| FTBL Observations from rewatching the Bama/Vile game

mando

Member
Rewatching the game and stopping each play and reviewing. OL problem areas are still 71/55/79. At times they are fine but if pressure comes it is usually from that side or the D just brings more players than we can block. Another issue I see is if #23 is in the game he is not always laying the wood on the incoming blitzer which forces BY to have to move more. Same on rush offense same group is allowing penetration which of course can blow up the run. At times all of this worked well just had inconsistencies.

DL had their best game especially against the run. The DL is better when #94, #47 and #31 are in the game. If #92 is in there is a drop. Still was their best game from what I could see shutting the run down and controlling their gaps.

Of course the secondary had some hiccups but most of those were related to the fast pace and players not being aligned or ready. Fortunately that did not happen often.

The offenses ability to convert 3rd downs was hands down the difference in the game. Allowed for a huge difference in time of possession. By the 4th qtr Vile D was gassed.
 
I totally agree with your assessment of the offensive line. Dalcourt (#71) is getting it handed to him more often than not at center and Owens (#79) is not a RT. He's experienced which is why he's still out there, but he's taking valuable reps from guys like George, Brown and Kight that probably have a lot higher ceiling than he does. Overall, our line is smaller and weaker than recent years. This has been a challenge for our offense thus far and will definitely come calling in the second half of the season. As is, should be fortunate to play against Jawja in SECCG, CNS will have to go with a bigger lineup to handle their aggressive defensive front/scheme and run right at them. I have no doubt they are game planning for BAMA.

On defense, DJ Dale (#94) leaves a lot to be desired in his play. He is unable to take on a double team and hold the point. Texas A&M's freshman center (Foster) was destroying him all night and that been the problem with him all year. We got away form the Mt Cody's because of the tempo of Spread Teams. Now teams are running right at us between the tackles and we need a big space eater in the middle but we don't appear to have one. I would love to see us go to a Speed package with Anderson, Smith, Moody, Kennedy/Sanders (when healthy) Harris and To'o To'o. Create mismatches across the line while disguising stunts and blitz packages. On the back end, Daniel Wright never sees the field again as he is a tremendous liability even with his experience. Kool-Aid has to be on the field at all times. He is a bigger version of Dre Kirkpatrick and needs to play. Heck, teach him both safety and cornerback positions. Finally, we have to stop with so much man coverage and drop into more zone. It has been one of my biggest frustrations with our defense over the years. If you don't have the skilled players like Marlon Humphrey, D Milliner, Dre Kirkpatrick, or Patrick Surtain at corner with an Eddie Jackson/Minkah Fitzpatrick type at safety then it is tough and honestly we don't have that level of player in our secondary. (With that being said, JUST WOW at the level of talent that has come through our program!)

Finally, I have no doubt Bryce Young will continue to develop and wow us with his play. Hopefully, we display more of the speedy receivers along with Metchie and Williams and stretch the field. I'll say it again, if Earle is Waddle like, then turn him loose. If Leary is a 4.3 guy, then let him stretch he field. We need multiple home run threats on the field at the same time (i.e Jeudy, Ruggs, Waddle and Smith.) We are pretty good now but that lineup, our TEs and a scheme to match, we could be lethal (looking at you BoB).
 
At times they are fine but if pressure comes it is usually from that side or the D just brings more players than we can block
In the Tennessee game they over-loaded the gaps on the right side of the offensive line in the first half. Their adjustments in the second half included adding more run blitzes. We saw the same thing, as one example, against Grantham's defense: forewarned, but that's a different story all together.

This is one of those situations that's confounding. On offense, when Bama overloads the left and runs with a lot of success it isn't "they couldn't stop the run," it's all about credit to the scheme and personnel grouping.

But, when the situation is reversed and a defense is loading up on one side—having a true advantage in the numbers—it's now that side of the line is weak and they don't have a true tackle.

Just like the scales of justice, there are two sides that have to be weighed. But in critiques how often is that applied?
 
