Why Alabama Will Exceed Expectations & Offensive Depth Chart Analysis

Jimmy and I are going to tell you why Alabama's going to be better than most people [Music] think you are locked on Bama your daily podcast on the Alabama Crimson Tide part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey everybody and welcome back into Lama Luke Robinson with the ahsa radio network you know that's me and of course Jimmy with online you know of course that's him and that's just how we roll over here at lockon Bama we appreciate you making us your first listen every single day we love all you every dayers we love all you newbies we love everybody that's associated with all the locked on networks and we're just happy that football season's here and we can't wait to get it started this particular episode is brought to you by ultimate GM I'll be telling you about ultimate GM here in just a little bit we also have a new sponsor in 5 Hour Energy and boy could I tell tell you some good things about 5 Hour Energy uh Jimmy you know I let off saying we're going to tell everybody why Bama's better than we think but you know let's start with a little depth chart stuff I mean b online came out with their proposed depth charts or not even they're predicted dep and the one couple things that I loved about it was that uh they have Justice Haynes as the number one running back now part of that is because Jam Miller is banged up a little bit I don't think Justice hand's going to give that roll up yeah once uh justice gets out there it's be hard to take off the field to be honest I mean I think he's fantastic also I think Jam's good and really if Jam had not been hurt I think it would have been more interesting to see what Charlie Potter who wrote that those depth charts what Charlie went with if Jam had never been hurt because it seemed to us at practice th those two would literally rotate almost day to day like it'd be Justice turn to be the number one back and the next day it's jam and then it's Justice again and then it's Jam they were literally splitting those first team reps virtually 50-50 Richard y would get some time too but but not not anything like like jam and justice but now Jam's been banged up uh justice has no doubt taking advantage of those reps he's the one that should start in my opinion because James missed so much time and justice has been number one but look does it really matter who starts to me what matters is who gets the most touches who gets the most snaps who's a bigger part of things my guess is Luke I think this could change week to week in terms terms of who gets the most run out there uh I think it's going to be a 5050 type deal but if it's not 50/50 my money would be on Justice uh I I think he's just a super talented kid the coaches love him uh pretty good in all areas now one one word of of warning I saw a play in the Florida state Georgia Tech game that gave me pause it's third down text blitzing they get a free Blitzer he's going to hit dju and Roy made a fantastic kickout block to give D dju more time and I immediately thought to man those Alabama fans who wanted to bench royell and Jace and go with these young backs they don't understand how big that play was and by the way DJ you made the play and the drive kept alive you know because of rell's block jam and Justice have to prove they can make that block because last year an opportunity they did not and one time Justice missed a block so bad milro got really whacked and that's just unacceptable I mean so they got to get better at that part of it we know they're good with the ball in their hands but it takes more than that and that's why those veteran backs you know one's in the NFL the other one's you know a starter at another Elite program uh they they've got to uh justice and Jim have to come along in that area oh I'm with you on that uh 100% and boy I remember that play yesterday you know and at the time I even remember thinking that what a play by Roy Dell but I I just I I guess I just didn't carry it over to discuss it with anybody but I that those things do go unnoticed and they are huge um and I would say I'd be willing to bet Jam Miller is probably better at picking those things up than J just for experience-wise yeah and he's really here's this the scary part I don't think he's really gonna be tested in terms of blitzing linebackers and and where to pick up until you get to Georgia now maybe South Florida because last year if you remember South Florida teed off on us pretty good I don't remember exactly how many sacks they had but it was a bunch that could be a challenging game I think I don't think enough media guys talk about the possibility of South Florida being that group of five team I've seen I've seen one person predict it but maybe there should be more south Florida quarterback's back I think that coach might be a thing as we know he was the OC at Tennessee you know when he when they passed us silly in 2022 it was this dude calling the shots uh he's got an experienced quarterbacks sou Florida's obviously they're in a situation where they should recruit fairly well just a proximity to players but uh yeah that'll be a challenge but hey let's get week one behind us and then we'll start fretting about the Bulls yeah but again this we started off with the whole depth chart We're not gonna go over the whole thing we're gonna go over Parts there's no reason to debate well should it be Jaylen milro it's gonna be Jaylen milro um or you know should be Parker brailford yeah it should be um receiver wise I did talk about this the other day on the solo show that you know I know Jeremy Bernard and this is B's predictions Jeremy Bernard um Kobe Prince and Kendrick law and I said I don't know who in the world he's gonna replace but Ryan Williams is gonna replace somebody in the