| RECRUIT Recruiting News: The Alabama class of 2017

[Tidestalker]

I'm still amazed at Sheffield's knee-jerk reaction to last season's depth chart. The way it played out, there was a lot of reps to be had and this season would have opened all possibilities. Still, last season brought a lot of young talent in at DB and it's really hard to imagine why we needed a JUCO at the position.

No doubt. Sheffield hit the road quick. I think I just read he's committed to Ohio State now. He would have had a great shot to slide in and start next year.

And I absolutely think a JUCO or transfer is necessary. The way Averette folded in the championship game and I don't see any reason not to get a bigger/stronger/more experienced guy in the mix. There are a lot of talented youngsters, we have plenty of those, but experience is not something we have at CB (unless Minkah moves back).

 

[TerryP]

The way Averette folded in the championship game and I don't see any reason not to get a bigger/stronger/more experienced guy in the mix

In the playoff's, he was targeted 18 times and gave up seven completions. His defensive stats were better in the playoffs than the regular season (including SECCG) where he was targeted 40 times and gave up 18 completions.

If there's one knock on AA's play this year it's how many PI's were called on him. Granted, he was targeted more than any other defensive back on the Tide's squad (four more than Humph.) At season's end the defense had nine PI's called, four on AA.

 

[TerryP]

Frankly, Gary Johnson was another one even more bewildering to me out of the JUCO ranks this cycle.

How so? He couldn't get into any SEC school due to academics.

 

[TUSKtimes]

How so? He couldn't get into any SEC school due to academics.

We have Mack Wilson, Ben Davis, Christian Miller, Rashaan Evans, Keith Holcombe, Dion Hamilton, Anfernee Jennings and with 4 freshmen blue chippers coming this year, why did we need to go JUCO?

 

[BamaFan334]

No doubt. Sheffield hit the road quick. I think I just read he's committed to Ohio State now. He would have had a great shot to slide in and start next year.

And I absolutely think a JUCO or transfer is necessary. The way Averette folded in the championship game and I don't see any reason not to get a bigger/stronger/more experienced guy in the mix. There are a lot of talented youngsters, we have plenty of those, but experience is not something we have at CB (unless Minkah moves back).

You serious? Averette didn't fold. He was our best corner all year long, especially while being targeted more. I felt twenty times more comfortable with him than I did Humphrey. And spare me the Mike Williams catches, as he was widely publicized as the best receiver in college football and held in check until the last drive where he made some great catches most couldn't. You must have watched a different set of games this year than I did. For a first tine starter playing the most difficult schedule in the country, yeah, he held up.

 

[#80]

You serious? Averette didn't fold. He was our best corner all year long, especially while being targeted more. I felt twenty times more comfortable with him than I did Humphrey. And spare me the Mike Williams catches, as he was widely publicized as the best receiver in college football and held in check until the last drive where he made some great catches most couldn't. You must have watched a different set of games this year than I did. For a first tine starter playing the most difficult schedule in the country, yeah, he held up.

I agree I thought Averette had the most progress from season start to finish by far.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Big news for Alabama regarding one of its top commits
One of the most important items for Alabama to accomplish this weekend was locking in one of its top commitments. It would appear as if the Tide checked the box on this.
One source close to the Alabama program told SEC Country that "Chris Allen is locked in." The 4-star linebacker from Baton Rouge, La. visited LSU last weekend, which obviously scared some Alabama fans. Allen was originally supposed to visit Tuscaloosa last weekend, but he rescheduled his visit to this weekend. That was because there was only one visitor last weekend in Tuscaloosa and the staff wanted him there this weekend because the majority of Alabama's commitments were going to be on campus.
Despite Allen's visit to LSU last weekend, the feel around the Alabama program was that Allen was more locked in than what those in Baton Rouge were saying.
Allen told SEC Country before he committed to Alabama that out of all the coaches he communicated with, he was closest with outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi. He's also said that he feels like Alabama presents the best opportunity for development.
We hope to get more from Allen and his family later on Sunday when official visits end, but this is big news for the Tide as several members of the coaching staff view him as a potential first-round pick when he declares for the NFL draft.

Alabama football: Updates, analysis from the Crimson Tide’s recruiting weekend 14 hours ago

 

[TerryP]

We have Mack Wilson, Ben Davis, Christian Miller, Rashaan Evans, Keith Holcombe, Dion Hamilton, Anfernee Jennings and with 4 freshmen blue chippers coming this year, why did we need to go JUCO?

