Alabama Crimson Tide

ESPN Insider Ryan McGee writes : Alabama will put its top-five ranking to the test right away. The Crimson Tide have a rough September schedule, with two of the most critical games of the month in all of college football.

Alabama could be without one of its top young receivers for the 2012 season, as true freshman Chris Black will miss three to four months after injuring his shoulder during practice on Sunday.

Nick Saban said Black will need surgery to repair his shoulder.

Black, who was part of a highly-touted receiver class for the Crimson Tide, enrolled at Alabama in January. By all accounts, he had a pretty solid spring and caught three passes for 61 yards and a 44-yard touchdown in Alabama's spring game.

The former Jacksonville (Fla.) First Coast standout was the No. 2-rated wide receiver coming out of high school and had the potential to be a deep-play threat in Alabama's offense.

"He wants to play so bad he can't see straight," Saban told reporters Thursday. "This is one of the unfortunate things. We feel bad for him, but everybody here is going to be very, very supportive, and he's going to be an excellent player for us in the future."

The good news for Alabama is there is good depth at receiver. Juniors Kevin Norwood and Kenny Bell are looking to make names for themselves this season, while the team has been impressed by youngsters Amari Cooper, who enrolled early, Eddie Williams and Cyrus Jones. Sophomores DeAndrew White and Christion Jones also have big-play potential.

(Read full post)

From now until kickoff in Arlington, Texas, we'll be counting down the days before Alabama and Michigan get the season started. Today, we move to No. 22 and what it means to UA football. See all the previous editions here.

If there was a footrace among wide receivers, chances are Christion Jones would get pretty good odds at coming in first. No. 22 on the Alabama roster has blazing speed, and showed flashes of the vertical threat he's capable of becoming last season.

A year later, the sophomore is poised to make a bigger impact at Alabama. With Marquis Maze, Darius Hanks and Bandon Gibson gone, Jones is in position to climb the depth chart at receiver and on special teams returning punts. When Maze went down with a hamstring injury at the BCS title game, it was Jones who fielded punts. Now that Maze is gone, it's safe to assume Jones is the man.

Jones had a good spring and has added weight since last season. Robert Lester said this spring that he was impressed with Jones' sense of determination.

“He’s a hard worker," Lester said. "He’s a guy that wants the spot, wants the start and is refusing to let anyone take his spot and you can see the competition in him.”

Jones projects as a slot receiver given his size (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) and speed.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Nick Saban doesn't want a repeat of 2010 in Tuscaloosa. No one at the University of Alabama does.

The Crimson Tide, fresh off their 13th national title and first since 1992, came back as the No. 1-ranked team in the country two years ago and stumbled out of the gates. The defense gave up crucial big plays and the offense wasn't as effective as the one that defeated Texas for the national title. Alabama ended up in the Capital One Bowl, and ever since it's been used as motivation for Saban, his coaching staff and the players.

As the start of a new season approaches and the long shadow of yet another title looms over the Tide, 2010 has been brought up again -- this time, in reference to the defense.

Alabama lost six starters to the NFL following the 2009 championship. This past season was no different, surrendering seven starters to the pros. As fall camp enters its second full week on the Alabama campus, a new crop of talent is emerging in an eerily similar manner.

When Javier Arenas and Kareem Jackson bolted for the pros two years ago, junior college transfer DeQuan Menzie and sophomore Dre Kirkpatrick stepped in. As both Menzie and Kirkpatrick prepare for another stage in their careers, it's up to another veteran to step up and a junior college transfer to fill a need. Enter Dee Milliner and Deion Belue.

Milliner played heavily as a sophomore last season and is poised to catapult to the top of the depth chart. As is Belue, a highly-touted transfer who has drawn rave reviews from Saban.

The vision of new faces in the secondary has Saban seeing 2010 all over again, the parallels not lost on the meticulous head coach.

