🏈 Will Anderson Jr.

[It Takes Eleven]

All about consistency to me. More than one or two games in either direction. The D has not performed consistently at a high level under PG's leadership. I do not see a highly confident group which impacts your energy, ability to play fast and play the next play when something goes wrong. This is the up and down that we see. I still do not like the fact we cannot hold the point and there are yards to be had running the ball between the tackles. Is that the Jimmy's and Joes, scheme, coaching etc...? I am sure it is a combination of all of it.

The only thing I remember reading about Anderson from official sources was how much of a warrior he's been at playing at a high level while dealing with injuries. I'm not sure there's been a basis for any meaningful criticism of him.

 

[mando]

The only thing I remember reading about Anderson from official sources was how much of a warrior he's been at playing at a high level while dealing with injuries. I'm not sure there's been a basis for any meaningful criticism of him.

Completely agree on Anderson. We need others to step up. Playing with confidence cannot be overstated but it comes from having success. They have shown they can at times but can they do it consistently game to game or even with in a game?

 

[Tidestalker]

He's a beast. Said it before the season and it's coming to fruition that he's got a chance to be the most dominant pass rusher in the Saban era... And basically already is. The impressive thing to me is how he's played the run and racked up TFL's as well. He's just a great player and has a great approach... Not to mention, the dude is playing hurt!

@TerryP - I've asked a few different times and maybe I've missed the answer, but what happened to Braswell? Is he just flat burried on the depth chart? If I remember correctly, Will was actually thought of as an under the radar guy compared to Braswell in that class before the All-Star games... Braswell can be really good in Crimson also.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

I have two knees and neither jerk over a couple or three games in a season: this one or last.

How bout over 3 seasons

 

[alabama mike]

He played an outstanding game! Happy for him.

We just need to be consistent in all phases of the game, that’s my biggest problem with this team.

 

[rick4bama]

Will is the 1st player since Derrick Thomas (1988) to record 4 sacks in a game.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

 

[JoshB]

I didn't understand the heat Anderson was taking last week at all. He's one of the few that Saban has been more than pleased with from the jump. He's job got harder when Allen went down, then even more so when Sanders went down... but he's still going out there and playing his ass off. He had a captainship locked up in spring, which is pretty remarkable for a guy who hadn't played a down of his 2nd season yet. That's how much he's respected in that locker room. The dude is just special. If he wore #55 I'd think we were in a time warp.

To be fair, it was primarily just me... and I was likely being overly critical. Have no issue admitting it.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

To be fair, it was primarily just me... and I was likely being overly critical. Have no issue admitting it.

I don't think it was just you and it certainly wasn't limited to this site, but admitting it is commendable as most never would. I'm still trying to swallow my wrongness on Missouri this year before I move onto any other crow dishes on my table. I'm saving my, "Justin Herbert will be a bust in the NFL" takes for a festive holiday meal.

 

[BamaFan334]

I don't think it was just you and it certainly wasn't limited to this site, but admitting it is commendable as most never would. I'm still trying to swallow my wrongness on Missouri this year before I move onto any other crow dishes on my table. I'm saving my, "Justin Herbert will be a bust in the NFL" takes for a festive holiday meal.

I'm with you on Herbert. I saw zero outside of size that made me believe he would be a star in the NFL.

 

[TerryP]

All about consistency to me. More than one or two games in either direction. The D has not performed consistently at a high level under PG's leadership. I do not see a highly confident group which impacts your energy, ability to play fast and play the next play when something goes wrong. This is the up and down that we see. I still do not like the fact we cannot hold the point and there are yards to be had running the ball between the tackles. Is that the Jimmy's and Joes, scheme, coaching etc...? I am sure it is a combination of all of it.

At some point you're going to have to accept reality and you're going to have to accept what the leader of the program has said, repeatedly.

 

[TerryP]

Because the whole product has just swept you off your feet?

30-3. That's the whole product. Three losses where you can't fault the defense, or Golding, for all those losses.

"OH, but look at A&M?" Okay, let's talk about eight dropped passes or a lot of mistakes made by the team as a whole. That "whole product thing," ya know?

As Coach Stallings famouly quiped, "there's nothing wrong with expecting excellence." That .900 winning percentage we've seen with Golding coordinating the defense?

Excellence.

 

[TerryP]

How bout over 3 seasons

I have two knees and neither jerk over a couple or three games in a season: this one or last.

Three seasons, three losses. Last season, no losses. Two in '19. One of those where your target de jour was Mac because of two interceptions. You weren't harping on Pete, you were on Mac.

