| 10 August 2010
The biggest news today is not who's at Tide practice, but who isn't - not today, not for a good while. NFL scouts are locked out of Bama's practices. This is likely part of Saban's campaign against rogue agents.
Give 'em hell, coach.
Better news - Alabama is once again on the cover of Sports Illustrated:
It was also announced Tuesday that Alabama will be the focus of one of four regional cover for Sports Illustrated's 2010 college football preview. Dont'a Hightower, Mark Barron and Marcell Dareus grace the Alabama cover as part of SI's defensive theme.
It marks the eighth Sports Illustrated cover for the Crimson Tide since head coach Nick Saban arrived prior to the 2007 season and the fifth since the beginning of last season.
Think that Saban guy has Bama on the right track? More after the jump.
Aside from those facts, it's a very pedestrian two-a-day day. Blake Sims worked with the tailbacks twice today, as the Tide staff give the youngster every chance at every position. This is a versatile young man, and the staff seems eager to work him into the rotation somewhere. Saban says that they're "trying to develop him as sort of a quasi QB/WR". Wildcat formation incoming - if they pull the redshirt off this very talented young man.
Mark Ingram can't participate in two a days until he has five days under his belt. He missed Saturdat and Sunday due to his grandfather's funeral.
So, with Demetrius Goode slowed by a hamstring, that led to more reps for Sims and for freshman Corey Grant. Grant has great wheels and is going to be a good player down the line, but he'll likely see all his action this year on special teams.
On the special teams front, Coach Saban continues to consider everyone a candidate to return kicks. In his press conference today, he named no less than 10 players as candidates to return kicks. They all had a shot Sunday, and that's expected to continue as Alabama struggles to find someone who can replace Javier Arenas.
Rod Woodson is headed to Terry Bowden's island of misfit toys at UNA, but Terry Grant isn't healthy enough for them. I'm sure Oversigning.com will report that Grant wasn't healthy enough for that level of football and retract all the snarky comments about Saban cutting him. We wait with bated breath.
Julio Jones is on the Biletnikoff Award watchlist, which is the award for the nation's top reciever. If the award were for the most complete receiver, they'd give it to Jones now; there's no better blocker and decoy in college football than Jones. His stats probably won't let him win the award, but I bet Tide coaches wouldn't trade him for any receiver in college football.3
Josh Chapman also had a wrapped hamstring tonight, but was moving at full speed in drills.
There's not much else to report. If something breaks loose, we'll have it here. Practice continues all week, and we'll be here reporting on it every time.
And if you're in Tuscaloosa, the folks at the Hollywood 16 have put tickets on sale for Nick Saban: Gamechanger. It's my understanding that tickets are going to be somewhat limited, so if you plan on seeing it before the season starts, get them now.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
