re: Great win for program momentum

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Great win for program momentum by BhamDore
I disagree about the talent. Its just not where it was 3 years ago. Not even 2 years ago.

The inside Linebackers are probably the most athletic duo Bama has had under Saban, but the instincts and football IQ are the lowest. I always want Bama linebackers to be native born Bama boys. I'd trade Dylan Moses for Monty Rice easy. Harris still has promise.

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This is a ridiculous statement. I would take any good linebacker no matter where they are from. Now, their instincts aren’t great, but they apparently haven’t been coached up at all (see Mack Wilson in 2018; a Bama boy born and raised who was lost all season, to the point where he fell to the 5th round of the draft after 1st round grades, and then became an NFL starter in year 1).

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DJ Dale is not Daron Payne, Ashawn Robinson, Jarran Reed, Dalvin Tomlinson etc. Barrimore is no Quinnen Williams. There is no Jonathan Allen on this Dline. None of thses guys are even D'Shawn Hand.

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You are right about this. DJ Dale probably isn’t the answer in the middle, but I’ll give him another year with the S&C guys before writing him off. I think Cochran got a little lazy with his program near the end of his time at Bama. I’m ready to see what Sopsher and Tim Smith can do, especially Smith - based on high school film, he looks like he might have that elite combo of strength and quickness that the guys listed above have.

I’m actually very optimistic about Eboigbe and Byron Young. They have both showed flashes and seem to be our most consistent guys up front.

I’d guess that the DL has been a bit limited on what they can do due to the uncertainty of the ILBs i.e. having to scrape guys out of the backfield to help and slowing down their pass rush. They would look much better with stronger play at the NT too.

Some states and some regions are better than others at education. Louisiana isn't one of those places. When you get players in information processing positions you probably want to select from those areas.

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I'm not excusing the bad coaching. Our player development has not been what it was either. Going back to 2018 outside of Quinnen Williams non of the defensive players have improved over the course of the season or from 1 year to the next.


Alabama has slipped really far from a coaching, talent, and leadership standpoint on defense.


There is no leadership on that side of the ball. Surtain is the best player, but you'd rather have leadership coming from someone in the middle.

A defensive linemen, inside linebacker, or Safety. None of those players are playing well though. People roll their eyes at you when you try to lead vocally and you are not playing well.

You obviously can't lead by example when your play is pedestrian.

Golding is not ready to be a DC in a win now mode program. He possibly could grow into a great DC, but this is not the place for on the job training. Bama is a Championship or bust program at this point.

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The only thing I would add is, if we can't develop the talent we do have, simplify the gameplan, play fast, (my goodness, the speed on this team), and give our guys a working blueprint against the HUNH spread, how do we know we have a specific player talent problem? Bama fans have been laughing at teams for years that get all these great recruits but can't develop them. I think the laugh is on us these days.

But I get your last post and I quoted it all because it was at least balanced and specific about what really ails this team. We are missing some great coaching on the defensive side of the ball. Spread elite offenses are going to get there's and it's why we too are running the HUNH spread concepts. We just need a better mousetrap on the D-side.

5 star Linebackers in a see ball, tackle ball defense are fine, but in a Saban defense you have to process information at a fast pace.


Alabama produces more players per capita and definitely more Linebackers so its weird that we are playing 3 linebackers from Baton Rouge.


3 star Linebackers like Monty Rice from Madison, AL where education is just different than Baton Rouge looks a lot better in a similar defense.

McClain, Nico Johnson, CJ Moseley, Reuben Foster, Reggie Ragland, Rashaan Evans, Shaun Dion Hamilton etc. Pretty much every inside linebacker except Hightower that has been successful have been from Alabama.

We all know Saban has this irrational obsession with players from Louisiana. We all saw him play Denzel Duvall over Ryan Anderson for 3 years. Duvall while an ok player never made a difference like Ryan Anderson did.


There is a reason that QBs don't come from Florida at the same clip they do from Texas or California. Thats a cerebral position and those states do education better.

Certain regions produce certain positions better. Thats not slight to Louisiana they have lots of WRs,CBS and Rbs. For a thinking position I'd rather have a kid from somewhere else.