Wonder what would have happened if Nick Saban had the same knee-jerk reactions that you guys have and benched G-Mac for Star Jackson or even AJ McCarron. Could have ruined both of those QBs. What if Saban benched AJ after he played like shit in the first LSU game? Phillip Sims would have been the answer, huh?

I take solace in knowing that you and many others don't get to make the decisions.

 

[T&B]

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. Hell man, I was saying the same exact thing till about a month ago when I finally accepted that Hurts is not going to develop into a passer.

I'm not bullshitting you... I have literally fought this fight. I have stood up for all that Jalen has accomplished, and pointed out to others all the intangibles he brings outside of the passing game. I get it.

I listened to an interview today where Tom Lemming talked about his evaluation of Jalen the H.S. player, and Lemming said he thought Jalen would play DB on the next level because of how raw Jalen was at the H.S. level throwing the ball. Lets just say that Jalen has been "running right" for a while now.

I would like to see both QB's play. I'm not looking to bench Hurts personally, but if I had to choose between one or the other I feel confident predicting that Tua will beat Jalen out for the job in the spring, and usher in a refreshing offense where defenses that stack the box get punished, and more skill players get involved in the offense.

 

[Tidestalker]

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. Hell man, I was saying the same exact thing till about a month ago when I finally accepted that Hurts is not going to develop into a passer.

I'm not bullshitting you... I have literally fought this fight. I have stood up for all that Jalen has accomplished, and pointed out to others all the intangibles he brings outside of the passing game. I get it.

I listened to an interview today where Tom Lemming talked about his evaluation of Jalen the H.S. player, and Lemming said he thought Jalen would play DB on the next level because of how raw Jalen was at the H.S. level throwing the ball. Lets just say that Jalen has been "running right" for a while now.

I would like to see both QB's play. I'm not looking to bench Hurts personally, but if I had to choose between one or the other I feel confident predicting that Tua will beat Jalen out for the job in the spring, and usher in a refreshing offense where defenses that stack the box get punished, and more skill players get involved in the offense.

This is what it is. Right here. As the year progressed I was optimistic seeing Jalen step up a few times and make nice throws... But the Auburn game picked a lot of scabs. The kid wears out a path to the right sideline. The OC does him very few favors though... Hopefully that changes since it's the quickest fix.

 

[94 Grad]

This is what it is. Right here. As the year progressed I was optimistic seeing Jalen step up a few times and make nice throws... But the Auburn game picked a lot of scabs. The kid wears out a path to the right sideline. The OC does him very few favors though... Hopefully that changes since it's the quickest fix.

That's the same defense that kept clemson to 14 points too... it wasn't like we were playing a half assed defense as much as I hate to say it.

Auburn didn't miss many, if any tackles and played a pretty damn near perfect game on defense. Also it was in their house which from what I could tell was rocking.

Jalen played just fine in just about every game he has played. He's not a Baker Mayfield, but he's not a 5 year starting QB yet either.

 

[TerryP]

Want to know the difference between an athlete playing qb, and a real qb ? Go look at Baker Mayfields numbers on third down.

I love Jalen, and I've supported him for two years, but at this point the numbers don't lie.

Interesting way to put that.

 

[Tidestalker]

That's the same defense that kept clemson to 14 points too... it wasn't like we were playing a half assed defense as much as I hate to say it.

Auburn didn't miss many, if any tackles and played a pretty damn near perfect game on defense. Also it was in their house which from what I could tell was rocking.

Jalen played just fine in just about every game he has played. He's not a Baker Mayfield, but he's not a 5 year starting QB yet either.

We have a pretty good defense and Stidham was able to make plays, repeatedly. I don't think anyone is asking Jalen to be special, but to struggle mightly on 3rd downs passes is at the very least troubling. So addressing it would make sense. When you're playing for titles "just fine" doesn't define 0'er on third down... Sorry.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

If you go back to the spring game 2016 ......Nick standing behind Jalen told him to start making his reads and stop running the ball..

We're still there as of today. The QB position at Bama is under performing in the passing game. Don't get personal.....it's the QB position.

.......The offensive scheme at times is offensive