But, when the situation is reversed and a defense is loading up on one side—having a true advantage in the numbers—it's now that side of the line is weak and they don't have a true tackle.
Two points on this, I think it is not always the case that pressure comes just when it is overloaded, that is the case I am most concerned about. The 2nd part when we are outnumbered the QB has to either change the play or align the blocking accordingly. Maybe in this regards there is just so much you can do but if you have more players than you can block an adjustment has to be made. If pass hit your hot route. If run maybe you have to reposition a tight end or run to the other side. Maybe they are doing these things. BY can do math so if outnumbered an adjustment has to be made. Like I said maybe that is happening.
 
The only possibility to supplant him is Damien George.

We shall see.

I thought Latham was running with the 2's? At this point I wouldn't mind seeing Brockermeyer and Latham manning right guard and tackle. They did it with Jedrick Wills and Evan Neal. It's more about gaining the experience. Coach needs to look at the call he made in the Natty against Georgia and see if new blood can strike.
 
I thought Latham was running with the 2's? At this point I wouldn't mind seeing Brockermeyer and Latham manning right guard and tackle. They did it with Jedrick Wills and Evan Neal. It's more about gaining the experience. Coach needs to look at the call he made in the Natty against Georgia and see if new blood can strike.

I don't think Brockermeyer has taken a snap. He's not even with the #2 OL.

Latham has come in as the 2nd string OG. I have not seen him take a snap at OT. George is the #2 RT. Kight is the #2 LT.

Latham and George may be like Neal/Wills in the past. Not sure. Just saying Latham does not appear anywhere close to playing meaningful snaps at OT this year.
 
I am well aware I posted this after a 28 point win, total points 52 and gaining over 500 yards. As I said they do fine most plays but are inconsistent. I am aware that other team has good players also. I think there is a ceiling for 79 but he is not a push over either. It is just IF pressure comes it is likely from 71/55/79 as I stated. Does not happen all the time but if it happens one play in a series that may make it enough to end in a punt or worse.

BTW did not mention initially but 85 TE was moving the guy he was blocking.
 
I am well aware I posted this after a 28 point win, total points 52 and gaining over 500 yards. As I said they do fine most plays but are inconsistent. I am aware that other team has good players also. I think there is a ceiling for 79 but he is not a push over either. It is just IF pressure comes it is likely from 71/55/79 as I stated. Does not happen all the time but if it happens one play in a series that may make it enough to end in a punt or worse.

BTW did not mention initially but 85 TE was moving the guy he was blocking.


They are going to have to use Randolph and the Jumbo TE set more the rest of the year to be able to run the ball better.

The run game statistically hasn't been bad, but a lot of that is BRob being really good. And running left has been good - running right not so much.
 
Early in camp I know the staff was high on Latham, and I expected him to take over at right tackle by now. As mentioned, he's since gotten most of his work at guard (but can sill play tackle if needed). I'll will say, there are some parallels between Chris Owens getting continued starts at tackle stuff to the Jalen Hurts getting continued starts late in the 2017 season. Saban was the only one in the building who wanted to keep Hurts in the starting role (especially in the playoffs), but his opinion was/is the only one that matters in the end. It took a, 'we can absolutely no longer win with this...' type situation for Saban to finally make the change and put in Tua. The rest there is history, literally. We've talked about how Saban views Owens as not just a player, but as a leader and corner piece to the team. He's different than 95% of the players on the roster, and I think that is why Saban is giving him a very long rope. But, the Hurts situation shows us, he's also willing to eventually concede if a situation becomes completely untenable.
 
Hurts is a NFL starting QB now and won a lot of games for Bama. Point being Tua vs Hurts was not as black and white as we make it sound. Same with Owen he has talent just may not be enough against the most talented DL we will face.
 
What I find more concerning are a few things. A BOL insider says they've had open competition in weekly practice for several weeks now at RT, and Owens keeps beating out George and Latham. They can't out-perform him.

Whenever George and Latham get in the games, I don't know if they look great (I haven't gone back and evaluated it). That's a concern. Latham was as can't miss a OT prospect as you can get and he's currently nowhere near the lineage of past OTs as freshmen (Cam, Jonah, Wills, Leatherwood, Neal....). Brockermeyer isn't even 2nd string.

They've got another top OT in the 2022 class (Tyler Booker) and are looking to flip Goodwin (the giant kid who is a UK commit). Hopefully their recruiting evals weren't off. Hopefully Marrone is as good an OL coach as Saban says. That's the key to winning a title in 2022.
 
Back
Top Bottom