starting lineup now and that's not going to it shouldn't be considered an insult to whomever that is but I believe believe it in my soul yeah and again I even at that position I don't Focus so much on starts what I focus on at wide receiver is targets you know at the end of the game who who among the wide receiver group did they throw it at the most uh I I'm up there with you Luke I I won't be surprised if Ryan is second in Targets on this team over the course of several games over the course of the season I think by the end of the year it's jery leading the team in targets and it's Ryan right behind behind him in the second spot third probably Kobe because he's going to be that first slot guy and and and then Cole Adams you know be a second slot guy but but I think Ryan Williams will be second in targets and that's not a shot at at Kendrick law who I think is a good player and Kendrick critical year for him critical year for him not about keeping Ryan off the field but just about Kayla and me as a junior and it's time to turn potential into production we know what the potential is but you got to turn the potential into production or if if he doesn't if it's not a productive year for him again Luke I I'll be I'll be the first on here in the spring going should we look at Kendrick at another spot I mean that's how now I don't think that conversation not not position yeah I'm talking about position yeah I'm talking about position but no but what I mean is should Kendrick he needs to be productive because he's too big strong and fast not to be and if he's only got another 17 catches for 200 yards that's just not enough based on size and speed I'll be going like should he be playing safety should he be playing running back because but now that being said I don't think that conversation's gonna happen I think he is gonna have a productive season I think it'll be jery and then Ryan and then Kobe and then KLA maybe Cole maybe Cole fourth or fifth if it goes like you said then it would be probably part for the cor to be finished with 17 for 200 now unless we throw the ball more than everybody's leading you know letting on and I think they will I think they will I mean you I'm going jaying from 23 passes a game to 34 uh that should be roughly seven more completions per game than last year uh and I think a lot of that will be to wide receivers but they are going to throw it to the backs they are going to throw it to the tight end too but yeah I think there'll be just more production in general across that wide receiver room last year the production was really Germaine Burton and Isaiah Bond they basically soaked up all the oxygen in that room and I think third in the wide receiver room last year was Kobe uh and he had quite a few catches I think around 38 but uh but then beyond Kobe it got pretty skinny in terms of the the of the production you have Malik Benson jakori Brooks caught a few balls last year we forget about him yeah well we forget about him because he's not here he ain't here anymore interesting to see how he does at Louisville you know Louisville uh on that note Louisville was excited to get the South Alabama transfer col Lacy such a good player of South got hurt he's out for the season I know that SS so jakori is going to catch more balls as a result I would imagine so you say Louisville I say Louisville Louisville say Colorado or Colorado Colorado I say Colorado I think it's just I maybe my accents a little bit heavier and you know like all southern people we just sort of get lazy at the end of a word we're like going to Colorado like it took a lot out of me you know the one that gets me I think Lou Holtz does that instead of saying Oregon Lou Holtz says Oregon or that one that would bother me that bothers me yeah oron also I don't understand why people say roof now I get oh I get it in the wolf roof guess anyway we'll talk about we'll have another podcast on this on lock on how to how a construction guy weren't doing work in my house they kept putting an r in the word toilet where saying turlet oh turet yeah yeah yeah turet that's just that's just terrible that's another thing that like us smallers like we put ours a lot of places putting RS in in words that don't have RS we just got ours we got a boow load of RS somewhere or a load of ours okay all right I gotta tell you about uh ultimate GM yep ultimate GM this is a lot of fun hey locked on fans I want to take a moment and give you a heads up on a brand brand new mobile game that I think you're going to love that's ultimate college football HC in this amazing game and simulation you get to step into the shoes of a head coach like Kaylin dbor or a jayen dbor if you're Steve Spurrier and lead your college football program to Glory you can can you imagine actually being the head coach of Bama or South Alabama or north Alabama that'd be a lot of fun from recruiting players and hiring coaches staff to overseeing training camps and handling school scholarships you control every crucial detail of your program it's all in your hands will you be able to handle the pressure I'm going to guess no but prove me wrong people um ultimate college football HC is a completely free has no ads in the 100% playable Offline that makes it kind of fun you can play on the go as you want and when you want to look of course we have a special offer for you on locked on Bama use the promo code locked on CFB all caps locked on CFB inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program make sure you take advantage of this perk as it will get your team off to a strong start to download the game just visit ultimate-fx Legacy today and I also want to remind everybody those college football previews are still out there uh go check them out college football is live uh college football's back I should say and