JessN: NSD wrap-up and current roster analysis

[JessN]

NSD wrap-up and current roster analysis
by Jess Nicholas, TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief

With National Signing Day officially in the books – even though December’s Early Signing Day has eclipsed NSD as the real signing day of note – Kalen DeBoer and his staff can finally begin the work of actually getting its roster into fighting shape for the upcoming 2024 season.

Alabama’s 30-day transfer portal period, which kicked into being following Nick Saban’s retirement, will be ending soon, and we do not expect to see any further entries. Alabama was hit hard in the days immediately after Saban’s departure, but portal entries quickly dried up over the last two weeks, and Alabama was able to add three former Washington players: QB Austin Mack, WR Germie Bernard and C Parker Brailsford.

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NSD wrap-up and current roster analysis

With National Signing Day officially in the books – even though December’s Early Signing Day has eclipsed NSD as the real signing day of note – Kalen DeBoer and his staff can finally begin th…

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[CrimsonEyeshade]

Boy, is this timely. Much appreciated.

 

[78Alum]

Thanks, Jess! With all the uncertainty going into this next year, it is good to start thinking about where the pieced might fit. I appreciate all you do!

 

[davefrat]

If Ryan Williams is as good as advertised, I would think we will see quite a bit of him this year.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

Looks like I'm gonna have to update my ideas on AIR RAID OFFENSE. A lot of things will depend on CKD's wrinkles on Offense. My guess is we will have a faster Offense.

MAYBE...
One of the things I really liked about 'The Pirate's'(RIP) Offense is Defense had to cover the entire field. I hope CKD will run Defenses to death... and I hope while Defense is trying to cover receivers that our Running Backs can pile up serious yardage.
LASTLY... Quarter Back can make or break us.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Looks like I'm gonna have to update my ideas on AIR RAID OFFENSE. A lot of things will depend on CKD's wrinkles on Offense. My guess is we will have a faster Offense.

MAYBE...
One of the things I really liked about 'The Pirate's'(RIP) Offense is Defense had to cover the entire field. I hope CKD will run Defenses to death... and I hope while Defense is trying to cover receivers that our Running Backs can pile up serious yardage.
LASTLY... Quarter Back can make or break us.

I should have bookmarked the article because I intended to post the link here. But, I read an article earlier this week about CKD's offense and it truly is "his offense" and it cannot be called the "Air Raid" because it isn't. It has components of the Air Raid, but it also has concepts in it that were created by him, that are unique to his offense. I did post a quote this past weekend from an article that quoted an ex-Alabama CB who transferred to Oregon and played against CKD's offense twice in 2023 who said it is the most complicated offense they had to defend and things they did they'd never seen in other offenses.

 

[Bama9001]

The props given to Carter is pretty high praise. Looking at some of his film he looks he was shot out of a cannon on some of those pass rushes.

The numbers on Reese are just unreal. Senior year 160+ tackles including 25 TFL. He seems to be a tweener that just plays football at a really high level. Can't wait to see where he fits in.

 

[JDCrimson]

I remember his dad playing for Auburn. I didn't realize he was his son. This is a big get for us.

The props given to Carter is pretty high praise. Looking at some of his film he looks he was shot out of a cannon on some of those pass rushes.

The numbers on Reese are just unreal. Senior year 160+ tackles including 25 TFL. He seems to be a tweener that just plays football at a really high level. Can't wait to see where he fits in.

 

[Ledsteplin]

Thanks, Jess. I've been griping for over a year about no big bruiser running back, who can carry the pile for 6 yards. We may have one now in Daniel Hill. He's about 10 lbs heavier than BRob was. Be interesting to see what he can do, especially in short yardage and goal line play. Not sure he'll play much this year though.
It's going to be an interesting offense.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

I should have bookmarked the article because I intended to post the link here. But, I read an article earlier this week about CKD's offense and it truly is "his offense" and it cannot be called the "Air Raid" because it isn't. It has components of the Air Raid, but it also has concepts in it that were created by him, that are unique to his offense. I did post a quote this past weekend from an article that quoted an ex-Alabama CB who transferred to Oregon and played against CKD's offense twice in 2023 who said it is the most complicated offense they had to defend and things they did they'd never seen in other offenses.

I doubt that Mike Leach EVER had a 1,000 yard RB...

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I doubt that Mike Leach EVER had a 1,000 yard RB...

I think that part of his offense lets me he knows what it takes to win a championship, is you have to be able to run the ball and run it as a weapon, not as a distraction.

 

[mikeua69]

Thanks Jess. Looks like we need to hit the portal in the spring for some corners and tackles.

