It's going to be Randall's job to lose. That's the bottom line. If he plays well and SMART, then he will lead this team the entire season. I just think that he has too much talent surrounding him NOT to succeed.
I read where Russell over threw a 15 yard pass and the ball sailed 40 yards or so downfield he threw it so hard. Also read that several of his short passes were dropped because of the heat he put on them and the fact that they were a half yard off target, did any of you see the same things?
To draw such a conclusion....... Based on watching probably about two periods of the 4th day of practice might be a tad bit premature. Having said that, the punting job seems wide open at this juncture.
Perhaps the punters should go see Smoke and try out for shortstop. They fielded more ground balls yesterday than Blake Gill does in a typical 9 inning game. Get a good snap off, and I think we'll be OK. Did Ali Highsmith practice yesterday? I was trying to figure out where he was, and noticed that #7 wasn't in pads and was watching from the corner of the field. The only #7 on the roster is Ali Highsmith. Russell does have some zip on the ball, and it's something that the other 3 guys don't have. He made some good throws, particuarly on one occasion when he was flushed out of the pocket and threw it back across his body to Buster Davis. It's that ability to make something out of nothing that will make him a great QB. He did get rattled when they sent the blitz. But I also remember great QBs like Eli Manning and David Greene looking lost when our defense blitzed them. So I take that with a grain of salt. If he can learn to operate against Saban's blitzes, he will be a lot more comfortable against everyone else. Ally Broussard is going to be a surprise this year. He seems to have a burst he didn't quite have last year. Shyrone was typical Shyrone. He gets lost in the crowd and by the time he gets brought down, he's gained 6 or 7 yards. Joseph Addai will be a great threat lining up in the slot. He did that a lot, and I think he can create quite a mismatch, especially if he comes in motion out of the backfield. Early Doucet looked very good. He's a natural. Bowe is going to replace Clayton just fine. Skyler looks thicker than he did last year. I think he still operates best on those short flares. He's just very good with the ball in his hands. Amp Hill still needs some work. A couple of times coach Williams got on him about his route running. Corey Webster and Travis Daniels once again looked great. Coach Saban was hounding Jesse Daniels at times. But we know that he'll make him a great safety. That's all I can think of for now.
Did anyone happen to notice who was lining up at RT and RG with the first team o-line? Was it Johnson and Niswanger?
Skyler is heavier, actually got up to well over 200 pounds but he said it was slowing him down too much and he is trying to get back down to the 189-193 range and he is almost there already. Seems as though all of the guys that try and gain weight in order to take the extra pounding all try to loose it after the season as it effected them too much. At least Skyler noticed this very early and will play at his normal weight this year.
The punting game is in trouble. They take WAAAAAY too long to get punts off. They had two blocked yesterday, and if they were going for real so that the defense could extend out and REALLY go for the block, they would have had 3 or 4 more get blocked. Early is going to be a stud. Claude Wroten is going to be a stud. They ran a toss sweep to Vincent yesterday, and Wroten was literally step for step with him in the backfield, and Vincent ended up barely making it to the line of scrimmage.
I think it was Saban who noticed Green's weight gain and suggested he lose that weight! LOL Green was one of the starters Saban referred to in his initial press conference about being overweight, although he didn't mention any names.
It looks like Livings is playing tackle now in Rodney Reed's old spot. Johnson and Niswanger look like the starting guards, perhaps. Of course, we don't have a depth chart. :yelwink2:
