The Blue Board

You guys still debating this? Save your energy. Lots of time between now and then. Hell, Saban could interview for 3 different positions by the time kick off rolls around.

That's fair. I think a lot of Big 10 teams would be pretty worried if a true FR DT came in and dominated from day 1. FL had a pair of 5-star DTs sign in 2010 and they're just now coming into their own.

I hate RichRod!!!!!!

We lose "7" starters. I say that in quotes because a lot of the guys we have playing next year have a good bit of experience like Nico Johnson, Dee Milliner, Vinnie Sunseri but never started.

Our D lineup IMO will look like this come Gameday. * denotes returning starter

DE: Damien Square *
NT: Brandon Ivory
DE: Jessie Williams *

Jack: Adrian Hubbard
Will: CJ Mosely *
Mike: Nico Johnson
Sam: Trey Depriest

CB: Dee Milliner
S: Robert Lester *
S: Hasean Clinton-Dix
CB: Travell Dixon
CB: Deion Belue

I listed 3 CBs because we play a lot of nickel.

Our goal on D is to make your offense one dimensional. We're gonna stop the run and force you into 3rd and longs where we will become aggressive and bring some blitzes to force TOs.

I think the stat is since 2008 that our defenses have let 2 rbs gain over 100 yards in rushing against us.

Ivory is a true NT which is why I said him but JW to the interior is a possibility.

We have a rotating DL which keeps them fresh and provides a lot of experience.

Dial and Stinson got a lot of PT last year.

NT is our biggest question mark on defense IMO and is the most important piece. A lot of Bama fans will point out the DBs as our biggest issue but losing Chapman and Gentry hurts and everyone knows a NT is what makes a 3-4 tick

I know you rotate the D Line, but the reason I was surprised to see Ivory’s name because he didn’t get much burn for you guys from the games that I saw last year. Saban didn’t recruit any Juco’s for the position either right? Also the reason why I said that I saw Hubbard at SAM instead of JACK, is because he always seemed like a Manny Lawson-type LB to me. A tall, long LB that you would think is a pass rusher based on his size but is more of coverage guy at that position and a runstopper.

Yes, and several games we barely attempted any passes in the second half. We didn't have to throw it. We ran it just to kill the clock for the entire 4th quarter multiple times. That skews your numbers, because the games were put to bed after our first/second possessions of the 2nd half. Go back and look up the statistics. Saban could blow the doors off many teams, but he does the classy thing and just kills off the game.

When AJ needs to throw it, he will pick you apart. Just wait and see.

Look for LaMichael Fanning to show out on the DL. He has an NFL protype body and has been really impressive lately. Also, I too, expected Jesse to move inside to nose but Ivory looked good at the end of the year. They're saying JW is improving technique rapidly. He was already a physical specimen with unreal strength. They expect him to be so dominant at DE that he really changes the game. Therefore, I believe he's right... it looks like Ivory probably will start at Nose.

The LB's are going to be unreal. Nico Johnson has already made AA and Mosley was freshman AA, although neither have been officially "starters." Hubbard and XD are very good. Depriest is going to be special, and there are some freak frosh guys coming in (Ragland, Anderson, Lee, etc). I would not be surprised to see Ragland and Anderson getting meaningful PT. Athleticism like that is tough to match up with for an OL.

We lost some great LBs, but the new batch is more athletic. Can they play as disciplined? We will see.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all saying he's 1st team AA material. I'm just saying this guy is greatly undervaluing AJ's talent. The guy can make throws.

I have heard about Lamike, did he RS last year? Jw looked very impressive last year, there were times last year where he looked dominant and looked like Ngata. I haven’t heard all that much about Eddie Williams lately, but is it a lock that he plays O. Guy could probably a variety of positions on D with that size like OLB,S,or MLB.

That's a pretty fair assessment.

The short of it is this. Bama will stop the run and then run on you. Our run D likely won't be as good as last year, but still a top 5 in the nation. Our running game will likely be better as 4 of 5 on OL are back and McCarron will be given more slack (harder to stack the box).

Bama will blow some assignments in the secondary (2nd or 3rd CBs will not have much experience and the system is complicated), combine these with DR's scrambling and UM will get a few points that way. Unless Bama turns the ball over (-2 or more), I don't see UM having enough hosses (Bama likely better on OL and DL) to pull it out.

All that being said, its the first game of the year and you gotta' play. Looking forward to it.

If Michigan had Stonum to pair with Roundtree, I'd start moving this towards a 1-score game. As it is, I don't think UM has enough experienced WRs, combined with Shoelace's downfield inaccuracy, to take advantage of the young Alabama CBs.