Latest / FSU Football: Doak Talk / Alabama Expert Has BAD NEWS for FSU? | Florida State vs. Alabama Preview & Prediction

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Alabama Expert Has BAD NEWS for FSU? | Florida State vs. Alabama Preview & Prediction · FSU Football: Doak Talk

0:00
Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on, Old Nation?
0:01
Speaker 2: It's C.J.
0:01
Speaker 1: Wilson here with Dope Talk. Of course, I am your host.
0:04
Speaker 3: Florida State travels on the road against a top-ten opponent,
0:07
Speaker 3: the Alabama Crimson Tide, a game that's been getting a
0:10
Speaker 3: lot of hype, you know, warranted based upon last year
0:12
Speaker 3: and that type of deal.
0:13
Speaker 1: I have a special guest with me for this one.
0:16
Speaker 3: I have Brett Greenberg here, team site writer for Bama 247.
0:20
Speaker 1: Brett, how's it going?
0:22
Speaker 2: It's going great, man. I appreciate you having me on.
0:24
Speaker 2: Looking forward to another weekend of college football, and it
0:27
Speaker 2: might not be the Most talked about matchup, I think,
0:30
Speaker 2: this Saturday with Ole Miss and LSU. I think Florida
0:33
Speaker 2: and Auburn's a good big game as well. But like
0:35
Speaker 2: you said, what happened last year, I was bringing a
0:38
Speaker 2: little bit more attention to it and what's going on
0:40
Speaker 2: down at Florida State with the AD being fired. I
0:43
Speaker 2: think a lot of Florida State fans, which we'll probably
0:46
Speaker 2: get into, may want another firing to occur. We'll see
0:49
Speaker 2: if and when that does happen. But I'm excited to
0:53
Speaker 2: talk some Florida State Alabama with you.
0:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, most definitely.
0:56
Speaker 3: Like you say, there's been a lot of craziness around
0:58
Speaker 3: Tallahassee with recent news and that type of deal, aside
1:02
Speaker 3: from a slow start of the season. But coming in,
1:04
Speaker 3: this was, you know, a game that a lot of
1:05
Speaker 3: people had their eyes on based upon last year and
1:08
Speaker 3: that type of deal. But, Brett, I want to get
1:10
Speaker 3: your opinion real quick on Kalen DeBoer.
1:13
Speaker 1: In year three. So, of course, this is year three,
1:16
Speaker 1: the Kalen DeBoer era.
1:18
Speaker 3: Let's talk about the vibes within the program and, you know,
1:20
Speaker 3: the goals within the program, making the playoffs last year, but,
1:23
Speaker 3: of course, getting out early within the playoffs, but just
1:26
Speaker 3: talk about the vibes within the program going into year three,
1:29
Speaker 3: expectations and that type of deal in Tuscaloosa.
1:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think easy answer as far as expectation goes
1:35
Speaker 2: when you're talking about Alabama is national championship or bust.
1:38
Speaker 2: You know, I think I'd try to tell fans they
1:40
Speaker 2: need to kind of rewire their expectations. I think across
1:44
Speaker 2: the country, just with the parody a little bit in
1:47
Speaker 2: college football with the transfer portal and NIL and things
1:50
Speaker 2: like that, but it is, you know, number one, get
1:52
Speaker 2: to the playoff. I think a lot of Alabama fans
1:54
Speaker 2: will be very, very upset if they don't reach the playoff.
1:57
Speaker 2: And not only that, win a couple games in the playoff.
2:00
Speaker 2: Is this team a national championship team? I don't know
2:03
Speaker 2: if I'm quite ready to say that yet. They have
2:05
Speaker 2: looked good in their first two weeks, but you're playing
2:07
Speaker 2: East Carolina and at Kentucky, which, you know, you've got
2:10
Speaker 2: some harder games on the schedule as the SEC slate
2:13
Speaker 2: rolls along. And then you've got Florida State as well.
2:15
Speaker 2: But overall, the vibe I think right now is pretty high.
2:19
Speaker 2: I think, you know, if you would ask me that
2:21
Speaker 2: during the first quarter against Kentucky, when they had a
2:24
Speaker 2: very rough start, I think most fans on our board
2:27
Speaker 2: wanted a coaching change to happen right away. I think
2:30
Speaker 2: that's what you deal with, with Alabama fans, with those expectations.
