Crimson Tide right now

A little precarious for Tide right now with the loss of running back Dee Hart to an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his knee. With the transfer of Demetrius Goode to North Alabama and Corey Grant to Auburn, the cupboard has gotten a little less full. Goode and Grant are both quality backs and would have helped this year. There’s still potential All-American, Heisman Trophy candidate, Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy, a pretty solid back, and the bruising Jalston Fowler. Fowler is a good back from what I’ve seen; a lot of size and power and pretty decent speed. They’re talking about using athlete Blake Sims in the backfield and maybe incoming frosh Brent Calloway. That’s not a definite on Calloway. I know they like him at linebacker.
I really think you need four and better yet five quality running backs in the SEC. There are just so many injuries in this league–the schedule is so brutal–that you need depth at that position. If Richardson goes down, it’s pretty slim pickins. Lacey and Fowler are good, but all three HAVE to stay healthy. ‘Bama is hoping Richardson will be injury free this year and be the dominant back he has shown signs of being the last couple of years. He is a talent, that is for sure. He struggled last year with injuries, so we’ll see how he does this year. This could be a problem for the Tide if a couple of running backs go down. The talent is good; those guys just need to stay healthy.

Quarterback is still a question mark heading into August. Neither A.J. McCarron nor Phillip Sims separated himself from the other in the Spring. I thought McCarron had the better first half in the Spring game and Sims was much better in the second half. The spot is up for grabs. Think frosh Phillip Ely is too young to step in. The problem I saw with Sims was that he always threw an interception in the spring scrimmages and in the spring game. McCarron can do that, too. I wish I could tell you who will get the nod, but I don’t think Saban has decided. I think he’s being very honest when he says he’ll go with both to start the season, and then, find out who can lead this team better. The first three games are at home with Kent State (11:21 SEC Network), @ Penn State (2:30 p.m. ABC) and at home against North Texas (TBD). Of those three, Penn State looks like they could be tough up in Happy Valley. They are picked second in their division of the Big Ten and have quite a few players returning. ‘Bama’s going to need to play great defense to get through that game and keep the ball in Richardson’s hands. Lacey has shown some signs of fumbilitis so he’s going to have to improve on that. Right now for Alabama, it’s defense and the running game. That wins a lot of games, no doubt. McCarron or Sims could be very good this year. Wasn’t overly impressed with either one in the spring, but both were highly rated out of high school– McCarron was a four star and Sims was a five star–so there is very good talent between the two of them.

Defense is loaded at linebacker (especially) and in the secondary. Dline will be good. Guys like Josh Chapman need to step up. Defensive line has talent. Other guys like Damion Square, Anthony Steen, Ed Stinson, Nick Gentry, Undra Billingsley and Quinton Dial are all good and potentially very good players. At linebacker it starts with Dont’a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw and C.J. Mosley, all first rounders in the NFL draft, if Hightower can regain his form from two years ago. Hightower and Upshaw could go highly in the 2012 draft and Mosley in 2013. There’s just a wave of lbs after that. It’s the best linebacking corps in college football. These guys could start for some NFL teams today.

Secondary looks good with Mark Barron, who looks fully recovered from his pectoral injury, and Robert Lester manning the safety spots and guys like Dre Kirkpatrick and DeQuan Menzie manning the cb spots. And there are good players behind them. Another group with a lot of NFL talent in it.

So the defense might have to carry Tide first three games till they get qb situation settled. Saban may stick with the two qb system for a while, but then again, somebody may step up in the preseason. Arkansas is the fourth game, so the team will need to have a stable qb situation by then, but if two qbs are working, Saban says he’ll go with that. I like going with one qb, but if neither one can establish himself, Saban may be forced to use’em both.

The team has a chance for a special season. Need to stay healthy at rb, somebody or both qbs need to step up, wide receiver needs a playmaker–Hanks and Maze are very good players, and I’ve heard good things about DeAndrew White– but they’ll need somebody to give them close to what Julio gave them; a playmaker who can go the distance any time. Heard this Duron Carter is a player. His dad, Chris, was an All-Pro, so it’s in the genes. It may be playmaker by committee at wide out. Defense will be there. Looking at a possible SEC championship and a chance at BCS title game. Schedule pretty favorable. Have to go to Auburn, Ole Miss, Miss State and Florida along with Penn State. Winnable games, but no gimmes. State is a very good team in my opinion and could give Tide problems. Auburn will be better than expected. Ole Miss will be decent and Florida will probably be decent though in transition. Play Ark, LSU, UT and Vandy at home. Should be an exciting and interesting year. Injuries play such a big part in the fortunes of teams. When Alabama won it all in 2009, they didn’t have any problem with injuries. Same for Auburn in ’10. That will be the key once again for ‘Bama. The talent is there. If they can get qb settled and stay healthy at rb, get a playmaker or two or three at wr, the oline stays healthy (looks like a good group) and defense dominates like it looks like it can, should be a possible national championship season for Tide. We’ll see who can separate himself between McCarron and Sims. I wish I could tell you definitively who the guy is, but I don’t think the coaching staff knows, so they want to see the two guys battle it out in the summer. They could possibly win with both if they have to because the talent around them and on the other side of the ball is so good. Should be a very interesting August.

Alabama needs a healthy Trent Richardson (pictured above) to excel in 2011