re: Tide Football Thread in honor of TidalSurge

Have a feeling there won’t be any changes in this group barring injuries

Highly doubt that.

What do we know about the way CKD uses his RBs? 2 man? 3 man? Workhorse?

Seems like most of our guys have the same style. Big, strong, and one cut kind of guys. Do we have any scat back type guys?

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Seems like most of our guys have the same style. Big, strong, and one cut kind of guys. Do we have any scat back type guys?

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Justice Haynes is more of a scatback than Henry, Richardson, or Ingram. Check out his Buford highlight reel, it's incredible. He retuned a lot kicks for TDs too.

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He retuned a lot kicks for TDs too.

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That might be scary for opposing defenses to have him returning punts.

Haven't really thought about kick returners. Anyone have an idea on who could get the job this year? I haven't heard anything from practice regarding this yet.

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Can’t say I disagree. The 50/50 ball was our nemesis for years. Clemson was a big dealer of that. I think it comes down to risk/reward. With our level a talent we could unlock something special on defense with a fast attack

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I feel like when Saban arrived we, the former sheep became the wolf, the hunted became the hunter. As time went on after becoming the wolf I feel like years of everyone gunning for us we became the hunted. Virtually everyone's entire design in the offseason was to do one thing, attack Saban's system. No matter what they showed on film prior to the Alabama game, we spent most of every first half getting hosed by an entirely unique system they were saving just for us. Meanwhile, we gave them exactly what they were expecting and they gamed planned for. I'm sure he had his reasons and it's hard to argue with the results but....

I really want to go back to being the wolf that everyone feared. I really don't want to be predictable. Perl Harbor worked for a reason and it was NOT logistical advantage. I realize this might result in quick touchdowns but in my opinion they were scoring on us anyway, and they were eating the clock while doing it so we didn't have time to get it back.

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I think the fanbase isn’t giving Richard Young enough credit. I think he is a Stud and will get a lot of carries this year. He is a violent runner

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Who is he taking carries from, Haynes or Miller?

Our two best runners were either hurt or on the bench last year.

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Having someone do this would be nice after watching Kool-aid run away from almost every catchable punt last year.

I don't think I've ever seen such a drop-off from year to year that wasn't injury related. Mckinstry was electric returning punts in 2022, and then looked like a completely different player in '23.

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Watching McKinstry "field" punts last year was an interesting (and very frustrating) contrast with the previous year, and I think served as a microcosm of Saban's last couple of years.

Can you imagine 2012 Saban (or 2016 Saban, or even 2019 Saban) watching his punt returner actively shy away from punts over and over and not making a change? It was baffling. Just having someone back there who would actually catch the ball would have been an improvement.

I never bought into the whole "Saban plays favorites with upperclassmen" mantra that so many believed. I think Saban placed more value on someone knowing their job and doing it properly than having outstanding athletic ability. Players who had been in the system for a while typically knew their assignments better than freshmen, so they played more.

But that mindset seemed to go out the window with McKinstry on punt returns in 2023, and it's hard to defend his effort in that role or Saban's insistence on continuing to send him out there. It was the first time I'd really seen Saban be willing to accept less than 100% effort from someone.

when Saban arrived we were not dealing with the hurry up fast paced offenses. We had time for our defense to call plays and get our defense set before the snap. That all changed and it became trick em stuff, quick snap counts, RPO, quick multiple receivers and short throws vs linebackers. But when you have a great QB and he has great receivers, its a big problem for any defense. Times have changed. Supposedly the defense we are using is more to stop these modern day offenses and there is a lot of zone coverage underneath. The defenders keep their eyes on the QB and swarm the receiver or the runner. Try to eliminate yards after catch. And my understanding is that its been very good at stopping the run. The weakness is on most plays there is one safety deep and the corners are one on one. That safety has to be a very good athlete and also make quick decisions on who need help over the top. .