JessN: SECCG wrap-up: This Was the Georgia We Expected, and the Alabama We Feared We'd See

[JessN]

Dang, that was fast. Have two drafts written and post the one needed based on the outcome?

Ha, not really, I just kind of had it written in my head from about halftime onward. Sometimes it just pours out when you sit down at the keyboard.

CKD and CRG simply didn't have to play this physical in their previous stops.

All of our problems on offense can be laid at the feet of philosophy and design. Basically coaching. They spent a whole season last year doing stuff they didnt want to do. And they were damned they were going to do it again this year.

I'll tell you what's odd about this: Look at Alabama's final offensive rankings last year -- 42nd in total offense, 47th in rushing offense, 56th in passing offense, 22nd in scoring offense.

I'm not calling for a return to the Milroe days but that's a balanced offensive output. It just wasn't enough of either. But whether it was due to the change from Sheridan to Grubb calling plays or the QB differences or whatever, Alabama had balance in the attack.

Our rankings right now? 67th in total offense, 116th in rushing, 21st in passing, 41st in scoring offense.

 

[JDCrimson]

I wonder what the rushing ranking would have been last year without Milroe's runs? Not suggesting you look it up.

We got to where we didnt even look like an offense last year.

We look like an offense this year albeit poorly orchestrated one. Maybe we are in a baby step rebuild...

Ha, not really, I just kind of had it written in my head from about halftime onward. Sometimes it just pours out when you sit down at the keyboard.

I'll tell you what's odd about this: Look at Alabama's final offensive rankings last year -- 42nd in total offense, 47th in rushing offense, 56th in passing offense, 22nd in scoring offense.

I'm not calling for a return to the Milroe days but that's a balanced offensive output. It just wasn't enough of either. But whether it was due to the change from Sheridan to Grubb calling plays or the QB differences or whatever, Alabama had balance in the attack.

Our rankings right now? 67th in total offense, 116th in rushing, 21st in passing, 41st in scoring offense.

 

[CaliforniaTide]

I wonder what the rushing ranking would have been last year without Milroe's runs? Not suggesting you look it up.

We got to where we didnt even look like an offense last year.

We look like an offense this year albeit poorly orchestrated one. Maybe we are in a baby step rebuild...

Much like Auburn claiming to be #1 in Alabama if you removed the Crimson Tide, I'd bet the rushing stats w/o Milroe would look similar to this year's numbers.

 

[JessN]

I wonder what the rushing ranking would have been last year without Milroe's runs? Not suggesting you look it up.

We got to where we didnt even look like an offense last year.

We look like an offense this year albeit poorly orchestrated one. Maybe we are in a baby step rebuild...

Much like Auburn claiming to be #1 in Alabama if you removed the Crimson Tide, I'd bet the rushing stats w/o Milroe would look similar to this year's numbers.

So I'm going to attempt to give some context to this.

The first place to look is starting RB.

* In 2024: Jam Milller -- 145 carries, 668 yards, 4.6 avg., 7 TD
* In 2025: Jam Miller -- 123 carries, 493 yards, 4.0 avg., 3 TD

Jam in 2024 was a far superior runner to Jam in 2025, but Jam in 2025 has been hurt badly three different times. However, here's where you start to see some real differences -- backup RB:

* In 2024: Justice Haynes -- 79 carries, 448 yards, 5.7 avg., 7 TD
* In 2025: Daniel Hill -- 61 carries, 228 yards, 3.7 avg., 5 TD

There is no comparison here. And we're up to 14 TD on the ground in 2024 for the top two guys compared to 8 TD in 2025.

Now, we do Richard Young all by himself:

* In 2024: Richard Young -- 27 carries, 146 yards, 5.4 avg., 2 TD
* In 2025: Richard Young -- 23 carries, 64 yards, 2.8 avg., 2 TD

In case you're wondering, here's Jalen Milroe's stat line for 2024: 168 carries, 726 yards, 4.3 avg., 20 TD. Includes yardage lost to sacks, too.

In 2025, Ty Simpson: 81 carries, 98 yards, 1.2 avg., 2 TD. That's pretty inline with what most pocket quarterbacks who can scramble are likely to get. That's almost half exactly the number of carries Milroe got a year ago so if you double Simpson's carries (a dubious thing to do but let's just do it for argument's sake), he extrapolates to 196 yards and 4 TD, which again you'd kind of expect because he's not Milroe.