You were right in the middle of the group fretting going into Ole Miss this season due to the Bama loss last season. The same goes for the Bama loss to Florida in the SECCG last season.

I know you hate to read this but the defensive plan Golding put together to line Anderson up over Lashley is why Anderson had the game he did. It was a solid defensive game plan. Credit is due if you're going to blame him for everything including things that don't belong at his feet.

I know you didn't pay attention to Saban at Michigan State, I have my doubt you paid attention to him at LSU. But the fact remains.

Playing a 3-4 over/under defense is susceptible over the middle with late routes with tight ends, running backs, et al. The collegiate football world has seen that with Saban's defense since he was in Lansing.

This "alternate view" you're suggesting I take is this: looking at the entire picture in its context. It's no different than people bitching about Bobby Williams because we had kickers missing field goals when Williams didn't work directly with the kickers. Or, complaining about a returned kick off when a player got out of his lane: all on the player forgetting his...wait for it...responsibility.

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The next time I miss a putt I'm going to blame it on the greenskeeper; not the fact I read the putt wrong. I should fit in nicely in future conversations.

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I really don't understand how people get so emotionally wrapped up in things out of their control. Especially, when they are "looking through a glass darkly."

 

[BamaFisher]

Current 2021 Defensive Rankings:

NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com

Discover the current NCAA FBS Football leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

www.ncaa.com

We’re #16 - the only SEC school ahead of Bama is Georgia at #1.

 

[BamaFan334]

30-3. That's the whole product. Three losses where you can't fault the defense, or Golding, for all those losses.

"OH, but look at A&M?" Okay, let's talk about eight dropped passes or a lot of mistakes made by the team as a whole. That "whole product thing," ya know?

As Coach Stallings famouly quiped, "there's nothing wrong with expecting excellence." That .900 winning percentage we've seen with Golding coordinating the defense?

Excellence.

Bahahahaha! Come on man, you are so much better than this that your 30-3 comment is almost shameful. You dang well know the offense is behind most of those wins. Last year alone the offense had to beat Ole Miss and Florida. They have killed the will of so many teams it is unreal the last few years, so the defense was on easy street and is still giving up yards and points. Against truly formidable teams we are lacking. I use formidable with a little salt because we should be above 99.9% of teams on our schedule with the roster we have. Giving Golding credit for 30-3 is a slap in the face to Kiffin, Sarkesian, and now O'Brien. Golding gets some credit for this Ole Miss victory, but very other times did I see the defense dominate another team where the offense hadn't already given it a 14-21 point head start.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Bahahahaha! Come on man, you are so much better than this that your 30-3 comment is almost shameful. You dang well know the offense is behind most of those wins. Last year alone the offense had to beat Ole Miss and Florida. They have killed the will of so many teams it is unreal the last few years, so the defense was on easy street and is still giving up yards and points. Against truly formidable teams we are lacking. I use formidable with a little salt because we should be above 99.9% of teams on our schedule with the roster we have. Giving Golding credit for 30-3 is a slap in the face to Kiffin, Sarkesian, and now O'Brien. Golding gets some credit for this Ole Miss victory, but very other times did I see the defense dominate another team where the offense hadn't already given it a 14-21 point head start.

Much of this is true, but you have to have stops to get up 14-21. We weren't shutdown good last year, but where did we rank in the SEC?

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Three seasons, three losses. Last season, no losses. Two in '19. One of those where your target de jour was Mac because of two interceptions. You weren't harping on Pete, you were on Mac.

You were right in the middle of the group fretting going into Ole Miss this season due to the Bama loss last season. The same goes for the Bama loss to Florida in the SECCG last season.

I know you hate to read this but the defensive plan Golding put together to line Anderson up over Lashley is why Anderson had the game he did. It was a solid defensive game plan. Credit is due if you're going to blame him for everything including things that don't belong at his feet.

I know you didn't pay attention to Saban at Michigan State, I have my doubt you paid attention to him at LSU. But the fact remains.

Playing a 3-4 over/under defense is susceptible over the middle with late routes with tight ends, running backs, et al. The collegiate football world has seen that with Saban's defense since he was in Lansing.

This "alternate view" you're suggesting I take is this: looking at the entire picture in its context. It's no different than people bitching about Bobby Williams because we had kickers missing field goals when Williams didn't work directly with the kickers. Or, complaining about a returned kick off when a player got out of his lane: all on the player forgetting his...wait for it...responsibility.

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The next time I miss a putt I'm going to blame it on the greenskeeper; not the fact I read the putt wrong. I should fit in nicely in future conversations.

