Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) When spring practice begins on the campus of Alabama next month, there are several things that Nick Saban is hoping to see and answers he hopes he can find in the battles that will rage.
In no particular order they are:
Leadership—With Greg McElroy gone the offense has no go to leader for the team to rally around and it won't automatically go to the winner of the quarterback battle, if in fact there is a clear winner.
And each positions has it's leaders, Julio Jones led by example in the receiving corps and Mark Ingram was the quiet leader for the running backs.
On offense, only William Vlachos will continue his leadership role over the offensive line.
Things are more set on defense where many of last years leaders return and new leaders are emerging.
Defensive Back Consistency—Last year Saban tried a lot of people in a lot of positions and still things never seemed settled to the point where you could count on that group when you had to.
Yes, they had some good games and then they cost the team some others.
With Robbie Green coming back after a year suspension, they have another experienced body to put into the mix, but where will he fit in and how much will he play?
Will the backs who often blew zone cover packages finally have the experience and know how to be a reliable bunch? That is something Saban is looking for this spring.
Hunger—It's often said that it's much harder to repeat than to win the championship because those who are left to repeat just aren't as hungry as they once were to win it all.
A.J. McCarron who will be fighting for starting job at quarterback told me after the Capital One Bowl that he noticed that there was a lack of intensity at times last season that just weren't there during their championship year.
McCarron went on to say, "I will stay on campus over the summer and so will the receivers so we can all work out together. We've got to get back to working hard like we did the year we won the championship and not let up. This way, we'll have our timing down and be ready for anything."
But will everyone have that same level of hunger? Saban hopes to see it.
Real Battles for Position—There are going to be a lot of battles for position and several are going to be tough ones.
The offensive tackle position is up for grabs and there's a lot of talent there to fight over it. This should be one of the best battles for position you'll see in a while.
With the arrival of Jesse Williams, the nose tackle for Australia in the mix, there's a lot of muscle versus a lot of experience and muscle. No matter who wins that battle, the real winner is Alabama, who will benefit form having so much talent at this position.
With Marcell Dareus gone, who will step up and win that spot? There's a lot of talent there with JUCO phenom Quinton Dial coming in, but there's also some talent already on the team to battle and new incoming freshmen that could make it interesting too.
Defensive backs will battle each and every week for playing time, but hardest for the coveted starting position. Will Robbie Green reclaim the other safety spot or will Robert Lester build on the experience from last year and keep his job? Who else will step and battle for corner back spots? This should be fun to watch.
Lastly, who will take over and fill Julio Jones spot? Maze will still be the deep threat and with so much talent at Alabama including senior Darius Hanks is certainly ready to be that go to guy for the tough yards and moving the chains. Who else will fight and challenge?
Finishing Ability—Last year Alabama had a team that could have easily gone undefeated, but they couldn't finish.
Against South Carolina, they just never really got started but they had the game won against both LSU and Auburn, only to let those wins slip away.
Will this team show up ready and finish each game strong?
They certainly proved they could with a complete wood shed whipping of an extremely good Michigan State team to end the year.
If they can continue that trend is the question to be answered, not just in spring practice but for the whole season, but Saban thinks he will know by the end of spring practice if this team has that fire in their heart.
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