Jumbo Package: Five-star freshmen push for playing time on defense
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Happy Gump Day, everyone. Kane Wommack spoke to reporters yesterday, and he has communicated the urgency of practice to those who want to make the initial two deep.
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“I told the guys this is a really big week,” Wommack said after Tuesday’s practice. “Decisions are going to be made in my mind about who takes the field against East Carolina based off of what you do this week. I’m telling guys, I’m a human stock market. You know what I mean? Stock is up, stock is down, but there’s a line that I’m going to draw of guys that we trust to go do their job at a high level that I feel like we can go put in the first game pretty much regardless of the situation or time on the clock or score, any of that kind of stuff.”
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Under Wommack the last two seasons, Alabama uses a heavy rotation of players at all levels of the defense, especially on the defensive line. This allows a fairly large group of defenders to play at least 15 to 20 snaps a game on top of the starters.
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“We’ll ride with those guys,” Wommack said. “Doesn’t mean that that can’t change as the season goes on. Doesn’t mean that we can’t add pieces to the puzzle as the season goes on, which we most certainly are going to have to do. But coming out of this Thursday, I have a pretty good idea of who we’re going to be, and who we’re going to ride with.”
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This is critical, as once the two deep is decided, everyone else is essentially relegated to scout team status during game week practices. Injuries and performance do allow for some fluidity throughout the season, but making that initial cut is huge.
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Two young dudes have cemented their spots, and are making it very difficult to keep them off the field.
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“Jireh’s one of the most instinctive playmakers I’ve ever seen coming out of high school,” Wommack said. “Very physical. He’s got phenomenal tracking of the ball. His blitz IQ and awareness is really high, and so he can create production out of that package as well. Really, for him, it’s about putting the whole thing together.”
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Meanwhile, Griffin could help Alabama as an inside linebacker or come off the edge. He’s been compared to Jihaad Campbell since the day the Crimson Tide signed Griffin.
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“Zay’s doing a really good job,” Wommack said. “It’s hard to play the linebacker position, and we’re asking him to do multiple things in that room. He has value as a pass rusher. He did that for most of his high school career, and then what was really cool is his senior year, he got to play as a stack backer and took his game, really, to another level.
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While it will always be hard for me to read his first name without thinking of the Dallas Cowboys owner, Jireh in particular has “freak” written all over him. It’s not hyperbole to suggest that he may turn out to be a better player at safety than a certain mercenary who bailed when Saban retired.
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As far as Griffin goes, he’s already showing the kind of versatility that resulted in his lofty ranking.
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Five-star freshman Xavier Griffin and Virginia Tech transfer Caleb Woodson, the newcomers, have “put themselves in position to play, Wommack said. Luke Metz has developed “to another level.” And linebackers like Abduall Sanders Jr., QB Reese, Cayden Jones and Duke Johnson II have each earned playing time.
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“Those guys, they are all going to have a role for us,” Wommack said. “It’s just, kind of, at some point, right, you kind of have to say, ‘Here’s the two deep,’ and let those guys ride and see what happens in games.”
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For Alabama‘s defense, that day is coming soon with the Crimson Tide‘s second fall camp scrimmage days away and the season opener against East Carolina approaching quickly.
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It’s great that Griffin is seeing time at ILB, but it sure seems that Alabama could use another terror coming off the edge.
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Wommack is loving what he sees from the defensive front, and that is very encouraging.
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“From our defensive line standpoint, we do have a little bit more experience in that room right now, and I think we’ve got some maturity in that room that tends to be showing up,” Wommack said Tuesday. “The ability to line up and play some base defense has not really been something that I’ve had in my tool bag for the last couple of years on a consistent basis. We’ve kind of had to move and stem and all that stuff.”
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Base defense as in four down linemen, three linebackers and four defensive backs, give or take a player here or there, say one fewer defensive lineman or linebacker for an extra defensive back.
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Guys just lining up and beating the guys in front of them goes a long way in allowing Wommack to get creative when it makes sense.
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“I do think we’re in a better position right now to line up and play base technique, along with a number of other things that we’re going to do,” Wommack said.
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It’s been a while since Alabama just whipped people up front. That would be a welcome sight.
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Bray Hubbard made first team preseason All-America according to both the AP and The Athletic. Zabien Brown earned a second team AP nod.
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The 6-foot-2, 217-pound Hubbard had 74 total tackles for the Crimson Tide last season. He intercepted four passes, broke up eight more, and notched two sacks as well.
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He was joined on the AP lists by Alabama cornerback Zabien Brown. Brown earned a second-team nod, and was the only other UA player represented.
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Brown, now a junior, had two interceptions last season, returning both of them for touchdowns. He also made 39 total tackles, broke up seven passes and forced a fumble.
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S Bray Hubbard, Alabama: The hard-hitting senior from Mississippi started all 15 games for the Crimson Tide last season and earned second-team All-American honors from the American Football Coaches Association. He recorded 79 tackles, 4.5 TFLs and two sacks and tied for the SEC lead with four interceptions.
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Last, it’s a whole new world in sports media.
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Pate told Burack he took a lower salary but secured the coveted IP ownership, signed a one-year deal, and parted ways with the company after that contract expired. Now Pate has one of the biggest podcasts in college football; he maintains IP ownership; he controls the RSS feeds, the YouTube channel, and the company.
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This is what Pat McAfee pioneered: the idea that an independent venture could become bigger than any show in traditional media. And while McAfee is now part of the establishment, he did so by retaining asset ownership and renting it to ESPN rather than handing over control. It’s the model Stephen A. Smith has since admitted to copying, having launched his own production company.
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The model used to be: get on ESPN and let them have your content. Now the model is to own your content and use ESPN as more of a promotional tool. It’s the model every successful sports media personality wants, and Josh Pate has it.
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Pretty fascinating.
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That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
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Roll Tide.
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