college football locked on college football podcast kicks off the action with A Live season preview uh that was done on Tuesday so it's not live anymore it was last Tuesday but Jimmy was on it and if you hadn't seen it go check it out of course it's part of the locked on podcast Network your team ER day has I put some more RS into that more RS there's RS in there um okay is Western Kentucky a good test for us I'm going to say I mean to steal a line from The Simpsons I'm gonna say yes with a but and no with an if um my my yes with a butt is I think it's a good test because I'm glad we're not playing in Ireland I'm glad we're not playing Wisconsin game one I'm glad we're playing somebody that is not God aul at the same time that we should beat pretty handily for kayin dore's debut that's what I'm happy about I'm happy it's not on the road I'm happy it's not in Atlanta or in Dallas or in Dublin I'm just glad it's hit home in Tuscaloosa he gets to feel a little bit about this because I do feel like there will be an energy in this Stadium yeah and what I like most yeah I agree everything you said I I I'm GL so glad this first game wasn't in Dublin and some crazy thing I'm glad it's not a neutral sight game against a really good team uh I like that but I also like that it's not the FCS opponent you know if you played Mercer in week one like the big 10 about they want all the SEC teams in Alabama to to to play your your FCS game early because they think it's somehow unfair to play it late I I don't understand that at all but I'm glad we're not playing the FCS team week one I want a test but not a significant oh if it goes sideway ways you'll probably lose type test I I I'd rather see a decent test against a team you're you're you're highly likely to beat so I I love this first opponent and Luke if you think about it what's really neat about this early schedule is each test gets Sterner until you get to Georgia right South Florida's better than Western Kentucky remember what happened last year then going to Wisconsin's tougher than South Florida at home to say the least and then that fourth game against Georgia is an bigger test so I like how there's a ramp up and then at the end of those four games you should really know what you have to work on and I know it'll be sad or depressing or we'll all be upset and and biting through uh rubber dog bones if if we lose to Georgia but at the same time what I would be talking about let's hypothetically say it is a loss I'm be talking about is we know exactly what we got to work on I mean what whatever Georgia exposed we've got eight G games to get better so we can see Georgia again either in Atlanta or in in the playoffs so that's what I will be focused on is man you almost want to thank them for okay now we know we got to work on a and c and that's how that's the pathway to getting better you know if you win that game and and you get exposed a little bit because you had to pull it out of the fire because it's Georgia but you win the game I'm not sure you work on those weaknesses with the same urgency right I mean Nick say been talked about that a lot that sometimes it took a loss to get the players full attention and to get it refocused and again that makes it sound like I'm going boy I hope that Georgia game goes the other way that's not what I'm saying at all but what I'm saying is Georgia will produce an opportunity to know exactly where you sit and that's valuable win or lose um yeah and I mean this is all kind of a far cry from starting off with is Western Kentucky a good or bad test but I yeah gone off on the tangent but that's okay because here's the thing I almost think that Wisconsin's better to know where we sit look Georgia's at the head of the table right now I there's some Alabama fans who are mad I'm not bammer enough say is still our Dynasty whatever let's be fair Georgia has won two national championships since we've won our last one okay so that that is very fair to say Georgia is at the head of the table right and we're like the only team that beats them yeah beat who beats Georgia Alabama no one else no one else does has anyone beaten them but Alabama has literally anyone beaten them but Alabama since 2020 um no I don't think so it's just Alabama just well either Alabama continues to do so or there's an understandable step back from Sabin to dor and that's enough for for Georgia Dew I saw today though was it uh someone I was looking at a very incredible oh it was Pat 40 Pat 40 has Alabama basically losing to Georgia twice uh in Tuscaloosa and then again in the playoff and my initial reaction to that was I don't think so Pat I mean I I I don't think they'll beat Alabama more than once they may beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa and then you don't see him again I I don't see Alabama losing to Georgia twice maybe that's the Homer in me but go kind of gets back to this post I made today I bet you agree with this a million percent because I'm guilty of two things I say things like I hope Alabama's 12th in this I I want our kids playing disrespected I want them to play with a chip on their shoulder I want to be under ranked I want to be I want to sneak up on people again uh I hope they disrespect us and put us at 12 but then a poll comes out and we are 12 and I'm like who the heck does this guy think he is what is what is that Scot shouldn't be working in sports yeah what do you mean 12 no I to I totally that's how I do that's how I do I totally agree and it's totally irrational and stupid but I think it's more rational right now to put Alabama at number 12 than it is uh to whatever we were doing have you seen any credible person pick Alabama well we'll talk about this it's a okay third segment third segment this is a great question Danny canel actually had his playoffs of course