 

[B1GTide]

I think that part of his offense lets me he knows what it takes to win a championship, is you have to be able to run the ball and run it as a weapon, not as a distraction.

Yep - Andy Reid made similar changes to his offense to get over the hump and actually win championships.

 

[CoolBreeze]

Thanks Jess. Great stuff man. One thing is for certain, Nick has set this thing up for success for many years to come. Thanks to the administration in place (namely Greg Byrne) we got a replacement that can make some noise way into the future. Good feeling to know that it is still, as always, a great day to be a Crimson Tide Fan!

 

[gtgilbert]

I think spring will be fascinating to watch to see how some of the parts move around on the DL, EDGE and LB. The inside guys on the DL from UW are still typically 'XXL types' - i.e. close to or over 300 pound guys. There's one larger Edge and one smaller Edge so some guys who were 'tweaners' for Sabans 4-2 might have a better fit as the big edge - i.e Overton, Renoud, Perry, Osborne and even Latham - all guys 265+ so can't play edge like we sometimes asked an OLB to in the past, but as a more 'pure DE' could have a role. Even the smaller edge guys at UW were still 250+ for the most part, and all but one were really, really long (6'4" +) so some guys who were previously Jack and Sam types for Saban could be better prototypes for ILB if CKD maintains the same player style. I'm guessing there will be a LOT of experimentation with guys early to see who can fit what role. We might even see some evidence of that when spring weights are updated to see if guys are trying to adjust to a certain spot...

 

[DrollTide]

Jess - do you think we have the makings of a championship run? By which I mean, have a regular season in the top 12, and then beat a couple of top-4 teams.

 

[JessN]

I should have bookmarked the article because I intended to post the link here. But, I read an article earlier this week about CKD's offense and it truly is "his offense" and it cannot be called the "Air Raid" because it isn't. It has components of the Air Raid, but it also has concepts in it that were created by him, that are unique to his offense. I did post a quote this past weekend from an article that quoted an ex-Alabama CB who transferred to Oregon and played against CKD's offense twice in 2023 who said it is the most complicated offense they had to defend and things they did they'd never seen in other offenses.

It's based in Air Raid concepts although there are many ways to skin the Air Raid cat, as we've noted. Mike Leach didn't have a tight end on his roster, but Kalen DeBoer uses multi-TE sets frequently. DeBoer also doesn't use the wide-split system for his OL that the Mumme-Leach variant did, but he uses lighter linemen than a standard vertical passing offense does.

Jess - do you think we have the makings of a championship run? By which I mean, have a regular season in the top 12, and then beat a couple of top-4 teams.

I doubt it. Any time an SEC team goes through this much transition, that team is at risk of losing a couple along the way that make no sense. The usual rule of thumb in the SEC is to add 2 losses to whatever was expected for each major system (offense or defense) that you're changing in a given year; well, we're changing both. I don't see four losses on the schedule, much less four plus the one I was going to pick anyway (Georgia), but if DeBoer can get us to the end of the year at 10-2 he will have worked a minor miracle. That might be good enough to get us into the playoffs, but I think it's too early to say.

 

[BearFoot]

Sitting back and contemplating the past…..and the future, this is the way that I view this transition:

We had a run with Nick Saban that was, quite frankly, the most amazing period of football to ever exist at The University of Alabama (no slight intended towards Coach Bryant).

This “Dynasty” was built upon the philosophically-superior defensive foundation that Nick Saban, who is arguably the best defensive mind in college football, implemented at Bama.

Coach Saban himself has, on more than one occasion, told us all that college football has turned from a game that is dominated by defensive strategy…..to a game that is dominated by offensive strategy. This is why he made the offensive changes that we started seeing in the program with Lane Kiffin.

Alabama has now hired Coach Kalen DeBoer, who is arguably the brightest offensive mind in college football. I believe that we might possibly be witnessing the continuation of the Bama Dynasty…..with the offensive equivalent to Coach Nick Saban.

This “Changing of the Guard” is quite interesting, and will be fun to watch unfold over the next few years. You can’t deny, though, that it’s intriguing to consider the possibilities, based on the direction that Coach Saban told us that college football is moving.

Roll Tide

 

[Krymsonman]

Very much appreciated Jess. With all of the comings and goings, (mostly goings), I had no idea what our situation was. Thanks

 

[bamafaninbham]

Thanks so much for this. It's so nice to get your insight into what the team may look like when spring practice starts.
'
I will say I was confounded by what the double ## was before so many names. I got down to the OL discussion before I scrolled back to the top of the post to see if I missed what the symbols meant. And then my face palm moment happened when I realized it was because we didn't know a jersey number yet. Having a senior moment over here. Just move along. I will be alright soon.