2:33
Speaker 2: But I think in the building, I think there's a
2:35
Speaker 2: lot of, to be excited about. I think this staff
2:38
Speaker 2: feels like they've got their roster where they want it
2:41
Speaker 2: to be. Now that's, you know, now three recruiting classes
2:44
Speaker 2: that they've had three transfer portal classes that they've had
2:46
Speaker 2: as well. So, Again, I think there's a lot of
2:48
Speaker 2: confidence and excitement that this team's going to continue to improve,
2:52
Speaker 2: and that's something that head coach Kalen DeBoer talked about
2:55
Speaker 2: after the Kentucky game. That was good to see them
2:58
Speaker 2: fight back on the road after a slow start in
3:00
Speaker 2: the first half, and then in the second half kind
3:03
Speaker 2: of be dominant of outscoring Kentucky 32-0, five straight scoring drives.
3:08
Speaker 2: So there's still a lot of work to be done,
3:10
Speaker 2: I think, certainly at the quarterback position as well, dealing
3:12
Speaker 2: with the young guy in Keelan Russell. But I think
3:14
Speaker 2: that's off to a good start. I think there's a
3:16
Speaker 2: lot of confidence, and I think Alabama fans and Alabama
3:20
Speaker 2: coaches and players would like to take another step in
3:23
Speaker 2: the right direction this Saturday versus Florida State in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
3:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, you mentioned Keelan Russell. Let's kind of move towards
3:29
Speaker 3: that quarterback position. Let's talk about him, the true sophomore,
3:34
Speaker 3: big-time quarterback as a recruit and that type of deal.
3:36
Speaker 3: A lot of hype, and we see the talent as
3:37
Speaker 3: well that he displayed within the first two games. Let's
3:40
Speaker 3: talk about what he brings to the table. going into
3:43
Speaker 3: his second year within the program.
3:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think when you take kind of a whole
3:46
Speaker 2: look at that quarterback room, they'll take you back to
3:49
Speaker 2: that competition that they had between Keelan Russell and Austin Mack.
3:53
Speaker 2: And it's something I brought up on podcasts and on
3:56
Speaker 2: social medias and our Bama 247 board as well. He
3:59
Speaker 2: adds that not only is the arm talent there, the
4:02
Speaker 2: arm talent is special. He can make pretty much every
4:04
Speaker 2: throw on the field, whether that's sitting in the pocket
4:07
Speaker 2: or off his back foot, which I think Alabama fans saw.
4:10
Speaker 2: in the Kentucky game, kind of moving his feet work.
4:14
Speaker 2: But there's an added element of his legs that was
4:16
Speaker 2: on full display in the season opener. He led the
4:19
Speaker 2: team against East Carolina in carries and rushes. I think
4:22
Speaker 2: if you were to ask the staff, they don't want
4:25
Speaker 2: that to be the case going forward. They want to
4:27
Speaker 2: use him kind of sparingly, some kind of QB design
4:30
Speaker 2: runs and things like that. They want to use their
4:32
Speaker 2: running backs to lead the team on the ground. But Keelan,
4:37
Speaker 2: it's just, I've covered recruiting for three years at Alabama
4:42
Speaker 2: just recently moved the team site side of it. So
4:44
Speaker 2: I got pretty close with Keelan throughout his recruitment and
4:48
Speaker 2: he just has kind of that it factor. And that's
4:50
Speaker 2: something that Kane Womack, the defense coordinator at Alabama also
4:52
Speaker 2: had mentioned. And everybody you talk to from two, four,
4:55
Speaker 2: seven sports national, you know, scouting analysts guys in the
4:59
Speaker 2: building at the Malmore practice facility in Tuscaloosa as well.
5:02
Speaker 2: Like he just kind of has it between the ears.
5:05
Speaker 2: You know, a lot of people gravitate towards him. He's
5:07
Speaker 2: very confident, but there's a humble confidence to him. And
5:10
Speaker 2: then again, you look at what he can do on
5:12
Speaker 2: the field is a lot. And now again, you know,
5:16
Speaker 2: he's still young. He's only gone and had two starts.
