I watched this kid kick at Trinity and I was always disappointed that he went out of state. He had a huge leg. Glad to see him back.

I have figured out the secret of Bama's medical tent. They have Mr Miyagi in there, and whenever a player is hurt Mr Miyagi claps his hands and does the rubbing thing. It's great how Saban is always on the cutting edge of new technology. I can't wait until Minkah uses the crane kick to take down Fournette. 

I understand what coach is saying about keeping their confidence up, but the fact remains that Bama has consistently had kicker problems throughout Saban's tenure. The best kicker we had was Jeremy Shelly, and he couldn't kick more than 40 yds. Saban knows defense, he knows game planning, and he is the greatest recruiter in college football history, but he does not know how to manage special teams. That's his biggest weakness, and it has hurt us on multiple occasions. It's a legitimate concern for anyone that follows Bama football.

He may have but he is still on the roster. It's a very strange situation, and they were really counting on him to be the starter at guard. I hate to lose his experience and talent. Bummer.

Does anyone know anything about the status of Hill? I have not heard his name mentioned at all when discussing the offensive line. It's like he is no longer on the team. Does anyone have an update on him? Thanks.

Possible transfer from W Virginia that may help provide depth. But you are right, this is getting ridiculous. How did we go from Running Back U to please don't leave? We have had a run of bad luck at RB lately.

You're right, Ricky, the kicking game is important. Punting is outstanding this year and hopefully FG kicking will be much improved. But I would really like to see special teams be good this year, especially on coverage. Last few years our coverage teams have been average. Good plays one time, bad plays the next. We need more consistency. I want our special teams to be as good as Va Tech's when they were the best in the country on coverages and returns. I think Bobby Williams is a liability, personally.

Here's my two cents. John Parker Wilson was a mediocre QB and Bama went undefeated in the regular season and made it to the SEC champ game. Greg McElroy was a mediocre QB and Bama went undefeated, won an SEC title and a national title. AJ Mccarron was an above average QB and Bama never went undefeated but they won 1 SEC title and two national titles. Blake Sims was an average QB and Bama won an SEC title and made the first ever college football playoff. Even though the game has changed you can still win championships with outstanding defense and a dominant run game. The QB just needs to be smart, something that is true of Mcelroy, Mccarron, and Sims. So I don't care if Coker or Cornwell takes the reins, as long as they are smart. It doesn't matter how strong their arm is or how perfect their spirals are, as long as they make good decisions. Look at the best QBs in the NFL; Brady, the Mannings, Rodgers, Brees, Ryan; how many NCAA titles did they win? None. The college game is so different from the NFL, we need to stop applying NFL principles to college football. You don't have to have a dynamic QB to win a college title. Sure it helps, but it's not required. In college it's still defense that wins championships.

The problem was that we had no field general like CJ Mosley to keep everyone straight. Trey Depriest was a decent MLB but he wasn't a Mike LB. And he just didn't have the instincts that Mosley had. Combine that with the bad corner play and you get a bad defense. Ragland is taking over the Mike this year. Hopefully he will have the instincts and leadership to make the defense better. And the CBs should be much improved. I expect our D to be a lot better. Maybe not as good as 2011, but close.

Here's a really god read about Bama's outlook by Feldman, writing for MSN sports. Of course the defensive line is the main focus.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/alabamas-front-seven-is-built-to-torment-the-sec-in-2015/ar-AAbrjSQ

My other baseball team is the Cardinals. I like it because I can still root for Jason Heyward. Go Cardinals.

Trent signed by Oakland. I don't think that's a good thing. If you're trying to fix your attitude and get your head on straight, Oakland is not the place to do that. Sort of like working in a bar if you're a recovering alcoholic. I hope he does well, but I am not hopeful for his future.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12500980/rb-trent-richardson-signs-oakland-raiders

As the boring off season kicks into high gear I thought I would throw this out there for entertainment purposes. Who are the best players by position in the Saban era? Now this is restricted to players recruited by Saban only. So, for example, Javier Arenas or Greg McElroy might have been great players but they were not recruited by Saban. I alos tried to not use current players (I only used OJ Howard because I couldn't think of another really good TE that Saban recruited) I went for the best 2 players at each position. What do you think? Do you have other choices?

NT – Terrence Cody, Josh Chapman
DE – Marcel Dareus, Jesse Williams
DE – Quinton Dial, Damion Square
JACK – Courtney Upshaw, Xavier Dickson
SAM – Tana Patrick, Jerrel Harris
WILL – Donta’ Hightower, Reggie Ragland
MIKE – CJ Mosley, Rolando McClain
CB – Kareem Jackson, Dee Millner
CB – Dre Kirkpatrick, Deion Belue
STAR – Vinnie Sunseri, Dequan Menzie
S – Mark Barron, Ha Ha Clinton Dix
S – Landon Collins, Robert Lester

Honorable Mention – Nick gentry, Chavis Williams, Nico Johnson, Ed Stinson, Nick Perry, Trey Depriest, Jeoffrey Pagan

As the boring off season kicks into high gear I thought I would throw this out there for entertainment purposes. Who are the best players by position in the Saban era? Now this is restricted to players recruited by Saban only. So, for example, Javier Arenas or Greg McElroy might have been great players but they were not recruited by Saban. I alos tried to not use current players (I only used OJ Howard because I couldn't think of another really good TE that Saban recruited) I went for the best 2 players at each position. What do you think? Do oyu have other choices?

QB – AJ McCarron, Blake Sims
RB – Mark Ingram, Eddie Lacy, Trent Richardson
WR – Julio Jones, Kevin Norwood
WR – Amari Cooper, Deandrew White
SLOT – Darius Hanks, Kenny Bell
TE – Michael Williams, OJ Howard
H-Back – Jalston Fowler, Brad Smelley
LT – Cyrus Kouandjio, James Carpenter
LG – Barrett Jones, Arie Kouandjio
C – William Vlachos, Ryan Kelly
RG – Chance Warmack, Anthony Steen
RT – DJ Fluker, Austin Shepherd

Honorable Mention - Marquis Maze

As long as Rece bashes Auburn on a regular basis I'm ok with that.