Most Improvement in a Career

[TexasBammer]

Ok, here's a question for all.

What player have you seen that has made the most improvement from when he started. I think mine would have to be Jay Barker. He was very green back in 92 and horrible during the Sugar Bowl, but every year he got consistently better, and when he left, he was a great quarterback.

I would say Ray Hudson as well. Never thought he was going to be any good, but he was great last year until he got hur.

I was wondering if anyone else can remember someone who got progressively better.

Thanks for your opinions

 

[IH8Orange]

I thought that Spencer Pennington looked like a completely different player just from the 5th game of last year to the end of the season.

I would also say that Brian Bostick made a huge improvement between the 2003 season and last year.

 

[bayoutider]

It would have to be Ray Hudson. Tom Culpepper said Ray Hudson couldn't play a lick, yet had Ray not been injured last season he may have very well led the SEC in rushing yards, maybe even lead the nation in some stats.

 

[IH8Orange]

It would have to be Ray Hudson. Tom Culpepper said Ray Hudson couldn't play a lick, yet had Ray not been injured last season he may have very well led the SEC in rushing yards, maybe even lead the nation in some stats.

That just proves how much credibility and knowledge Culpepper has.

 

[jthomas666]

I would also say that Brian Bostick made a huge improvement between the 2003 season and last year.

Bostick didn't improve that much. He just got much a better snapper. If you look at 2003, almost all of his misses were due to bad snaps.

 

[IHateUT]

It would have to be Ray Hudson. Tom Culpepper said Ray Hudson couldn't play a lick, yet had Ray not been injured last season he may have very well led the SEC in rushing yards, maybe even lead the nation in some stats.

You beat me to it. :biggrin2:

 

[bayoutider]

It's easy to be quick with the obvious. I don't do as well on the harder questions.

 

[bamaslammer]

maybe greg richardson back in the 80's, when he got there I didn't think he could catch a cold, but by his SR year he turned out to be a pretty good reciever. that catch and run against Auburn which led to the Van Tiffin kick was one of the best ever. The auburn DB hit him solid 15 yards in bounds and he carried him out to stop the clock.

 

[rtrcam]

Danny Martz.

Didn't play much until his senior year, and I'd say he was one of the better linemen last year.

 

[Bama323]

I would have to say Tyler Watts. He looked like a completely different QB after Fran took over the program. Had he not gotten hurt, he would have been even better. That's one thing I can say about Fran, we seemed to play very smart football under him and I saw a drastic improvement in our players from when he took over the program to when he left. I think we will some of the same type of improvement over the next year or two under Shula.

 

[Stephen323]

Bostick didn't improve that much. He just got much a better snapper. If you look at 2003, almost all of his misses were due to bad snaps.

Absolutely true. I took a lot of criticism on this board after 2003 when I suggested that Bostick was an All-SEC caliber kicker, and the snapping and holding were to blame. New snapper + new holder = Brian Bostick All-SEC.

 

[SemperDuc]

Donnie Finkley. Early in his career he would run his pass patterns out of bounds. Come to think of it, he did that his entire career. RTR

 

[mikeua69]

Anthony Madison and Ray Hudson.

 

[Probius]

I agree with you on Jay Barker. He played so poorly in 1992 that no matter how good he played in later years most Bama fans still figured he wasn't very good. He never really got the respect he deserved from most Bama fans.

 

[Croyle4Heisman]

Gerald Dixon, CB

 

[davefrat]

wasn't chris samuels about ready to quit football and leave school his freshman year because he was really undersized and not expected to get much playing time during his career? i think i remember this being the case from my days in tuscaloosa while he was there. he turned out to be a pretty good player if memory serves me.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

...one thing I can say about Fran, we seemed to play very smart football under him and I saw a drastic improvement in our players from when he took over the program to when he left. I think we will some of the same type of improvement over the next year or two under Shula.

Bama323 --

While Fran's character, leadership, trustworthiness, etc., etc. are unquestionably bad, I do think he's a good coach. So the fact that players developed more under him than DuBose is, I think, more of an indictment of DuBose than praise of Fran.

That said, I'd nominate Danny Martz for the All-Most Improved Team.

He redshirted a year, then spent three more languishing. Then all of a sudden, he became a solid SEC lineman. If he'd played like that his junior year, I think he would have been on some All-SEC teams. Unfortunately, it's hard to win honors when you come from out of nowhere in your fifth year.

Plus, I have a bit of a soft spot for Danny. I got to meet him at the Senior Banquet, and he really was a first class kid. I wish him well in life, whether that includes professional ball or not.

 

[Bama-94-00]

Hudson

It would have to be Ray Hudson. ..

Agreed. He improved greatly from his Jr year to Sr year. He had much better balance and was much harder to bring down his Sr year.

 

[TideFaninFl]

Hollingsworth..

:biggrin:

 

[SimCastilleFan3]

CBs- Gerald "Smoke" Dixon and Herchel "Toast" Bolden, they had nicknames in Huntsville they gave them on the radio for getting burned all the time. Their senior years they really stepped it up.