re: Spring Football News & Info

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Our consistent theme in this series has been the national championship game did not represent a tipping point for Alabama football. The Crimson Tide was outclassed on one night. Many fans found that shocking. It was less shocking for those of us who paid close attention to everything Nick Saban said during the season.

The weaknesses exploited by Clemson did not suddenly appear on the night of Jan. 7, 2019. They were evident before. The vulnerabilities of the defense were numerous, though an explosive offense clouded the perspectives of fans. The offense, though explosive, was not always exceptional. Too often, in short-yardage situations, against top defensive lines, the offensive line failed to dominate.

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Spending too much time trying to explain why Ron’s statement is correct is wasted effort. Nick Saban has made the needed corrections. A staff and a roster, not fully committed to each other, have been purged and cleansed for 2019.

Collectively, the 2018 Crimson Tide did not have what it takes to be a champion. Clemson did! The national, reflex response was a ‘The King is Dead’ argument. Suddenly, in the space of one night, Alabama football and particularly Nick Saban were no longer to be feared.

Jonathan Waldrop had the appropriate response. Let the rest of ’em write off the aging, haunch-challenged recipient of six national title rings. Dude still has plenty left in the tank.

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The 2019 offense with a healthy Tua can be even more explosive than 2018. The talent filling in at running back is equal or better to last season. The receivers are collectively the best in the nation. There is enough depth at offensive line for an actual competition to find the best five. By mid-season, if not before, the five best will be a physical force. In Ron Moody’s post, he made the reference, the 2012 offensive line whipped opponents until their arse quit. Such physical dominance is the goal again.

While Alabama football fans are justifiably holding their collective breath about the kicking game, early signs are we can breathe easier. Punts and field goals and extra points will improve enough to not be a major liability. It is possible punting and field-goal kicking will be a strength.

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Yes, indeed! The State of the Crimson Tide is strong and will grow stronger. Nick Saban will, of course, keep talking about youth and depth and his team being a work-in-progress. He will be correct but the schedule allows plenty of time for a rebuild of championship proportion.

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WR #3 — John Metchie

This is the easy one. Everyone saw the 5 catches for 133 yards on his way to earning MVP of the game. There had already been talk the last couple of weeks that Metchie had been lighting it up in the scrimmages, so this was just a confirmation of how well he’s been playing.

The two biggest things that really stood out were his size and speed. He’s a smaller guy at 6’0” 195, but just looks physically ready. Some receivers look skinny and gangly, but Metchie looks like a powerful athlete. He was significantly more solidly built than any cornerback he was matched up against. And that showed in his releases. He made fellow freshman Scooby Carter look like mince meat in press coverage time and again. After the catch, he showed an impressive burst to pull away from tacklers to turn big catches into huge chunks of yards.

Plus that catch down the seam between a safety and trailing corner was just awesome.

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QB #5 — Taulia Tagovailoa


Tua’s younger brother definitely joined the program with a lot of hype to live up to. His 6/9 for 93 yards with one touchdown and a pick were pretty solid for someone that’s only been in college for a couple of months, if nothing spectacular. He displayed a quick release and nice touch, especially on slants. He also showed off his ability to elude rushers in the pocket, and is more than comfortable stepping up into the pocket and taking off forwards, rather than backwards or sideways.

His touchdown to Jaylen Waddle was a thing of beauty. He scrambled to the left and threw a 15 yard dart across his body to Waddle at the front of the left sideline of the endzone. It was a tight window with a tough scrambling position to throw it from, but Tagovailoa threw it perfectly.

On the other hand, his interception was rough. It was an inside post route where he receiver had a few steps on his man, but Tagovailoa’s throw floated forever and wound up being easily picked off by the safety coming from the other side.

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QB #15 — Paul Tyson

Nick Saban said after the game that Tyson looked especially anxious in his few reps, and that was definitely the case. He only had 5 attempts, and 4 of those were either incomplete or intercepted. He mostly took a snap, turned straight to his first read, then hesitated before throwing it at him. His interception was particularly ugly and he took about 6 steps too long to pull the trigger on an open crossing route, and linebacker Jaylen Moody picked it off easily as he waited in the next zone.

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LB #35 — Shane Lee
Like Metchie, Lee got a lot publicity for his performance Saturday, and it was definitely well deserved. He’s about as stout and built of a linebacker as you’ll see: he looks like a humanoid boulder flying around the field and knocking people down.

He played second team-defense alongside Markail Benton, but it looks to me like the competition for the starting second middle linebacker spot will come down to between him and Josh McMillon.

One concern coming out of high school was his lack of speed, and Lee pretty much blew that out of the water yesterday. He shut down pretty much every attempt for running back swing passes out of the backfield, and also outran the speedy Chadarius Townsend to the sideline on an outside run. He didn’t miss a tackle, easily leading the team with 8 tackles on the day.

He also got an interception on a slant route where he baited the QB by stepping in one direction and immediately crashing on the other receiver with his next step.

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DL #56 — Antonio Alfano The nation’s #1 overall recruit from the 2019 class got plenty of playing time with the 2nd team defense, and the coaches already have him playing pretty much every position along the defensive line. Early in the game, they had him mostly focused on two-gap discipline and mush-rushing. He seemed a bit hesitant and unsure of himself for most of the first half (but, again, he’s been on campus for three months and the coaches already have him playing 3 different positions).

He settled down as time went on, though, and the coaches had him doing more pin-your-ears-back-and-go kind of rushes in the 4th quarter. By then, he was really making his presence felt in the pass rush, leading the team with 2 sacks. He speed rushed the right tackle and bull rushed from the inside, collapsing the pocket with regularity.

He did have some issues with finishing his rush with a tackle as Taulia escaped him a couple of times, and Jaylen Waddle made him faceplant on that double-reverse pass (though being asked to tackle Waddle in open field is a bit of no-win for a 280-pound lineman.)

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OL #73 — Evan Neal
He played left guard, between Dalcourt and Quick, for much of the game. The white team definitely favored calling run plays right behind Neal, and he almost always rewarded them with 2-3 yards of free space for the running back to get before the linebackers closed in. I also saw him sprint across the field to block for a screen one time, and it might have been the most terrifying thing I’ve seen on a football field. Mountains shouldn’t be able to run that fast.

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