Point being, there is no metric in 2025 that shows an edge over 2024. And I think the gap is significant enough that you can't just blame it on, "well, we don't have Milroe this year so the defenses can key on the RB" -- the idea this year was defenses would have to hang back to respect the pass.

 

[JDCrimson]

Sounds like miscalculations by coaches, lack of talent in the RB room, and continuing problems wuth the OL have contributed to this quagmire we are in.

We fundamentally broke our OL bringing in Marrone. 5 years later it's still broken...

So I'm going to attempt to give some context to this.

The first place to look is starting RB.

* In 2024: Jam Milller -- 145 carries, 668 yards, 4.6 avg., 7 TD
* In 2025: Jam Miller -- 123 carries, 493 yards, 4.0 avg., 3 TD

Jam in 2024 was a far superior runner to Jam in 2025, but Jam in 2025 has been hurt badly three different times. However, here's where you start to see some real differences -- backup RB:

* In 2024: Justice Haynes -- 79 carries, 448 yards, 5.7 avg., 7 TD
* In 2025: Daniel Hill -- 61 carries, 228 yards, 3.7 avg., 5 TD

There is no comparison here. And we're up to 14 TD on the ground in 2024 for the top two guys compared to 8 TD in 2025.

Now, we do Richard Young all by himself:

* In 2024: Richard Young -- 27 carries, 146 yards, 5.4 avg., 2 TD
* In 2025: Richard Young -- 23 carries, 64 yards, 2.8 avg., 2 TD

In case you're wondering, here's Jalen Milroe's stat line for 2024: 168 carries, 726 yards, 4.3 avg., 20 TD. Includes yardage lost to sacks, too.

In 2025, Ty Simpson: 81 carries, 98 yards, 1.2 avg., 2 TD. That's pretty inline with what most pocket quarterbacks who can scramble are likely to get. That's almost half exactly the number of carries Milroe got a year ago so if you double Simpson's carries (a dubious thing to do but let's just do it for argument's sake), he extrapolates to 196 yards and 4 TD, which again you'd kind of expect because he's not Milroe.

Point being, there is no metric in 2025 that shows an edge over 2024. And I think the gap is significant enough that you can't just blame it on, "well, we don't have Milroe this year so the defenses can key on the RB" -- the idea this year was defenses would have to hang back to respect the pass.

 

[CaliforniaTide]

So I'm going to attempt to give some context to this.

The first place to look is starting RB.

* In 2024: Jam Milller -- 145 carries, 668 yards, 4.6 avg., 7 TD
* In 2025: Jam Miller -- 123 carries, 493 yards, 4.0 avg., 3 TD

Jam in 2024 was a far superior runner to Jam in 2025, but Jam in 2025 has been hurt badly three different times. However, here's where you start to see some real differences -- backup RB:

* In 2024: Justice Haynes -- 79 carries, 448 yards, 5.7 avg., 7 TD
* In 2025: Daniel Hill -- 61 carries, 228 yards, 3.7 avg., 5 TD

There is no comparison here. And we're up to 14 TD on the ground in 2024 for the top two guys compared to 8 TD in 2025.

Now, we do Richard Young all by himself:

* In 2024: Richard Young -- 27 carries, 146 yards, 5.4 avg., 2 TD
* In 2025: Richard Young -- 23 carries, 64 yards, 2.8 avg., 2 TD

In case you're wondering, here's Jalen Milroe's stat line for 2024: 168 carries, 726 yards, 4.3 avg., 20 TD. Includes yardage lost to sacks, too.

In 2025, Ty Simpson: 81 carries, 98 yards, 1.2 avg., 2 TD. That's pretty inline with what most pocket quarterbacks who can scramble are likely to get. That's almost half exactly the number of carries Milroe got a year ago so if you double Simpson's carries (a dubious thing to do but let's just do it for argument's sake), he extrapolates to 196 yards and 4 TD, which again you'd kind of expect because he's not Milroe.

Point being, there is no metric in 2025 that shows an edge over 2024. And I think the gap is significant enough that you can't just blame it on, "well, we don't have Milroe this year so the defenses can key on the RB" -- the idea this year was defenses would have to hang back to respect the pass.

Whew, I was hoping for similar, but it's going in the wrong direction...

