8/16 2009 Preseason Update
The 2009 season is rapidly approaching, so I thought I'd post a brief update on what has become one of the most eventful off-seasons that I can remember. I was going to wait for the news to slow down before blogging, but with the pace at which things are happening, I figured there would never be a time when there would be a break in the news. Originally, I wanted to touch on our 2009 season with player comments, our 2010 recruiting class, and other things around the SEC. However, since so many things have been happening related to our roster, I decided to focus on that topic for this blog, and then update the other two as the season gets closer. First, we have had significant attrition in our roster in preparation for our season. Some of it was expected in that several players that Shula recruited that quite frankly weren’t capable of playing SEC football have left the team. I won’t go into the specific names, but I certainly wish those guys all the best in their future endeavors. In addition to those players, we had a couple of running backs that left our team that kind of surprised me. Ivan Matchett left for what is being called medical reasons, and Jermaine Preyear is transferring to a school where he can get some more playing time. To be honest, with our depth at running back, I doubt either of those guys would have ever cracked the rotation. We did have two guys that were dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons, including last year’s starting Jack linebacker Brandon Fanney and redshirt freshman cornerback Alonzo Lawrence. I’m not happy about either of those guys leaving, but I especially think that Lawrence is a huge loss. He had all the talent in the world at a position where we have a definite need, but evidently he just couldn’t get his head straight. Finally, sophomore RB/FB Jeramie Griffin is out for the year with a torn ACL. I know we have a lot of talent at RB, but losing Griffin hurts; he was going to contribute this year. On the positive side, we did have two pleasant surprises related to our 2009 signing class. DL Darrington Sentimore and RB Eddie Lacy both qualified, and will be on the roster for the 2009 season. Both of these guys could contribute. Sentimore is an extremely athletic defensive lineman that could play either end or tackle in 4-linemen sets. As for Lacy, some folks actually believe he is more talented than heralded freshman Trent Richardson. Personally, I think those folks are nuts, but that’s simply because Richardson is such a tremendous talent. I agree that Lacy has the potential to be something special, and I love the thought of having both of those guys in the rotation. I’m hearing some really good things about our football team based on fall practice. It sounds like Courtney Upshaw is doing some serious damage, and it looks like he might be our Jack linebacker this year. I hope that’s the case, because if so, that frees up Don’ta Hightower to stay in the middle where he and Rolando McClain will form the best 1-2 linebacker punch in the nation. And as for Hightower, I’m hearing that has become an absolute beast. Wherever he plays, whether he stays at middle or moves to Jack, we’ll be rock solid. On offense, I’m hearing that Mark Ingram has made a night and day type improvement over last year. He is running with much better vision, and with even more tenacity. I hope that’s the case, because I personally believe that Glen Coffee's early departure for the NFL is a big loss from last year’s team, so we need Ingram to come up big. At QB, Greg McElroy has eliminated all talk of a QB controversy, as he has absolutely locked down the starting position. The interesting thing that I’m hearing is that true freshman AJ McCarron is making a push at the backup role. I don’t find that too surprising simply because, like I said in my 2009 signing day recap, I think he’s the most talented QB we’ve had here at Bama since Brodie Croyle, and I expect him to be even better than Croyle because of his work ethic and the talent that surrounds him. Julio Jones looks primed for a huge year. You may not know this, but he had a significant injury in last year’s Georgia game, but toughed his way through it. This year, he is completely healthy, and with his talent, the sky’s the limit! The offensive line appears to still be in flux, but I expect the LT to be James Carpenter, LG to be Mike Johnson, C to be William Vlachos, RT to be Drew Davis, and RG to be Barrett Jones, though I think RG is the position that is the biggest question mark right now. The line is my biggest concern for this year. Last year, we could run the ball when we needed to, which opened up the play action pass. This year will be more of a challenge, and I think we’ll need to pass more on early downs to move the defense off of the line of scrimmage. So there is a brief overview of where we stand 3 weeks before the season. Things are looking good right now, so keep your fingers crossed that we don’t have any more preseason injuries. As always, feel free to send me any questions or comments. Until next time, Roll Tide! Kenny
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