News Article: Second-half report card: Tide finally puts up strong second half

[JessN]

Second-half report card: Tide finally puts up strong second half
By Jess Nicholas
TideFans.com Editor-in-Chief
Dec. 18, 2008

During the off-week at midseason, we took a look at the various position groups of the 2008 Alabama Crimson Tide and came up with some fairly high grades.

But in recent years, good grades in the first half of the season typically went in the same direction as the autumn temperatures – down. Not in 2008, however; Alabama held onto its momentum in the second half of the year and, as good teams do, improved in some areas despite the schedule toughening and the nearly inevitable tendency of teams to run out of gas down the stretch in the SEC.

For the full story, click here.

 

[chris]

good analysis. i might have gone up or down 1/2 a grade on a couple but who wants to nitpick?! after reading i thought,wow,its nice just to be thinking up or down on any of these grades. happy days are here again!

 

[rolltidescott]

It also marks one of the greatest year-over-year improvements in the history of the Alabama program. If Alabama can bolster its wide receiver corps, pass rush and solidify its special teams, the Crimson Tide will be a consistent contender in future years.

I agree. I'm a little concerned about some areas of inexperience for next year - but I was this year too, and look how it turned out.

 

[coUrAgeWins]

As Jess noted there are probably a few of us worried about the O-line next year. However, if we can find a compliment to Julio (ala Randle, Kelly), I think that will go a long way opening up our offensive options. I don't think our O-line will have to be as good next year as they were this year. The other question is if McElroy is more apt to stay in the pocket to progress his reads and make a throw instead of scrambling. If both of those are true, we may not notice a drop off in the O-line's performance, at least in the passing game. I do fear that the running game will take a hit, but we'll see.

As far as the D goes. If Cody stays, I feel that our D will be an absolute monster next year. Equal to or better than 92, 05, and 08.

 

[G-VilleTider]

As Jess noted there are probably a few of us worried about the O-line next year. However, if we can find a compliment to Julio (ala Randle, Kelly), I think that will go a long way opening up our offensive options. I don't think our O-line will have to be as good next year as they were this year. The other question is if McElroy is more apt to stay in the pocket to progress his reads and make a throw instead of scrambling. If both of those are true, we may not notice a drop off in the O-line's performance, at least in the passing game. I do fear that the running game will take a hit, but we'll see.

As far as the D goes. If Cody stays, I feel that our D will be an absolute monster next year. Equal to or better than 92, 05, and 08.

Possibly equal to or better than 05 or 08 but not 92. That D was the best I have seen in my lifetime; 10 of the 11 starters played in the NFL (if memory serves) and I think we at least temporarily put out of the game more than half the starting QBs we faced that year not to mention making the Heisman winner that year look like a highschool QB in the sugar. I wonder if we will ever have that dominant of a D again but with CNS at the helm we can certainly hope.

 

[JAXFLBAMAFAN]

As Jess noted there are probably a few of us worried about the O-line next year. However, if we can find a compliment to Julio (ala Randle, Kelly), I think that will go a long way opening up our offensive options. I don't think our O-line will have to be as good next year as they were this year. The other question is if McElroy is more apt to stay in the pocket to progress his reads and make a throw instead of scrambling. If both of those are true, we may not notice a drop off in the O-line's performance, at least in the passing game. I do fear that the running game will take a hit, but we'll see.

As far as the D goes. If Cody stays, I feel that our D will be an absolute monster next year. Equal to or better than 92, 05, and 08.

I'm hoping that Gmac will make this group of receivers better by spreading it around more and by thowing the deep ball to someone besides just JJ.

 

[Jazzman]

I'm a little concerned about our O-line next year also, but the coaches have done such a tremendous job that it doesn't worry me too much. Someone always steps up. The younger players this year know what got them at 12 and 1. Hard work in the off-season, conditioning, studying and coming together as a team. I'm anxious to see who the leaders will be next year.

I also agree that the QB must spread it around more. JPW did at first, then JJ became a security blanket for him. JJ put more effort into getting open and fighting for the ball. So, it's hard to blame JPW for feeling that way. I'm sure it will be Greg's job to lose. Competition just makes us better...

 

[BamaNation]

ttt