Don't get too hung up on the JUCO thing here. Johnson was a target of this staff back when he was coming up through Douglas. IF he'd qualified as a HS Sr., he'd be on the Tide team now.

His one year of playing at DCCC he recorded over 130 tackles and over 7o of those were solo's. As I recall he had close to 10 sacks his frosh year there and four or five INT's (two were pick 6's.) I saw Johnson as the replacement guy for Adonis Thomas scooting in the summer of last year.

While you've mentioned several guys here that have a lot of potential, there's only two that we can say have more experience--Evans and Hamilton. Wilson, Miller, Jennings, et al. have been on the field in each game this year but it's been primarily special teams roles with "breathers" for the starters.

 

[Tidestalker]

In the playoff's, he was targeted 18 times and gave up seven completions. His defensive stats were better in the playoffs than the regular season (including SECCG) where he was targeted 40 times and gave up 18 completions.

If there's one knock on AA's play this year it's how many PI's were called on him. Granted, he was targeted more than any other defensive back on the Tide's squad (four more than Humph.) At season's end the defense had nine PI's called, four on AA.

I have no problem with what he did throughout the season. Against Clemson he either got run over in run support or ran away. The last PI call was a terrible mental mistake with help over the top. He was physically and mentally beat half way through the 3rd.

All in all I still think he's a solid CB, but he's far from being on the same level as our other top returning CB's... And not above getting beat out by a stud transfer.

 

[TerryP]

I agree I thought Averette had the most progress from season start to finish by far.

As I recall he was the leading tacklers against USC to start the season ... and they didn't get anything through the air that day.

AA didn't have any picks this past season and I believe that tends to shade some people's opinion of how he did. He did give up fewer TD's than Marlon and Ronnie despite being targeted more.

 

[Tidestalker]

You serious? Averette didn't fold. He was our best corner all year long, especially while being targeted more. I felt twenty times more comfortable with him than I did Humphrey. And spare me the Mike Williams catches, as he was widely publicized as the best receiver in college football and held in check until the last drive where he made some great catches most couldn't. You must have watched a different set of games this year than I did. For a first tine starter playing the most difficult schedule in the country, yeah, he held up.

He folded against Clemson. Please re watch the second half.

 

[rolltide66]

What does the DBackfield look like for next year?
Not sure how meaningful their playing time was (other than ST work) but I see that 2016 recruits
Carter (9games)
Robinson (13 games) and
Mayden (4 games)
2014
D Thompson (14 games)
with returning guys who played a good bit
(Hootie 15 games 2 starts)
Wallace (11 games)
(TBrown 11 games 7 starts)
(Ronnie Harrison 15 games 15 Starts
like Minkah)
I have to admit, injuries scared it all out of me.... anyone have the scoop on the DB's for 2017? appearances seem to indicate we are kinda ok, but one season ending injury could be a real disaster
looks like one of the 2017 guys is already on campus...

 

[Tidestalker]

As I recall he was the leading tacklers against USC to start the season ... and they didn't get anything through the air that day.

AA didn't have any picks this past season and I believe that tends to shade some people's opinion of how he did. He did give up fewer TD's than Marlon and Ronnie despite being targeted more.

PI calls are helpful when limiting a Touchdown statistic.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Don't get too hung up on the JUCO thing here. Johnson was a target of this staff back when he was coming up through Douglas. IF he'd qualified as a HS Sr., he'd be on the Tide team now.

His one year of playing at DCCC he recorded over 130 tackles and over 7o of those were solo's. As I recall he had close to 10 sacks his frosh year there and four or five INT's (two were pick 6's.) I saw Johnson as the replacement guy for Adonis Thomas scooting in the summer of last year.

While you've mentioned several guys here that have a lot of potential, there's only two that we can say have more experience--Evans and Hamilton. Wilson, Miller, Jennings, et al. have been on the field in each game this year but it's been primarily special teams roles with "breathers" for the starters.

If we don't get Miller, Holcombe, and Evans on the field soon, they'll be gone. These 5 and 4-star recruits coming in call themselves "savages" and they tell us they don't fear competition, but they also have never sat on the bench and waited their turn. Some are built for that emotionally more so than others, as last year's exodus proved out. It's also just as possible that not getting Gary Johnson, as a junior, could have helped ultimately in finalizing Moses commit and this year's banner crop of LBs to Tuscaloosa, regardless of their slogans and philosophy on competing.

 

[TerryP]

All in all I still think he's a solid CB, but he's far from being on the same level as our other top returning CB's... And not above getting beat out by a stud transfer.