5:18
Speaker 2: And I think Alabama fans would agree with me there.
5:20
Speaker 2: There's still a lot to learn. You know, there was
5:22
Speaker 2: a lot of mistakes that he's had, whether that was
5:25
Speaker 2: in the first game with kind of some pre-snap operation,
5:27
Speaker 2: which is to be expected with the first game starter.
5:31
Speaker 2: Improved on that a little bit on the road to Kentucky,
5:35
Speaker 2: his first start in front of a pretty big and
5:38
Speaker 2: rowdy environment, at least to start the game. That was
5:41
Speaker 2: something that was talked about going into the matchup. But
5:44
Speaker 2: there's still some kind of things to work out, whether
5:46
Speaker 2: that's dealing with the RPOs, knowing when to kind of
5:48
Speaker 2: maybe hand it off and let the running back do
5:51
Speaker 2: the work if there's a hole, or kind of pulling
5:53
Speaker 2: it and going for a run yourself or throwing or
5:56
Speaker 2: passing it. So, again, there's all the talent in the world.
5:59
Speaker 2: You're talking about the highest rated Alabama signee in school history,
6:03
Speaker 2: you know, per 247. So that kind of speaks for itself.
6:08
Speaker 2: with all those guys that Alabama's had throughout the years
6:10
Speaker 2: with Nick Saban, the recruiting classes and so on and
6:13
Speaker 2: so forth. But again, I'm kind of repeating myself here,
6:15
Speaker 2: but the talent is there. He's got to still put
6:18
Speaker 2: some things together, but it's to be expected. I think
6:20
Speaker 2: what you're dealing with a guy who's only started two
6:22
Speaker 2: games so far, and I think Alabama fans are going
6:25
Speaker 2: to expect him to take another step forward this Saturday
6:29
Speaker 2: in home in front of the home crowd. And that
6:31
Speaker 2: was something that offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb also talked about
6:35
Speaker 2: as well. Like, He can't have those slow starts, those
6:38
Speaker 2: mistakes to start the game, especially when you're dealing with
6:41
Speaker 2: better opponents as the season goes on. So, again, there's
6:44
Speaker 2: a lot of excitement. Anybody who's followed this team knows
6:47
Speaker 2: what he could bring. So it's just a matter of
6:50
Speaker 2: continuing to stack days, stack reps, and get more game
6:54
Speaker 2: reps in there as well.
6:57
Speaker 3: Well, it's crazy you mention that as far as him
6:58
Speaker 3: being the highest-rated Bama recruit per 247 sports. It says
7:03
Speaker 3: a lot with all the guys that are out there.
7:05
Speaker 3: He saved me after a couple of years. That's truly impressive.
7:08
Speaker 3: Let's go to the running back room. Then we have
7:10
Speaker 3: Daniel Hill, who's the leading rusher. Then we have another
7:14
Speaker 3: highly rated recruit, E.J.
7:15
Speaker 1: Crowell.
7:16
Speaker 3: Let's talk about the running back room and what those
7:19
Speaker 3: guys bring to the table.
7:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think any time I talk about the running game,
7:24
Speaker 2: as anybody who's followed Alabama last year knew, that it
7:26
Speaker 2: was just non-existent. Ty Simpson, the quarterback last year, was
7:29
Speaker 2: kind of playing with one arm behind his back. These defenses,
7:32
Speaker 2: as the season went on, knew they weren't able to
7:34
Speaker 2: run the ball. The offensive line struggled. But it looks,
7:37
Speaker 2: through two weeks, I know it's early and you're playing
7:39
Speaker 2: probably a little bit lesser competition, it's looked a whole
7:43
Speaker 2: lot better. And I know we'll get into the offensive line.
7:45
Speaker 2: I think we will. But, yeah, Daniel Hill is kind
7:47
Speaker 2: of your bell cow. 200 and I think it's 35-ish pounds.