he had Florida State getting a bu winning ACC and he didn't have Alabama in it and you know okay I mean and Danny I don't know who follows me on Twitter but I really targeted Danny canel pretty well after FSU and he was like okay all you people I'm keeping receipts and I'm like keep them all you want to that's fine I said 'I feel like you know the reason people are coming after you is because you were so out of bounds with your takes on all this FSU stuff and the SEC bias and Kirk CB street you were actually calling for people to boo K herb Street on Twitter at the while it was happening you were calling then he's upset when people boo him yeah and then he gets upset that people want to oh I'm gonna keep receipts okay keep them do whatever you do turn them into your accountant I don't care and if you come after me fine here's what's funny if you come after me that only gives us exposure here at locked on Bama so who knows I mean whatever um okay Jimmy we're gonna talk we're gonna tell everybody why Bama is gonna be better than people like Danny canel think because you know what they are gonna be better but I want to tell you about fiveg and I got a Five Hour Energy that story that'll make you slap your mama and I can't wait to tell it don't know that I should right after a live read but I'm gonna okay look I love Five Hour Energy I use it all the time because I if you know me you know I go to bed early okay so my wife true my wife on the other hand does not so when it's time to like go to a party if I don't take a Five Hour Energy I'm not gonna make it and like love these things they're just quick they give you a quick pickme up um it fixes tired fast I'm telling you whether you have a long list to do for work or you got DIY DIY projects or you're at a party you don't want to be at yeah and I know sometimes I even end my sentences in a preposition that's even worse I need a five- Hour Energy right now I just I just drove nine hours to Raleigh help me somebody um look if you want to do it before you work out that's another good time to do it grab a 5H Hour Energy Shot to stay alert to watch all your favorite games I'm going to be doing that this year you can bet you bottom dollar I might sneak a little Five Hour Energy in with my adult beverage of choice I'm telling you I just do these things because I have two to stay up five shots give you the feeling of alertness and energy and they don't make me feel jittery ever they don't I I just it like makes me feel awake which is what I wanted to do so look go get you a Five Hour Energy if you go to 5our energy.com that's the number five and then hour energy.com and hour of course has an H in it doesn't have two RS either like uh and get some five energy product today you can use the promo code locked on CFB to receive 20 20% off your order that's a lot that's a lot man this offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions this code is not good for subscription orders go to 5our energy.com today and you will thank me at some point all right may get in trouble but I want to tell this really quickly uh even though we're going to tell you about W Bama is going to be better when I took my son to see Bama play Tennessee in Knoxville I believe it was 2010 yeah I think it was 2010 and um I went with some other friends and my son at the time was younger I'm not gonna give specific ages because that would probably get me in trouble but you know he it was a night game and he uh he was like I was like I'm losing him you know this this game gonna kick off late and I'm losing him and so I just gave him a little you know quick you know just a quick shot quick one not not a whole thing you don't give me don't get on to me and um and he was ready to rock the whole game and we the best time it was awesome he hadn't slept since 2010 he hadn't slept since he reads all the time non-stop like just no he's good he's good he's fine he's a great American um okay but it was true it was like at one morning he was sort of sleeping in my arms and then like 20 minutes later he was sliding down this Steep Hill near our tailgate like cardboard boxes then he caught a 70 caught a 70 yard pass to win the game he guarded uh he guarded Julio Jones in the endzone anyway okay he carried Terence Cody off the field so why he he actually went in and brought the goalpost back from the tenness River no okay so why Alabama will be better okay here here's my let me give you my no you go right in okay and somebody asked about this because we've been talking about everything else and they were like what you feel like you never talk about the running backs I feel like we always talked about the running back so I cut back my running back talk but I tell groy stuff around here sometimes really the reason I think we're going to be better is mainly because of the running backs now the caveat being what Jimmy brought up earlier is Blitz pickup and blocking in general that that's got to happen and I understand that I'm doing what I'd say a lot of fans shouldn't do is just putting you know counting hope as if it's experience it's not but I believe that if we if those guys get their blocking right our running back room is totally underrated I hear everybody talking about everybody else's you know running back room you know I've heard talk about theirs Auburn talk about theirs I feel like Alabama is a lot better in terms of potential if they get that blocking down if they get that I think we're gonna be superstar i g to tell you something the other thing that made me feel even better about our running back room is I feel like I watched Roy Dell play for FSU and I thought he did okay but I also felt like he should have done I thought like if Justice Haynes was back there maybe he misses that block you talked about earlier I bet you he gets 100 