Top Three Things That Concern You About Upcoming Season

[thetideinmd]

Ingram WAS a freshman last season too and I, for one, was fairly excited to watch him play. Maybe TR can meet or exceed Ingram's performance.

like it or not, ready or not ingram and upchurch MUST step up and lead.

1-o-line
2- handling adversity (and they'll see a BUNCH of it this year!)
3-can the defense handle the pressure they'll be under, IF or until the offense finds it's game.

 

[bigmammal]

Mine are:

1. Can we eliminate further NCAA violations?
2. Can we dodge injuries--particularly at positions where depth is a concern?
3. Will the O-line find some mojo?

 

[crains]

:BigA: If Mcelroy and the offensive line along with our top 2 running backs remain healthy we are going to be fine! If Mcelroy gets hurt we may struggle! I hop we remain as injury free as we did last year! That is the key!!!!!!! Hope for some luck to remain injury free! The defense will be awesome and we do finally have depth here!

 

[Tide-one-on]

1. Reloading our OL
2. Replacing R Johnson @ safety
3. Consistent QB

 

[bayoutider]

like it or not, ready or not ingram and upchurch MUST step up and lead.

1-o-line
2- handling adversity (and they'll see a BUNCH of it this year!)
3-can the defense handle the pressure they'll be under, IF or until the offense finds it's game.

I hope, and expect, McElroy to be the leader on offense especially since he will, barring injury, be on the field more than either Ingram or Upchurch.

 

[crains]

:BigA: I have posted this before! Richardson will be the man! I dont know how many games we will play before he is the number 1 back but it will not be many! This kid is going to be amazing! Mark my word! He is the very best back we have recruited since Shaun Alexander! Tell me if I am wrong come October!!! We do have other great backs but this kid is special!:BigA:

 

[bamar]

1. offensive line
2. adding depth to key positions.
3. dealing with adversity. the loss to florida, really devastated the team for their bowl game. worst game they played the entire season. bouncing back from a loss is so critical in the sec.

 

[BamaInBham]

Bama's injury luck was good but hardly perfect:

• Cody out for a few games after OM and way less than 100% thereafter.
• Upchurch out after Ark State - missed in SECC game.
• Ingram banged up bad last half of season.
• Julio played much of season with broken wrist and badly injured toe/foot.
• Andre missed a game and was not quite right for a little more.
• Marlon Davis missed at least one game.
• Alexander missed several games.
• Johnson missed essentially all of Sugar Bowl.
• McCoy not 100% much of the year.
• Did McClain play with significant injury (hand/wrist) during most of the year ?
• Did Reamer miss some time ?

I like McElroy, but he does seem prone to ints. Maybe he will be more careful when it's for real and he is the man.

Hightower and Dareus and possibly Upshaw and Harris can provide some pass rush relief. DH and MD seemed to prove it a bit last year when they had a chance.

Who will fill McCall's role ?

With all said, this year's team should have more experienced talent than last year and will have been in the S&C program and defensive system 3 yrs. and the offensive system 2 yrs. The num 1 recruiting classes will only be True Soph's, RS Fr and True Fr.

Everyone says Coach Saban seems calm and pleased and that Coach Pendry is happy with the OL. Those would appear to be plusses :smile:.

 

[Isaiah 63:1]

1-o line
2-o line
3-o line
Posted via Mobile Device

Agree completely. See the following Wall Street Journal Article to know why:

Offensive-Line Experience Can Predict Success - WSJ.com

Excerpt: "Offensive-line experience is one of the telltale predictors of success in college football. Last season, eight of the top 10 teams in the final Associated Press poll began the season with at least 65 combined career starts by their offensive linemen, including title-game participants Florida and Oklahoma. Two of 2008's biggest surprises, Utah and Ole Miss, had more than 80 starts of experience, enabling them to improve dramatically on offense. Conversely, Georgia, Missouri and Clemson -- three preseason top-10 teams that disappointed -- were green up front, with fewer than 40 starts each."

We have 50 career starts on the O-line. In the SEC, only Arky has fewer. VaTech has 100.

 

[bayoutider]

[/LIST]I like McElroy, but he does seem prone to ints. Maybe he will be more careful when it's for real and he is the man.

Greg has thrown 1 int in college. Greg was 8/11 for 123 yds and 1 TD in that game.

Greg threw 9 int in HS he also threw 56 TDs.

You call that prone to interceptions?

