I didn't realize Bama took so many losses on defense. I should be grateful, if Bama was building on last years defense, it might be scary. Last year the top defenses in the SEC (under 300 yards allowed): were Bama, LSU, Tennessee, and Florida. This year, I'm thinking . . . LSU, Auburn, Georgia, and Bama. But LSU and Auburn will be very close, I think
This is true. I hope/think that K. Brown has a better year. If he gets into it mentally, I think that he's got what it takes to be our best reciever. He's big, and he's the fastest we have (yes, even including a healthy Prothro). I love Hall and he took over last year, but IMO, I think that Brown would be our best if he gets his mind right. He's my favorite WR we have.
Bama will be decent, but it would be a shock if they won the West. Let us not forget how absolutely horrible their offense was last year, and seemingly every year, under their head coach. With starters, I think LSU will be the better team than Auburn. With our lack of depth on the Oline, that could play a serious role in whether we win the West. Perhaps luckily, we play Auburn early which means less time for injuries to have occurred.
Horrible I won't give you. Average, I will accept readily. Alabama was a middle of the pack offense last year...as evidenced by ranking between 6th and 8th in every aspect of the offense except 4th down conversions. The offensive line was the biggest problem last year. Comparing last year to this spring (spring vs spring) the C position is much better. The G's are better...the tackles are bad. However, the offense has been working a lot out of 2 and 3 TE sets in an effort to shore up the weak tackle slots. That's key because of one aspect, Red Zone scoring offense. Only Ole Miss, MSU and UT had worse ratio's when it came to having the ball in the Red Zone and turning those into touchdowns. Again...that comes back to the play of the OL.
Hit the nail on the head here. We moved the ball fairly decent but just couldn't punch it into the endzone a lot. Our offense was actually pretty good early in the season until our playmaker went down. Also, people (opposing fans) dont realize that the real problems on the offensive line came after Closners injury. He was a senior, leader, and by far our best lineman.
I see it between Auburn and LSU. Bama lost too much on D, and losing Croyle is not gonna help the O. They didn't have great recruiting classes lately to fill the holes. I don't think Bama can win the west, but they may be a spoiler. Auburn and LSU are close. Our young offensive line will have to step up in their early big game, after a couple of warmups. On D, our linebacking has the opportunity to be improved, but I don't think we can improve on the front 4 we had last year. I think LSU has the edge at QB, maybe receiver. I'll go with LSU, even on the road (but would not bet a lot of money).
Here is a question for Bama - Will any of the tight ends stay healthy for a year?:dis: As for the West, I look for Arkansas to look much better this year, but youth will show. Lots of raw talent, and raw playcalling.
I wouldnt say Bama had bad recruiting classes. I guarantee you RE and Terry are satisfied with their previous classes under Shula, considering the circumstances.
"not bad" is not top 10 in the nation. I have seen them in the second 10 nationally. I just think LSU has recruited well the last 4 years, and when we lose someone, there seems to be a quality person ready to step into their shoes. We hung up another solid class this year. We lost more starters than Bama did, but I think we have better folks ready to step up. The question will be how fast they can get accustomed to the SEC starters role, and winning in the SEC.