yards so he might he might have I'm expecting a highly productive Year from Justice and jam and I think that's an excellent answer I just point this out a little more subjective but if you're like an alien or you don't or or just let's put it this way if you're a casual or you're more of a normal college football fan than obsessed idiots like me and Luke or a casual alien or a casual alien or an alien that's obsessed with college football which would be great uh you would let's just say that you've read nothing about this upcoming season so last season ended and you've read nothing you've seen no polls you've seen no predictions you've heard none of this talking season as Marty and McGee call it on SEC network you've heard none of it you haven't read magazines you Haven looked at predictions all you know is this recruiting rankings you know recruiting rankings and you look at recruiting rankings in 24 23 22 21 and even 20 those are the five recruiting classes that basically make up all the teams this fall so you're looking at recruiting rankings over the last three to five years and you're also going to be told okay this is who these guys have signed out of the portal this year and maybe last year these are the portal signes if you looked at nothing but then you know who you might rank number one Alabama you might rank Alabama number one if you look at who they've signed and who they've signed out of the portal but who ranks Alabama number one no one absolutely no one what credible writer out there has predicted Alabama to win the national championship I haven't seen it I Haven seen I've seen very I've seen Alabama pick to win the SEC but that has been so rare that I just surprise y'all when I said it because it's been so rare the fact of the matter is somehow some way Alabama's under ranked underrated and Alabama should be a national championship serious Contender the reason they're not because the head coach was replaced by another guy but by the way that other guy he's lost 12 games ever and he played for the national championship last year play for the national championship last year if dor just picks up where Sabin left off no one should be surprised but yet you look at all these preseason rankings and all the talk and you're like people really are going to be surprised why they've got the roster and they've got what amounts to a proven head football coach and it then it comes full circle to what we talked about at the beginning we should love this but we are poed about it for so exactly sense it's exactly I want us to be ranked low but then we get ranked low and I'm like and and you know canel that doesn't even count but you know he didn't have us in the play Howard doesn't count he didn't have us in his playoffs Desmond yeah by the way I like Desmond Howard more than most of you listening like Desmond Howard but that dude's preseason predictions are usually terrible oh you have to go back and I I wonder how many times he's predicted someone wins a national championship and they don't even get out of week one I mean Desmond's predictions have not been good he doesn't have a track record there so that doesn't bother me as much I I I care more about herb Street certainly Nick sa who people are going to say he's got an Alabama bias uh I don't know but herb Street even McAfee you know is a sport Sports guy and I wish Reese would take a bigger role on there in terms of opinions I get why he doesn't because it's not his role but Reese Davis knows him some CLE football if you don't believe me listen to his podcast with Pete th he knows his stuff well and you know what Desmond Howard is he's the guy who stands on 14 at the blackjack table with an ace3 looking at a 10 because he's like I just don't think I should hit it I think she's gonna bust well every now and again she will bust when you do that but but go by the book by the book he doesn't go by the book he does gamble a little bit on the pcks I guess trying to be smart or hey the thing about this we W really have the time to go over this but I think picking Cinderella type teams now is insane yeah because those teams have to win hey sure anybody can take their swing and knock knock off Alabama but then what if you have to beat Georgia and Ohio State too I mean what what what what non-elite program is going to beat Alabama Georgia and Ohio State in three weeks got to be the Baltimore Ravens to do that so well not only that I mean it's like WI a Cinderella has made a move I mean it's like glass Joe getting to the end of Mike Tyson's punch out I mean TCU got there and Mike Tyson just knocked glass Joe in the next week Cincinnati got there and Alabama just toyed with him that game is I I love rewatching Alabama games I don't even like rewatching that game because it was like we knew we could beat them at any moment we needed to we just sort of messed around and beat the heck out of yeah you know Michigan was a really worthy national champion last year because they really were undefeated great team ful of great player set an all-time NFL combine record send 18 players to the combine that's a loaded great Michigan team with a first round quarterback and you know what if they' had to play Georgia the week after they they beat Washington I don't think they would have won and I'm not saying because they weren't better than Georgia I'm just saying they weren't going to beat Alabama and then Washington and then Georgia I mean it's just too hard and and and I say this all the time and I'm wondering who am I picking to win the national it's like in my mind no one is good enough to win it anymore but someone someone will we're going to have our predictions later in the week for the playoffs for B for everything and can't wait for it we're gonna do it later but until then roll tight everybody roll tight