Some nice competitive jousting between the fans the last few pages. Took me a few minutes to get caught up from my last visit at page 47. Does anyone have any questions about this team?
What does Bama do well consistently? What do they struggle with much of the time? What is something that bounces between the two categories?
I'd like for someone to tell me about your Oline and Te's and break them down and tell me who are the most talented and have had problems at times if any.
Any OL conversation will come down to the coach, Mr. Ed Warinner. He took a young but talented bunch and coached them up into a very good OL in 2012 and the best around in 2013. That was backed up when 3 of them started as rookies in the NFL this year. A fourth pretty good one also graduated in Marcus Hall.
Coming into this year, he had:
LT Taylor Decker - 4 star stud recruit - future NFL pick (rd 2?) - punishing blocker, good in pass pro. Moved over from RT last season. His only weakness is a proclivity towards false starts.
LG Pat Elflein - 3 star OL - took over for Marcus Hall when he was ejected vs UM. Physical, athletic blocker. First team All B1G selection.
OC Jacoby Boren - 3 star OL - undersized but smart and so tough. Youngest brother of legendary Boren family (oldest bro transferred from UM, middle bro was a captain and switched to MLB to save 2012 season).
RG Billy Price - 4 star DT - moved from DL last season while redshirting. More gifted than some of the new guys but still maturing. He was a major weakness early in the year but has come along very nicely.
RT Darryl Baldwin - 3 star DL - moved from DL a few years ago. Big, agile kid. Has the build of a LT and the athleticism. Went from a guy no one thought would contribute (a few years ago) to arguably the most steady OL of them all.
Our OL coach is great and we thought he could mold this mismash of talent into something respectable. I don't think anyone envisioned them becoming a fairly physical group in the run game and arguably a better pass protection unit than their predecessors.
At TE, OSU has two very good, 6'5" athletes with great size, solid athleticism and soft hands. #5 Jeff Heuerman was injured for a large part of the season, but when healthy OSU loves to run twin TE sets with Jeff and #81 Nick Vannett. They are not gamebreakers but very reliable and effective safety valves down the seams, in the flats and settling into soft spots in the zone. They are also punishing blockers.
Do yall have a kick returner who is especially dangerous?
With the legendary Ted Ginn Jr. still fresh in our memories, it's naturally going to shade any other aspiring returner. #17 ATH Jalin Marshall is strong, quick and has great vision. I would call him pretty good not great. He also forces us to hold our breath on every punt, as he has dropped or bobbled at least 7-8 punts this year, half of them because he took chances on bouncing punts or other poor choices.
I watched the first half of that Michigan State game and the Wr Michael Thomas looked dangerous after the catch. I wouldn't mind hearing about how well he blocks, catches balls thrown his way, runs precise routes, and how physical he is against the CBs. He def has nice size at around 6'2-'3.
#3 Michael Thomas is a very well rounded WR and pretty good blocker. He will not fly past you deep like Devin Smith but he is a good route runner and is very physical. He also has very good vision and body control after the catch and has broken open a number of plays after the catch. Some of this is his strength and playmaking ability, while I think more of it is his ability to beat one man and then race to the endzone with no safeties nearby (a constraint put on them by accounting for the rest of the offense). He is very good underneath and on intermediate routes. I would describe him as just okay on deep jump ball situations.
#9 Devin Smith's big play ability was on full display against MSU (and he's done that so many times). He's a burner with great leaping ability and huge big play potential. Until this season, he was also extremely inconsistent with his effort, focus and efficiency as a player. He had a ton of stat lines with 2-3 catches with 2 tds. Urban did a great job motivating him by bringing him off of the bench and getting him to elevate his game. As a result this year is the first time I've seen him do the little things consistently, especially hauling in wide open passes.
Ohio State Devin Smith Amazing One-Handed TD Catch
#6 Evan Spencer is the best blocking WR in the league and not a lot else. His hands are not great in traffic and his athleticism is nowhere close to the others on this list. He has however chipped in a few plays like this:
OSU WR Evan Spencer Makes Amazing One-Handed
#17 ATH Jalin Marshall plays the h-back role in this offense, which is essentially a slot back position. He is extremely efficient on jet sweep pop passes, though the offense will often use him as a decoy to set up counters or playaction behind it (they waited until the 3rd quarter against Michigan to actually get him the ball). He has very good speed, good strength but most of all he has excellent vision. He is a chain mover who can run through and around tacklers to find running space. He operates in a very different manner from the other h-back...
Jalin Marshall Dominates Second Half With 4 TDs
#2 Dontre Wilson went down in the PSU game with a broken foot vs Michigan State. He fought through it and still caught a TD after the injury, but has been out ever since. He will be back for the bowl game. Unlike Jalin, who is a physical runner that also has speed, Dontre is a jitterbug. He has good speed but it is his quickness that is his best asset. He can stop and start with the best of them, though he is still learning to mature in this offense. He is not going to run through any arm tackles like Jalin.
Note this video is a poor man's version of Dontre, as he improved his strength and quickness quite a bit. Last year some people called him "stompy" because he almost seemed to stomp angrily when he ran.
Dontre Wilson Freshmen Highlights
#84 Corey Smith is finally coming into his own a little bit. He redshirted during his first season in 2013 (juco) and was pretty rough in his first few months (especially virginia tech). He is a small slot type of WR (6' 175") built for quick screens and making plays after the catch. He should not ever be asked to catch a jump ball as he has struggled mightily in this area.
B1G CCG Corey Smith
Johnnie Dixon would be listed here but he went down with an injury early in the season.
