🏈 We're gonna be good... real good...

[jdpas29]

Seriously, after pondering the changes in personnel and all things considered, I think the 2014 Tide will be a very good team. However, I expect it to be a different kind of good than we have been used to. I expect them to be extremely scappy and physical coming off of this 2013 year in which a few positions got handled in big games.

I expect that no matter who wins the QB position, it will be someone with a lot of running ability. That is something we haven't had or used in many years... really prior to the Saban era. That alone will change the team dynamic on offense.

Our group of RBs will be the best in the country. BEWSCH!!!

Our group of WRs will be amongst the top 10 in the country. BEWSCH!!!

The defense has been rightly embarrassed in a couple of games in 2013 and I think they will take each other to task in the off-season. A-day will probably be a hard-hitting game.

RTR!

 

[PhillyGirl]

Seriously, after pondering the changes in personnel and all things considered, I think the 2014 Tide will be a very good team. However, I expect it to be a different kind of good than we have been used to. I expect them to be extremely scappy and physical coming off of this 2013 year in which a few positions got handled in big games.

I expect that no matter who wins the QB position, it will be someone with a lot of running ability. That is something we haven't had or used in many years... really prior to the Saban era. That alone will change the team dynamic on offense.

Our group of RBs will be the best in the country. BEWSCH!!!

Our group of WRs will be amongst the top 10 in the country. BEWSCH!!!

The defense has been rightly embarrassed in a couple of games in 2013 and I think they will take each other to task in the off-season. A-day will probably be a hard-hitting game.

RTR!

I was thinking about this earlier as well .. must be one of those days :twothumbs: I have a really good feeling about this year. Last year felt off from the beginning .. didn't think it would end in the way it did, but it just never felt right. This year, I just feel real good about it all. New coaches, new players, new QB, new chip on the shoulder. Last season was humbling and I think it shook some sense into the guys who weren't fully on board. Championship or not, I am really excited for another season of Alabama football. And also excited to see all of the changes and growth the team has undergone.

 

[bama alum]

2014 defensive line might be the best we've seen in a while, too.

 

[bamaraider]

Lot of inexperience though. Sometimes that can be a good problem, sometimes bad. Just depends on the execution and the kind of team chemistry the team will have. The 2008 team had only 9 seniors and I believe only two early departures (Andre Smith and Glen Coffee). What made that team so great was the leadership, the motivation (people had us going 8-5 to 9-4 due to a hard schedule and the fact that we went 7-6 the year prior).

 

[silvermetalflake]

Lot of inexperience though. Sometimes that can be a good problem, sometimes bad. Just depends on the execution and the kind of team chemistry the team will have. The 2008 team had only 9 seniors and I believe only two early departures (Andre Smith and Glen Coffee). What made that team so great was the leadership, the motivation (people had us going 8-5 to 9-4 due to a hard schedule and the fact that we went 7-6 the year prior).

Well said. An army can have all the skilled soldiers it can gather but without an eminent field marshal, battles will be hard fought and losses quite possible. Great players are many; great leaders are few. So we won't really know the score until that first September whistle blows and the boys rush down the field. And even then it's only the beginning of seasonal growth as (hopefully) leadership emerges and matures? Until then, absolutely everything is just dice-roll speculation; necessary propaganda to keep team, school, and fan moral at an off-season simmer and to give us something to go "Hmmmmm" to while we'll on the john.

 

[jdpas29]

i enjoy speculation

 

[TerryP]

I agree with you on this team will be a good one [MENTION=13834]jdpas29[/MENTION]

But honestly, is that much of a statement? We've had very good teams for five years in a row now.

There's one thing that catches my eye and leads me to an assumption—an assumption based on how I define the team running. "I expect that no matter who wins the QB position, it will be someone with a lot of running ability."

Running ability? There's only one QB on our roster that fits that bill; Blake. Now, if by running ability that's defined by alluding pressure, scrambling, etc....now we've got more than one who fits that bill.

The biggest difference I expect this season is the percentage of times we run out of a spread formation. Right behind that is the use of a few positions: specifically the tight end, running back in the flat (which is a return to a staple of our team under Mac,) and the slot/inside receivers.

I've been putting some thought in on the tight end position the last few days...I'll get to posting those pretty soon and would love to hear your input.

 

[jdpas29]

The clips I've seen of Cooker running were impressive. He's big and deceptively fast. Also, Bateman had some running skills if he can maintain them after putting on some size. Those are my top 3 qbs from what I've seen so that's why I mentioned running ability. Nothing against any of the other qbs.

 

[TerryP]

All we can do is speculate on what we're going to see on offense this season. We can make educated guesses based on what's happened with Saban and Kiffin in the past.

I very well may be wrong, but I don't see plays being implemented that feature running from the QB position.

Like you, I do like what I've seen in clips; we've got some mobile quarterbacks.

Can you imagine what kind of reactions we'd see if we had a QB running play and see a guy get lost for the season?

 

[JoshB]

Its def. gonna be an interesting season to say the least. One thing I would love to see is even if Coker (or someone else) wins the QB job other than Sims, I wanna see Sims get some reps in a some sort of read option package. He would give us something we've never had, even when we ran the wildcat nobody really feared the pass (even tho Maze threw one TD from it).

 

[It Takes Eleven]

All we can do is speculate on what we're going to see on offense this season. We can make educated guesses based on what's happened with Saban and Kiffin in the past.

I very well may be wrong, but I don't see plays being implemented that feature running from the QB position.

Like you, I do like what I've seen in clips; we've got some mobile quarterbacks.

Can you imagine what kind of reactions we'd see if we had a QB running play and see a guy get lost for the season?

That's really how much our mindset has has transitioned from Tyler Watts running the ball and getting hurt (rushed for 162 yards against SC, a game we had no business losing), and Brodie not being able to get out of his own way against Western Carolina I believe.

We've had it pretty good, and we've done a great job of keeping players on the field. When was the last time a Bama QB was injured enough to not start a game?

RTR,

Tim

 

[TerryP]

That's really how much our mindset has has transitioned from Tyler Watts running the ball and getting hurt (rushed for 162 yards against SC, a game we had no business losing), and Brodie not being able to get out of his own way against Western Carolina I believe.

We've had it pretty good, and we've done a great job of keeping players on the field. When was the last time a Bama QB was injured enough to not start a game?

RTR,

Tim

Croyle and Guillon in 2004.

EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about this JPW had a concussion in 2006 but played in our next game...if I'm recalling this correctly the biggest concern about him was the opportunity to sit back and relax. We didn't get a week off that season as I recall.

 

[bamaraider]

[MENTION=12209]TerryP[/MENTION] why do you expect us to run more from the spread this year than last? I'd think with a new QB breaking in and what Henry and Yeldon bring to the table, we'd go more I-Formation and one-back.

 

[TerryP]

[MENTION=17619]bamaraider[/MENTION]

There are several reasons I think we'll have more of a spread look. One of them you touched on; what Yeldon and Henry bring to the table.

One thing we got away from last year was a staple in our offense the past few seasons. Prior to Nuss taking the OC role our offense consistently was getting RB's in space in the passing game with short, dump-off type routes. In a single back set, with guys like Coop and Jones on the outside, it sets us up nicely.

If you look at what we've got coming back in our receiving corps, right at 80% of our production is returning.

Kiffin will install more of a passing threat with the TE's. It's been his MO as a play caller. He's habitually sent two and three receivers 12-15 yards down field and dropped a TE underneath the linebackers—in space.

We saw a move last year in relying more on passing yards (which is somewhat of an oddity considering the number of first downs was practically dead even on rushing versus passing plays.) While the QB position is going to have a new guy, I don't see him being asked to deal with two guys running routes leaving him being asked to "thread the needle" in double coverages.

By spread, my reference (and use of the term) isn't defined by a five wide set like a lot of other people. It's an offensive approach that leaves your playmakers in space.

(Perhaps I just ban myself from using the term spread. It carries so many different definitions depending on who you're talking to...)

On a side note: If asked...no, make that I'm asking. Who do you point to when you look at the roster and think about who will replace Norwood's productivity? I think we see Raheem Falkins turn heads.

 

[TerryP]

[MENTION=11353]It Takes Eleven[/MENTION] I don't know why, but this line kept coming back to me last night: "That's really how much our mindset has has transitioned from Tyler Watts running the ball and getting hurt."

How much of the mindset change is due to the two teams we're comparing?

When I think about Tyler and injury I don't believe we'd have had a drop-off in offensive productivity or in our scheme. We didn't with a guy like Zow in the wings.

Now, using last year as example, how much of a change would we have seen with McCarron getting hurt and Blake taking snaps?

This year is an unknown. But, it certainly is unsettling thinking how our starter could go down and we'd be looking at another guy, unproven with little experience, taking the snaps.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

<!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: dbtech_usertag_mention --> @It Takes Eleven <!-- END TEMPLATE: dbtech_usertag_mention --> I don't know why, but this line kept coming back to me last night: "That's really how much our mindset has has transitioned from Tyler Watts running the ball and getting hurt."

How much of the mindset change is due to the two teams we're comparing?

When I think about Tyler and injury I don't believe we'd have had a drop-off in offensive productivity or in our scheme. We didn't with a guy like Zow in the wings.

Now, using last year as example, how much of a change would we have seen with McCarron getting hurt and Blake taking snaps?

This year is an unknown. But, it certainly is unsettling thinking how our starter could go down and we'd be looking at another guy, unproven with little experience, taking the snaps.

[MENTION=12209]TerryP[/MENTION] - You're right, having Zow was a luxury few appreciated at the time. That Fran mindset of "multiple" offense that varied significantly and took what the D gave us each week is long gone from most folks' memory banks, how we would run the option one week and sling it another. A running QB gets hurt more often than not, even more so now than 10 years ago, I believe, with ever increasing sizes of players hitting and landing on the QB. Beyond that, how we've avoided significant QB injuries is how championships are won. AJ wouldn't have been able to match Greg as a true Freshman, and I believe Sims or whoever the replacement would be for AJ would've had a rough go of it either of the last two years.

RTR,

Tim

 

[silvermetalflake]

i enjoy speculation

LOL. And that's just why they do it! Off season speculation is to the game what bacon is to food; very little value but it sure does taste good. :icon_lol:

 

[planomateo]

LOL. And that's just why they do it! Off season speculation is to the game what bacon is to food; very little value but it sure does taste good. :icon_lol:

Bacon has lots of value :bluebiggrin:

 

[TerryP]

silvermetalflake...a guy not familiar with Andy Staples.

 

[rammerjammer]

Speaking of Fran and the offense he employed. Two things come to mind........Shaud Williams and the "Smoke Draw". The other, is the play action pass they would run out of the option play. That torched so many folks, it was ridiculous.