We'll have to see what CKD decides to do. It clearly not an issue that simply coaching OR playcalling OR talent can fix - it's going to have to involve 2/3 or all of the factors. Who did CKD have as the Oline coach when he was at Washington and they had a 1k yard non-QB rusher? Any legitimate chance Alabama could get him?

 

[CaliforniaTide]

Sounds like miscalculations by coaches, lack of talent in the RB room, and continuing problems wuth the OL have contributed to this quagmire we are in.

We fundamentally broke our OL bringing in Marrone. 5 years later it's still broken...

I didn't like the hire when it was announced. I'd hoped maybe CNS would rub off on him but clearly, like you said, it broke the Oline.

 

[JDCrimson]

That one decision heavily influenced the 1) the necessity of Milroe as QB, the formation of LANK, the ultimate retirement of the greatest coach in history who had #7 within reach, the job loss of at least 1 OC and 2 OL coaches, and probably other stuff im not thinking of.

I didn't like the hire when it was announced. I'd hoped maybe CNS would rub off on him but clearly, like you said, it broke the Oline.

 

[JessN]

Whew, I was hoping for similar, but it's going in the wrong direction...

We'll have to see what CKD decides to do. It clearly not an issue that simply coaching OR playcalling OR talent can fix - it's going to have to involve 2/3 or all of the factors. Who did CKD have as the Oline coach when he was at Washington and they had a 1k yard non-QB rusher? Any legitimate chance Alabama could get him?

You want to see even crazier numbers? Here's the passing comparison between Milroe and Simpson:

* 2024 Jalen Milroe: 205-of-319 (64.3%), 2,844 yards, 8.9 yards per attempt, 16 TD, 11 INT (1.45:1 Ratio), 23 sacks for minus-180 yards, 148.8 QBR
* 2025 Ty Simpson: 275-of-428 (64.3%), 3,268 yards, 7.6 yards per attempt, 26 TD, 5 INT (5.2:1 Ratio), 25 sacks for minus-182 yards, 146.1 QBR

Have to say I'm kind of shocked by a lot of that -- yards per attempt, sack numbers, QBR. Simpson's TD-INT ratio obviously is a huge edge.

Add in their true scrambling/rushing attempts and they both touched the ball about the same number of times. Milroe had more total yardage output but also a lot more turnovers.

 

[JDCrimson]

So if this charted out in spring practice 2024 then the homerun threat Milroe gave us probably made the decision to start him even if he was a higher risk of turnover.

A lot smoke and mirror football the last couple of years...

You want to see even crazier numbers? Here's the passing comparison between Milroe and Simpson:

* 2024 Jalen Milroe: 205-of-319 (64.3%), 2,844 yards, 8.9 yards per attempt, 16 TD, 11 INT (1.45:1 Ratio), 23 sacks for minus-180 yards, 148.8 QBR
* 2025 Ty Simpson: 275-of-428 (64.3%), 3,268 yards, 7.6 yards per attempt, 26 TD, 5 INT (5.2:1 Ratio), 25 sacks for minus-182 yards, 146.1 QBR

Have to say I'm kind of shocked by a lot of that -- yards per attempt, sack numbers, QBR. Simpson's TD-INT ratio obviously is a huge edge.

Add in their true scrambling/rushing attempts and they both touched the ball about the same number of times. Milroe had more total yardage output but also a lot more turnovers.

 

[JessN]

So if this charted out in spring practice 2024 then the homerun threat Milroe gave us probably made the decision to start him even if he was a higher risk of turnover.

A lot smoke and mirror football the last couple of years...

Yep. Basically what I said to someone else about this off-site: Now we start to understand how both this staff and the Saban staff had trouble deciding between Milroe and Simpson based on practices. It just wasn't a clear choice at the time.

 

[CaliforniaTide]

Yep. Basically what I said to someone else about this off-site: Now we start to understand how both this staff and the Saban staff had trouble deciding between Milroe and Simpson based on practices. It just wasn't a clear choice at the time.

So, assuming Simpson comes back in the spring, do we have a wide-open competition b/w Simpson, Mack, and Keelon?

 

[RdunawayTX]

So, assuming Simpson comes back in the spring, do we have a wide-open competition b/w Simpson, Mack, and Keelon?

At least one of those transfers. Might even be Simpson.