---

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I really don't understand how people get so emotionally wrapped up in things out of their control. Especially, when they are "looking through a glass darkly."

See @BamaFan334 comment

I still think....we make some mediocre QBs look incredible
And AU game you refer to...D made Bo look like a Heisman contender...

And a comment to a comment....
I was doubtful on Mac....and ....i was really wrong......awful so...
And now...he is one of my favorite players of ALL TIME ...at bama...
And ...he has it....

 

[mando]

At some point you're going to have to accept reality and you're going to have to accept what the leader of the program has said, repeatedly.

Well I am hard headed and doubtful I will lower the standard/expectation, Maybe naive but I will own it. I went back and watched the MSU game play by play last night and rewound many plays just to watch both OL/DL. The DL are not holding the point. #50 and #92 get pushed around surprisingly. #47 does a better job and of course #31 is excellent. To'o and Harris struggle thumping the blocker and standing their ground so they often run around the blocker leaving a running lane.

I am specifically talking about shutting down the run which in my mind starts at the line of scrimmage. Is that coaching/players or both? I do not thing it is unrealistic to expect Bama to be in top 5 or 10 in D statistical categories. That is relative to today's game so of course the stats will be higher if we compare across years. We have slipped relatively speaking and maybe that has a lot to do with the style of offense we are running now also.

I was pleased for the most part this weekend. Lets see how it goes this weekend.

On the offensive side #71, #79 and #55 struggle at times. #71 is getting pushed back into the backfield on run blocking and whiffing on pass blocking way to often.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Well I am hard headed and doubtful I will lower the standard/expectation, Maybe naive but I will own it. I went back and watched the MSU game play by play last night and rewound many plays just to watch both OL/DL. The DL are not holding the point. #50 and #92 get pushed around surprisingly. #47 does a better job and of course #31 is excellent. To'o and Harris struggle thumping the blocker and standing their ground so they often run around the blocker leaving a running lane.

I am specifically talking about shutting down the run which in my mind starts at the line of scrimmage. Is that coaching/players or both? I do not thing it is unrealistic to expect Bama to be in top 5 or 10 in D statistical categories. That is relative to today's game so of course the stats will be higher if we compare across years. We have slipped relatively speaking and maybe that has a lot to do with the style of offense we are running now also.

I was pleased for the most part this weekend. Lets see how it goes this weekend.

On the offensive side #71, #79 and #55 struggle at times. #71 is getting pushed back into the backfield on run blocking and whiffing on pass blocking way to often.

Well...we played well all the way around vs MSU....the corners didnt hold as much...
But ur right....on the line play...
Can do better....hopefully....
Nobody a head looks menacing....

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

Bahahahaha! Come on man, you are so much better than this that your 30-3 comment is almost shameful. You dang well know the offense is behind most of those wins. Last year alone the offense had to beat Ole Miss and Florida. They have killed the will of so many teams it is unreal the last few years, so the defense was on easy street and is still giving up yards and points. Against truly formidable teams we are lacking. I use formidable with a little salt because we should be above 99.9% of teams on our schedule with the roster we have. Giving Golding credit for 30-3 is a slap in the face to Kiffin, Sarkesian, and now O'Brien. Golding gets some credit for this Ole Miss victory, but very other times did I see the defense dominate another team where the offense hadn't already given it a 14-21 point head start.

I completely agree with @BamaFan334 with his sentiment. The offense is primarily responsible for the success of the program. That's to CNS credit.

The video @TerryP is a stark reveal of CNS. You see his coaching philosophy being implemented over these last 2 1/2 seasons.

Golding called a good game against MSU... But forgive me for saying this @TerryP ... But he is at 'Bama, he is supposed to call good games. Minimum. And I think he has called many good games. But giving him the mulligan due to players messing up, etc, THAT STILL FALLS ON THE DC!!! Why is that so hard to acknowledge? Which something I haven't seen you own.

For some time know we can see some fundamental player elements missing:

• Nominal ILB play (inability to shed blocks, fill gaps, sound pad level tackling ALL game long)
• Poor tackling & tackling angles.
• Lack of consistent game intensity.
• No longer a complete ability to shut down the run.
• Lack of physical intensity on all levels. With an exception of a few baller players, the defense plays as if they know the offense will bail them out.

Anybody with a coaching pulse can position a superfreak on someone & keep calling the plays until someone stops him. That's average play calling game planning. Nothing special. The player is special not the play calling. All of those bulleted items is about attitude & demanding a killer attitude on defense. We don't have those things. And we should have those things NO matter what the offense is doing. And the sanctimonious notion that it is knee jerk is the definition of drinking the cool-aid.