You're right. There's not another returning CB with his experience, or his ability as I see it and by all accounts the staff sees it the same way.

Out of curiousity, to whom are you referring to when you are making comparisons?

(For what it's worth, this seems like a continuation of the conversations we had pre-season about the corners where I kept point to Averett and we didn't see eye to eye.)

PI calls are helpful when limiting a Touchdown statistic.

Look at Marlon: gave up four TD's this past season with one PI.

 

[Tidestalker]

You're right. There's not another returning CB with his experience, or his ability as I see it and by all accounts the staff sees it the same way.

Out of curiousity, to whom are you referring to when you are making comparisons?

(For what it's worth, this seems like a continuation of the conversations we had pre-season about the corners where I kept point to Averett and we didn't see eye to eye.)




Look at Marlon: gave up four TD's this past season with one PI.

Guys that weren't in question to be beat out:

Dre K
Milliner
Cyrus (jr to senior)
Arenas
Menzie

The Humphrey points you make are valid... Because I don't think he's much better than Averette.

I think you were right on AA from the beginning. He was a nice surprise and good player this year.

I also think he folded in the championship game and costed the D greatly. I've said on here many times that there should have been some type of sub pattern to help him out, but either way he was mush in second half.

Will some RS' kids like Knott or Mayden beat him out the way Humphrey beat AA and other CB's out after a red shirt year? Probably not, but I don't think AA is above competition like the previously mentioned. PI calls and lack of physicality would be biggest concerns.

 

[Tidestalker]

If we don't get Miller, Holcombe, and Evans on the field soon, they'll be gone. These 5 and 4-star recruits coming in call themselves "savages" and they tell us they don't fear competition, but they also have never sat on the bench and waited their turn. Some are built for that emotionally more so than others, as last year's exodus proved out. It's also just as possible that not getting Gary Johnson, as a junior, could have helped ultimately in finalizing Moses commit and this year's banner crop of LBs to Tuscaloosa, regardless of their slogans and philosophy on competing.

MLB is a huge concern. One injury last season showed how little trust Saban & CO had in the younger backups (Did anyone not named Evans/Foster play a snap last 2 games?)

Now we have SDH coming off an injury which is always concerning. Those guys are always battling injuries due to the nature of position. Having 4 solid options seems ideal, the more the merrier.

Evans is going to start and play a ton. Miller is an OLB also known as a defensive end at Alabama since they are never in coverage (OK maybe once a game). Either Holcombe, Davis, or Mack Wilson is getting pinched next year with Johnson in the fold. Then we lose SDH and Evans and they all get to play. Might work out perfectly.

 

[TerryP]

If we don't get Miller, Holcombe, and Evans on the field soon, they'll be gone. These 5 and 4-star recruits coming in call themselves "savages" and they tell us they don't fear competition, but they also have never sat on the bench and waited their turn. Some are built for that emotionally more so than others, as last year's exodus proved out. It's also just as possible that not getting Gary Johnson, as a junior, could have helped ultimately in finalizing Moses commit and this year's banner crop of LBs to Tuscaloosa, regardless of their slogans and philosophy on competing.

With the linebackers, specifically, there were two that left after spring ball; Thomas and Bell. Both of those guys were looking at being a 3 on the depth chart this season, at best. I strongly suspect they heard what they wanted to hear when they were being recruited considering all of the guys are pitched about the same thing when they are at their level, "...the ability to compete for a playing role."

Those you've mentioned here are part of that group willing to bide their time just like the guys in front of them have been.

For me, it's hard to say what made Moses finally pull the trigger. I have my doubts it had much to do with Johnson considering Moses has had an offer from Bama since 2013 and Moses committed before Johnson found out he wouldn't qualify.

 

[TerryP]

Will some RS' kids like Knott or Mayden beat him out the way Humphrey beat AA and other CB's out after a red shirt year? Probably not, but I don't think AA is above competition like the previously mentioned. PI calls and lack of physicality would be biggest concerns.

Will Averett be injured like he was after his red-shirt year? Remember, he didn't play in half of the Tide's games his sophomore year because he was battling through injuries the entire season.

 

[TerryP]

Now we have SDH coming off an injury which is always concerning.

FWIW, this isn't an Upshaw type of injury he's got with his knee. His doctors are saying he'll be running soon.

Either Holcombe, Davis, or Mack Wilson is getting pinched next year with Johnson in the fold. Then we lose SDH and Evans and they all get to play. Might work out perfectly

? Lost me.