🏈 The news on Allen you've been waiting for...

[BamaFan334]

Unbelievable. Somebody is gonna have to explain to me how on Earth Allen did not receive a first round grade. Allen is one of my all time favorites so I'm beyond excited I get to watch him play for the Tide again next year but damn I will be nervous about him staying healthy another season. An injury would be a disaster. Maybe he will be able to get one of those pre-draft insurance policies ?

Pretty sure Mel Kiperhad him in the 15-20 range. Not that that is a scouting grade, but he is pretty close with his work.

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

This was the only way I could think of to improve this thread.

Sent from my ASUS ZenFone 2E using Tapatalk

 

[BamaAgrarian]

Allen received a second-round grade from the NFL Draft Advisory Board, according to the Alabama Media Group.

Jonathan Allen plans to stay at 'Bama; Will O.J. Howard join him? - NFL.com

 

[bama alum]

Pretty sure Mel Kiperhad him in the 15-20 range. Not that that is a scouting grade, but he is pretty close with his work.

Yeah, I think he had him #19 to the Bills.

Great news that he's coming back!

 

[PurlJam]

The depth on the front 7 will be really interesting to watch. There's just not much experience besides to usual suspects.

I would love to see them move Rashaan Evans to MLB. He's clearly a gifted pass rusher, but with our scheme there's very little chance he's going to be a 3 down LB. He's just not big enough to set the edge in run defense.

We have Ryan Anderson and Tim Williams both coming back at that position, and both can likely be 3 down players. Moving Evans to MLB could allow him to make plays as a run defender, spy, coverage line backer, and/or allow him to pass rush on third downs like Hightower and Ragland.

The kid is just amazingly explosive and knows how to make plays. Can't wait to see him on the field more next year... Just a matter of how much more.

Rashaan will have to put a few bricks in his back pocket to play MLB, imo, 225 is a little light for our middle man.

 

[EasyTider]

My hope is that Evans can add 15lbs without losing a step. He appears to have the frame. How big was Dilion Lee?

 

[JoshB]

My hope is that Evans can add 15lbs without losing a step. He appears to have the frame. How big was Dilion Lee?

242... CJ Mosley was barely over 230 tho.

 

[Bama Ravens]

Yeah, Evans kind of has a frame similar to Mosely.

 

[Tidestalker]

Rashaan will have to put a few bricks in his back pocket to play MLB, imo, 225 is a little light for our middle man.

Well our JLB's have played anywhere from 230 - 265 over the years... (Upshaw, Devall, even Anderson is 250)

He's undersized regardless.

 

[BamaFan334]

My hope is that Evans can add 15lbs without losing a step. He appears to have the frame. How big was Dilion Lee?

6'4-250

 

[PurlJam]

242... CJ Mosley was barely over 230 tho.

If baby brother Mosely puts on about 15 lbs. that would put him around 235, at 6' 5", he has the potential to be a terror.

 

[Tidestalker]

If baby brother Mosely puts on about 15 lbs. that would put him around 235, at 6' 5", he has the potential to be a terror.

This for sure!!! In some of the drills I saw him do, he looked great. He was actually ahead of a few scholarship guys too... I think Christian Miller was one of them.

Terrific walk on prospect. At some point he will be a contributor, at worst a really good special teams player.

 

[Bamabacker]

Listening to the First Team this morning discussing underclassmen whose intentions were to enter the NFL... so far a total of 98! WOW... That's around the number of all draft pick choices for the first 3 rounds of the draft. Evidently there are a lot of over inflated opinions of their NFL chances and or some nefarious agents talking these guys into taking the chance to get out of school. There will be a lot of disappointed juniors in a few months without a job or degree. Even though J. Allen was a likely draft pick, he was wise to finish his senior year.

 

[Rolltide24]

There was an article on Al.com.this morning listing the Barn plauers that have left early since 2005. Gosh, some weren't even drafted, and several were 3rd round or later. Take away Cam, Fairley and a recent offensive tackle, and none were even 2nd rounders. Completely different culture there. I know LSU has had a culture of 3 and done since Miles came on board. They've probably led the college ranks in juniors leaving.

I realize we've had Vinnie, Lagan and Hubbard and maybe a couple others leave before exhausting their eligibility. But for the most part, they've been top picks and successful. Hopefully there will be an article soon listing our early departures and their results. We've had a bunch of success stories of guys coming back for their final year and increasing their value.

 

[Che Boludo]

There was an article on Al.com.this morning listing the Barn plauers that have left early since 2005. Gosh, some weren't even drafted, and several were 3rd round or later. Take away Cam, Fairley and a recent offensive tackle, and none were even 2nd rounders. Completely different culture there. I know LSU has had a culture of 3 and done since Miles came on board. They've probably led the college ranks in juniors leaving.

I realize we've had Vinnie, Lagan and Hubbard and maybe a couple others leave before exhausting their eligibility. But for the most part, they've been top picks and successful. Hopefully there will be an article soon listing our early departures and their results. We've had a bunch of success stories of guys coming back for their final year and increasing their value.

As much as winning and playing in a proven NFL pipeline attracts top talent, the emphasis UA has placed on strengthening its academic reputation and the focus the athletic department has placed on developing and graduating student-athletes resonates the most with parents and aids overall recruiting.

You may remember this report from DEC where the top 25 were ranked in terms of Academics and grad rates. BAMA was still a top 3 team, which is a good drum to beat in living rooms when recruiting.
Academic Football Playoff Series 2014 - EdCentral

Meanwhile, from the same article:
"Despite the high price tag for its student-athlete academic center, LSU ranks 18 on our list this year and has the second lowest federal football graduation rate at 45 percent."

Coincidentally, it was CNS that took the lead in raising funds for LSU'S academic center while at LSU. I guess it's one thing to have the asset. It's another to put the strategy together to make it work, which requires recruiting the right type, building the right culture, and receiving the right support from the institution to make it all work.

 

[TerryP]

As much as winning and playing in a proven NFL pipeline attracts top talent, the emphasis UA has placed on strengthening its academic reputation and the focus the athletic department has placed on developing and graduating student-athletes resonates the most with parents and aids overall recruiting

I realize we've had Vinnie, Lagan and Hubbard and maybe a couple others leave before exhausting their eligibility.

Two of the three cited here left Tuscaloosa with degree in hand.

 

[TerryP]

I could also see there being some injury or lingering health concerns that may have come up in the draft process.

We talked about this in another thread a bit ... money, versus degree, versus other things he was considering.

Surgery coming up soon on his shoulder ... labrum.

The decision came down to 1) get shoulder fixed 2) graduate in December, 3) earn a 1st round grade.

 

[UAgrad93]

The shoulder injury would have forced him to miss parts of the combine and potentially hurt his draft stock!

 

[Tidestalker]

We talked about this in another thread a bit ... money, versus degree, versus other things he was considering.

Surgery coming up soon on his shoulder ... labrum.

The decision came down to 1) get shoulder fixed 2) graduate in December, 3) earn a 1st round grade.

Figured as much. He's a beast to play through that and still be able to dominate.

Injuries have kept guys out of the draft and damn near accounted for Alabama Championships...

Mark Baron & Donta Hightower both had to come back an extra year and made that 2011 D absolutely dominant.

 

[Rolltide24]

Today Al.com discussed the Bama players who have left with eligibilty remaining in the Saban era. Geez, 10 of the 11 that left prior to the mass exodus in 2014 were 1st round picks. The 11th, Lacy, was a 2nd rounder. That's just unheard of.