Practice (News and Notes)

Saban continues to talk about how pleased he is with the practices. That makes me very happy, cause every Tide fan knows that Saban rarely openly states that he is pleased

Nico Johnson, who will be a senior Linebacker this year, and one of the leaders of the defense said that there was more intensity in the scrimmage Saturday than he has ever seen in a scrimmage. The young guys are getting after it and I can't wait to see who the future stars are that will step up this year. We all know there will be a few. My big bets on defense, as I have previously stated, are Vinnie Sunseri and Adrian Hubbard

True Freshman Landon Collins is every bit the stud that he was made out to be in recruiting. He looks like a 3rd or 4th year starter and is going to see ALOT of time this year backing up Robert Lester and Vinnie Sunseri, along with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Nick Perry is another safety, from Prattville, that is competing for playing time. Lester is probably the only guy at that position who can rest assured that his spot is secured

Jarrick Williams, another promising backup at the Safety postion, tore his ACL in practice Friday. That, along with the departure of JUCO transfer Corner Travell Dixon is a blow to a secondary that was already one of the only concerns on the team. Williams had surgery Tuesday morning

Corner is probably the one major concern on this entire team, offense and defense, as Dee Milliner is the only returning guy who has really played much. He has the ability to be a first round draft pick after this season if he decides to go pro, but he can't play both sides of the field. The other side will most likely be manned by JUCO transfer Deion Belue. Everyone is saying great things about Belue so far and it sounds like he will be as least decent, but will face competition from some young guys, John Fulton, Jabriel Washington and Geno Smith. Alot of quick growing up to do at that position. Hopefully all those great safeties and linebackers can have their backs if they are not ready for primetime by the Arkansas game when our secondary will matter most

Eddie Lacy has had his carries limited so far, as they are babying him along since he has still been recovering from his turf toe injury. Still, he had the most rushing yards in the scrimmage and from most accounts, he should be ready to bust some ass come the Michigan Game

Nobody except for the QB's were wearing the black non-contact jerseys in practice Tuesday, but Adrian Hubbard's wrist and elbow were wrapped. No big deal there though.

Jalston Fowler, one of my favorite guys, has been blowing it up at Tight End and H-Back, blocking and recieving. I love that, cause I know he will be on the field as much as possible this year, even when he's not running the ball. He can do so many things, and it has been a hallmark of Saban recruiting to recruit guys who are versatile and can move around when needed

On Tuesday, several guys made moves and appeared to have shown where they will be in backup roles. Ryan Kelly looks to be Barrett Jones backup and future replacement at Center. Kellen Williams is behind Cyrus Kouandjio at Left Tackle. Redshirt freshman Isaac Latua is battling the hell out of Anthony Steen at Right Guard. Anthony is a 3rd year starter and Latua is a new guy but people are saying it wouldn't be a surprise if Latua takes over at some point. That's saying alot for a freshman

Alabama will practice twice on Wednesday, once on Thursday and Friday, and then scrimmage again Saturday. And then it'll be time to start preparing for Michigan and Denard Robinson. I can't wait to talk about that game.

Yesterday, Alabama reported 27 secondary violations. This is normal stuff and nothing to worry about. Only 4 of the 27 were in football and just involved a few impermissable texts. For perspective, Ole Miss reported 44 just recently and South Carolina reported like 100 something last year. Auburn never reports any of this stuff, cause they keep it down home, but this is typical of every program in the country. The worst that can come from secondary violations are restrictions on certain assistant coaches contacting recruits and stuff like that

Cecil Hurt wrote a pretty good article about how difficult it is to avoid trouble and keep players from finding touble, with the recent news of the Honey Badger and others. You can read it HERE

We already know Saban is the best coach in the country, but it's not just on the field and in recruiting. It's in developing, as is pointed out in Cecil's article. Saban is the absolute best at making players mature and stay out of trouble. Can't love this man any more than I do

The Sabanization Of College Football - Sports Illustrated Great article here from Andy Staples about other programs trying to copy the way Saban has done things at Bama and LSU. There is no match for The Process

Also, I'd like to point out. It was just found out that AJ McCarron played almost the entire season last year with a separated shoulder. He is about to absolutely go OFF this year. You watch and see.

No reason to include this pic of TJ Yeldon, but I just wanted to celebrate once again the fact that this future Heisman winner is a freshman at Alabama this year. Roll Tide to that!