Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
Nick Saban has always been perfectly clear about his philosophy on freshmen. If they can help his team win, he'll play them, whether it is the first game of the season or the last. Thus, Saturday's game against Southern Miss - the last non-conference game on the schedule until mid-November - isn't necessarily a cutoff point on which first-year players will be redshirted and which ones won't. But, depending on how the game unfolds, it might be worth watching some of the fourth-quarter substitutions.
We will never know what might have happened in the nearly eight minutes that were lost to lightning at the end of the Alabama-Florida Atlantic game. Saban reiterated on his Thursday night radio show that it was "frustrating" to lose those minutes because it would have provided an opportunity for extra reps including, presumably, for some players that ended up not getting into the game at all.
While things can change quickly with Saban, there do seem to be a few redshirt candidates. Defensively, Christian Miller has looked good in practice but can probably use another year of physical development. On offense, the same is probably true for wide receiver Derek Kief. David Cornwell at quarterback also shows promise, but won't get into the rotation this season unless something truly disastrous happens. A couple of the young offensive linemen - Ross Pierschbacher, J.C. Hassenauer, Josh Casher - may take a developmental year if they don't get in against Southern Miss.
There is always the flip side - freshmen who were going to make an impact for the first game, and will play every Saturday. That group includes tackle Cam Robinson on offense, linebacker Rashaan Evans on defense and punter JK Scott (except in those games, like last Saturday, when Alabama doesn't punt.)
You play guys like Robinson and Evans because they can help you win, and because a redshirt year is superfluous since they may only be around three years before looking to the NFL, and will certainly not be around after four years. Those are only two examples, not to omit DeShawn Hand, Tony Brown, Josh Frazier and so on.
The annual excitement over Alabama's perennial Top 5 recruiting classes (or, as often as not, No. 1) sets expectations for instant stardom higher than it should be. Saban went on one of his more high-intensity rants of fall practice about the media lauding freshmen too soon. "There's a word called development that nobody ever seems to acknowledge in sports any more," Saban fumed.
Still, Alabama's freshman participation/redshirt ratio is probably about where it should be for a strong, stable program. It contrasts with Tennessee, for instance. Head coach Butch Jones of the Vols said his team may play as many as 22 true freshmen at Oklahoma, which reflects a couple of things. First, it shows how the talent pool at Tennessee had depleted. Second, it is partly due to a huge 33-player signing class. Third, it probably doesn't bode well for the Big Orange's chances in Norman, but at least the experience will be valuable.
The current climate of college football requires that any program, even at the elite level, has to get at least some freshman help. Robinson, for instance, fills a glaring need. But after this weekend, you almost stop thinking of freshmen as freshmen and start thinking of them as players.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1680520
TideSports.com Columnist
Nick Saban has always been perfectly clear about his philosophy on freshmen. If they can help his team win, he'll play them, whether it is the first game of the season or the last. Thus, Saturday's game against Southern Miss - the last non-conference game on the schedule until mid-November - isn't necessarily a cutoff point on which first-year players will be redshirted and which ones won't. But, depending on how the game unfolds, it might be worth watching some of the fourth-quarter substitutions.
We will never know what might have happened in the nearly eight minutes that were lost to lightning at the end of the Alabama-Florida Atlantic game. Saban reiterated on his Thursday night radio show that it was "frustrating" to lose those minutes because it would have provided an opportunity for extra reps including, presumably, for some players that ended up not getting into the game at all.
While things can change quickly with Saban, there do seem to be a few redshirt candidates. Defensively, Christian Miller has looked good in practice but can probably use another year of physical development. On offense, the same is probably true for wide receiver Derek Kief. David Cornwell at quarterback also shows promise, but won't get into the rotation this season unless something truly disastrous happens. A couple of the young offensive linemen - Ross Pierschbacher, J.C. Hassenauer, Josh Casher - may take a developmental year if they don't get in against Southern Miss.
There is always the flip side - freshmen who were going to make an impact for the first game, and will play every Saturday. That group includes tackle Cam Robinson on offense, linebacker Rashaan Evans on defense and punter JK Scott (except in those games, like last Saturday, when Alabama doesn't punt.)
You play guys like Robinson and Evans because they can help you win, and because a redshirt year is superfluous since they may only be around three years before looking to the NFL, and will certainly not be around after four years. Those are only two examples, not to omit DeShawn Hand, Tony Brown, Josh Frazier and so on.
The annual excitement over Alabama's perennial Top 5 recruiting classes (or, as often as not, No. 1) sets expectations for instant stardom higher than it should be. Saban went on one of his more high-intensity rants of fall practice about the media lauding freshmen too soon. "There's a word called development that nobody ever seems to acknowledge in sports any more," Saban fumed.
Still, Alabama's freshman participation/redshirt ratio is probably about where it should be for a strong, stable program. It contrasts with Tennessee, for instance. Head coach Butch Jones of the Vols said his team may play as many as 22 true freshmen at Oklahoma, which reflects a couple of things. First, it shows how the talent pool at Tennessee had depleted. Second, it is partly due to a huge 33-player signing class. Third, it probably doesn't bode well for the Big Orange's chances in Norman, but at least the experience will be valuable.
The current climate of college football requires that any program, even at the elite level, has to get at least some freshman help. Robinson, for instance, fills a glaring need. But after this weekend, you almost stop thinking of freshmen as freshmen and start thinking of them as players.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1680520