"It really reminds me a lot of two years ago when we got a new guy Menzie, Dre's a young player who started," Saban noted. "It's a work in progress. How quickly those guys develop is going to be really important to how successful we are on defense."

(Read full post)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Junior running back Eddie Lacy has patiently waited his turn behind two Heisman trophy finalists, Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson. In a reserve role, Lacy still managed to score 13 touchdowns during his first two seasons at the University of Alabama.

Now it’s his turn.

Ingram and Richardson have moved on to the NFL, and Lacy will get his chance to be the feature back for the Crimson Tide this year. It’s a fortuitous position to be in, but it’s a role that comes with high expectations.

“With these fans, it’s a great feeling and you just have to embrace it, but at the same time, you have to come in and take care of business,” Lacy said.

The 6-foot, 220-pound running back knows he can do the job, but because of his role on the team the last two years, spelling Ingram and Richardson, he also appreciates the depth behind him and knows how important their success is to the team.

“It’s great,” Lacy said. “It’s the same way it was with Trent when I gave him a rest. It’s all just clockwork. Everybody is doing what they came here to do.”

(Read full post)

From now until kickoff in Arlington, Texas, we'll be counting down the days before Alabama and Michigan get the season started. Today, we move to No. 23 and what it means to UA football. See all the previous editions here.

No. 23 Jabriel Washington didn't come to Tuscaloosa, Ala., with the hype of some of his fellow true freshmen in 2011, but that doesn't mean the Tennessee native isn't ready to make an impact in his second year at the Capstone.

Washington was listed as the No. 29 athlete in the ESPN rankings in 2011, and was slotted to play defensive back for the Crimson Tide. As a 5-foot-11, 165-pound freshman, he was one of the lightest players on the team. Only fellow defensive back Sam Kearns weighed less. Not coincidentally, Washington was redshirted and has put on some weight -- 17 pounds, according to the UA media guide.

Coach Nick Saban had this to say about Washington's place on the team at SEC media days in Hoover, Ala., last month:

"Jabriel has done a good job of developing, gotten bigger and stronger, had a really good spring," Saban said. "He's competing for a role at the cornerback position, maybe someone who can contribute at special teams and be a backup at corner."

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- When coaches and players talk about Kenny Bell, his speed is usually the first thing to come up. The University of Alabama receiver is known as a threat in the vertical passing game, but he'd like to be known for much more.

"[Speed] is just an aspect I have," Bell said after Wednesday morning's practice. "But I just don't want to be known as a speed guy. I want to be known as a receiver that's known all the way around."

The junior from Rayville, La., caught 17 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns last season. His 15 yards per catch average was the best of any receiver on the team with 15 or more receptions.

But is he the fastest on the team? Not even he can answer that question.

"We've got a lot of guys, I really couldn't even tell you," he said. "We always talk about racing each other, but we just haven't had the time yet. But we're going to wind up seeing in the near future."

Bell said he worked hard during the offseason and is anticipating a bigger role on offense in his fourth year at the Capstone. At the A-Day scrimmage in April, Bell led all receivers with five catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.

On Monday, Kevin Norwood said he and Bell have been looking forward to becoming leaders for years. With the top four pass-catchers from last season gone, they have the opportunity.

(Read full post)

Brandon Hill has confirmed to RecruitingNation that he will not be attending the University of Alabama this fall due to academic issues. The NCAA Clearinghouse did not clear Hill to play.

Hill told DawgNation's Kipp Adams that he will be attending Hargrave Military Academy and will play football while there.

Hill posted on his Facebook page that "This is just a minor set back for a major come back! You can't rush GREATNESS!!!"

The 6-foot-6, 355-pound offensive lineman is the only signee from this year's class to not enroll at Alabama. He was ranked as the No. 77 offensive tackle in the country.

TideNation reporter Greg Ostendorf catches up with Autauga, Ala. tight end O.J. Howard. Howard talks about his busy camp season, looking forward to the fall season, and who is still recruiting this Alabama commit hard.