 

[Dizzy Boozer]

As much as I hear "DB is a NEED position for us" regarding recruiting it would seem that everyone would've put defensive secondary on the concern list. While it did make a few lists everyone seems to be concerned w/ OL while relatively few are concerned w/ coverage. To me, that is puzzling.

Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I think OL will turn out to be OK. It is certainly a concern since there aren't a lot of returning starters there, but hopefully it'll be OK. If it's not then we need not concern ourselves w/ getting tickets to the December game in ATL, another frequent concern expressed in this thread--which for the record also does not jive w/ being truly concerned about OL performance.

My list:
1. Defensive secondary--replacing Rashad; inexperienced depth
2. Pass rush; non-existent since the days of Antwan Odom. Show me that we actually have one and I'll take it off my concerns list.
3. Finding a second WR with seven or more fingers.

Certainly making honorable mention: 3 new starters on OL, even if one turns out to be a JUCO all-American. The fact that Roy Upchurch will never be 100% again. The LBs defending the hook and slant zones. Travis McCall has graduated.

So there are plenty of questions. While another trip to the SECCG would be great don't count out 8-4 and lucky to go to the Chick-Fil-A bowl either. For that matter, for the superstitious among us, don't forget that we haven't broken the 3-year cycle of mediocrity-10+ wins-losing season that's been in place since 1995. Keeping that in mind it'll be progress if UA gets to 7 wins this year. Lest we become proud.

 

[BAMA504]

1-o line
2-o line
3-o line

Nothing at any other position concerns me.
Posted via Mobile Device

Have to say that was the first thing that popped into my mind but I have to change #3 to Pass Rush..... Other than that we should be okay but we shall see real soon~!~

 

[theBIGyowski]

Top 3 concerns for me...

1) Having to hear Ramp Lady again

2) Running out of minis before the 4th Quarter

3) Spending too much time at Gallettes drinking my (Nth) Yellow Hammer which causes me to miss the player introductions

 

[BamaInBham]

Greg has thrown 1 int in college. Greg was 8/11 for 123 yds and 1 TD in that game.

Greg threw 9 int in HS he also threw 56 TDs.

You call that prone to interceptions?

I was not thinking of his game experience since it is so limited, but his scrimmage and A-day performances which have had a number of ints. That is why I said, "Maybe he will be more careful when it's for real and he is the man.".

 

[BamaBeta]

1. Lame Kitten
2. Cheeznik
3. Beer is still unavailable inside the stadium.

 

[RT3413]

Going to try and turn this a bit....

Three Things I Am Confident In....
1. Julio will be more productive
2. McElwain's short passing game will work well to set up the run and the deep ball
3. Our front seven on D will be able to shut down nearly everyone's running attack

Runners-up....
- McElroy will have a 8:1 or better TD-INT ratio
- Ingram will have 2+ 100 yard games
- We'll have two first round NFL draft picks on defense

To stay with the thread.....
1. Secondary - Replacing RJ is a big hurdle, bigger than most imagine. We're especially vulnerable (see Utah) to the quick, short pass.
2. The Unknown - I think we're in a position where we know a lot about this team but that always scares me more than having huge questions. When we feel we know something or are confident we get bitten.
3. O-Line - Anytime you lose the depth we lost its a big issue. I think we're better off than most think and know our coaching staff will be calling plays and assignments that give our O-line the best chance of success.

 

[Jazzman]

#1 - Injuries, especially at Quarterback and O-line.

#2 - Pass defense

#3 - missing a game due to chemo treatments.

I'm ready for the season to start. We have a great coaching staff and a talented team. Are we tougher than the competition? Let's get it on!

 

[TideAlum]

1. Offensive line: If Mike Johnson has to play LT, McElroy will get crushed. Which leads to...
2. Injuries to offensive line starters and/or starting quarterback
3. Can Alabama mount an effective pass rush?

 

[TexasBama]

Left Tackle
Defensive End
Cornerback
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Probius]

1. O-Line
2. Defensive Secondary
3. Greg McElroy's experience

I know McElroy is a junior, but he still has very limited playing time. Our secondary looked good last season until the last two games, but then again those were the only two teams that had a good passing game that we faced. And of course losing three starters on the O-Line would have anyone concerned. Especially when those three include an outland trophey winner, an All-American, and a very steady right guard. And our offense last season was built around that O-Line. Against Tulane and Utah we saw what happened with Smitty out. So I am really hoping that Carpenter is good to go. However with all that being said I still feel comfortable about this upcoming season and that is because of three great words: Coach Nick Saban.