7:52
Speaker 2: Actually lost 10-ish pounds in the offseason. And he looks
7:55
Speaker 2: like someone who did. There's been a couple plays over
7:57
Speaker 2: the last two weeks that Maybe he's been a little
8:00
Speaker 2: bit more elusive. A couple plays and extending runs that
8:03
Speaker 2: he wouldn't otherwise have made last fall. So there's a
8:06
Speaker 2: lot to like there. And as you mentioned, a highly,
8:08
Speaker 2: highly ranked recruit. EJ Curwell, the number one running back
8:12
Speaker 2: in the country in the 2026 class. He was actually
8:14
Speaker 2: a reclassification, so he still should be in high school.
8:17
Speaker 2: But he's a guy that came in with loads and
8:20
Speaker 2: loads of expectation just on the inside and the outside.
8:23
Speaker 2: Just anyone who's followed recruiting. And then also what the
8:26
Speaker 2: staff was saying about him as an early enrollee. dealt
8:29
Speaker 2: with some injury issues, didn't really practice a whole bunch
8:32
Speaker 2: in the spring and even into the fall. I think
8:34
Speaker 2: they had five total scrimmages between the spring and the fall,
8:37
Speaker 2: and he didn't participate in any of those. He was
8:39
Speaker 2: dealing kind of with lower leg injuries. So it was like,
8:41
Speaker 2: what is it going to look like? You want running
8:44
Speaker 2: backs who, quite frankly, are that talented to still get
8:47
Speaker 2: as many reps as possible in the off-season training program
8:52
Speaker 2: and learning that press protection because those guys at that
8:55
Speaker 2: level at the high school, they don't really– have much
8:57
Speaker 2: pass protection experience. They're just, hey, hand the ball off
9:00
Speaker 2: and go run over 12 guys, you know, 11 guys
9:02
Speaker 2: and be elusive and things like that. But he's had
9:05
Speaker 2: all the talent in the world. He scored, you know,
9:07
Speaker 2: two touchdowns in the first two games. He adds an
9:09
Speaker 2: element to this, you know, running back room that I
9:12
Speaker 2: don't know a lot of other running backs have in
9:14
Speaker 2: the room. Then you've got another guy, Trayshon Brown, who's
9:17
Speaker 2: kind of a diamond in a rough, you know, three-star
9:20
Speaker 2: out of Texas. Had never, again, this covered recruiting last
9:24
Speaker 2: cycle as well. Never heard his name one time and
9:27
Speaker 2: then all of a sudden Alabama announces that he signed
9:29
Speaker 2: with the Crimson Tide on the first day of the
9:31
Speaker 2: early signing period. And he gets to campus as an
9:33
Speaker 2: early enrollee and the buzz and anticipation just grew and
9:38
Speaker 2: grew based off what I was hearing inside the building
9:40
Speaker 2: and what the staff has said about him as well.
9:43
Speaker 2: And then kind of was very good in fall camp
9:45
Speaker 2: and has showed his kind of elusiveness and able to
9:48
Speaker 2: break big plays in these first two weeks. Had a
9:53
Speaker 2: 60-yard touchdown against ECU, East Carolina. Ended up being called back,
9:58
Speaker 2: but it kind of gave Alabama fans an appetizer of
10:01
Speaker 2: what he can become. He's also scored two touchdowns in
10:03
Speaker 2: the first two weeks. So you're looking at those three
10:05
Speaker 2: main guys that are going to be kind of your
10:08
Speaker 2: main rotation at Alabama. You've got A.K. Deer in the
10:11
Speaker 2: building as well, but he's dealing with injury. I don't
10:13
Speaker 2: anticipate him being back for the Florida State matchup, but
10:17
Speaker 2: It's very clear Daniel Hill is kind of your go-to guy.
10:21
Speaker 2: And then, you know, kind of change of pace back,
10:23
Speaker 2: a little bit more elusive with E.J. Corral and Shayshawn Brown,
10:27
Speaker 2: the two freshmen.
10:28
Speaker 3: So you spoke about the struggling last year at the
10:31
Speaker 3: running game and being effective thus far in the season
10:34
Speaker 3: in the running game.
10:35
Speaker 1: And you mentioned the offensive line.
10:36
Speaker 3: So let's talk about that and the changes up front
10:39
Speaker 3: and what these guys bring to the table for this
10:42
Speaker 3: 2026 version of Alabama football.
10:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mentioned it there. The running game was non-existent
10:48
Speaker 2: and a whole lot of that had to do with
10:50
Speaker 2: the offensive line. It just wasn't really good. Ty Simpson
10:53
Speaker 2: was kind of running for his life a lot of
10:55
Speaker 2: the fall and I think the throws he made on
10:58
Speaker 2: the run outside the pocket were a big reason he
11:00
Speaker 2: was a first round pick because he was making plays
11:02
Speaker 2: again with one arm behind his back. But you mentioned
11:05
Speaker 2: newness on the offensive line. I think that's a perfect
11:07
Speaker 2: word to describe it. They got A new offensive line coach.
11:11
Speaker 2: They've got 11 new faces in the building. They've got
11:14
Speaker 2: one returning starter from last year, and even him. I'm
11:16
Speaker 2: talking about Michael Carroll, the former five-star. Moves from right
11:19
Speaker 2: tackle back into the interior at right guard. You've got
11:23
Speaker 2: a center in Rayson Delgatti from Cal Poly who comes in,
11:26
Speaker 2: and there's a lot of question marks. How is he
11:28
Speaker 2: going to survive at the next level? He looks to
11:31
Speaker 2: be doing okay so far. You've got a first-year starter
11:34
Speaker 2: at left tackle with Jackson Lloyd, another highly successful. touted
11:36
Speaker 2: recruit that didn't really see much playing time last year
11:40
Speaker 2: in a season where there was a ton of rotation
11:42
Speaker 2: along the offensive line. I'd bring that up just to
11:44
Speaker 2: say he was playing behind Caden Proctor, who was eventual
11:48
Speaker 2: first-round pick. So that wasn't really a knock on Jackson
11:51
Speaker 2: Lloyd's talent, more so kind of he wasn't going to
11:54
Speaker 2: supplant Caden Proctor, who again got drafted by the Miami
11:57
Speaker 2: Dolphins in the first half of the NFL draft. You
11:59
Speaker 2: got at the guard position, you got William Sanders, who
12:03
Speaker 2: Showed some fight last year in the rotation. Ended up
12:06
Speaker 2: getting hurt all offseason, so there's question marks about him.
12:09
Speaker 2: What is he going to look like? He's since returned,
12:11
Speaker 2: has been healthy. You've got Mal Waldrop, the in-state kid
12:14
Speaker 2: from Phoenix City, Alabama. That's rotating as well. And you've
12:17
Speaker 2: got Javen James out at right tackle who comes in
12:20
Speaker 2: from Akron and Mississippi State. So a whole lot of newness.
12:23
Speaker 2: I think that staff made it a point and made
12:26
Speaker 2: it known even to the public in the fall that
12:28
Speaker 2: they were not going to be what they were last
12:31
Speaker 2: year in terms of, one, rotating as much as they did.
12:35
Speaker 2: I think, and you would agree here, CJ, the cohesiveness
12:38
Speaker 2: you need to have along the offensive line, whether it's
12:40
Speaker 2: a good group, a bad group, a terrible group, an
12:43
Speaker 2: amazing group. You've got to have five, maybe six guys
12:47
Speaker 2: that you're heavily relying on, and that looks like that's
12:49
Speaker 2: going to be the case for Alabama. Michael Carroll was
12:53
Speaker 2: out last week with an injury. I expect him to
12:55
Speaker 2: return and be at that right guard position. So it's
12:58
Speaker 2: a group that is still meshing, I think, having the
13:02
Speaker 2: staff know who their starting five was going to be
13:04
Speaker 2: for much of fall camp I think helped a lot.
13:06
Speaker 2: And I just keep bringing that up because last year
13:08
Speaker 2: there was just so much rotation. They didn't know who
13:11
Speaker 2: the starting five was going to be even leading up
13:13
Speaker 2: to the Florida State game. Maybe that contributed to that
13:17
Speaker 2: thumping in Tallahassee. That was very surprising, 31-17. And that
13:20
Speaker 2: kind of showed what the season was going to be
13:24
Speaker 2: for the next couple months. There were struggles along the
13:26
Speaker 2: offense line. But it looks like it's heading in the
13:29
Speaker 2: right direction. They're kind of playing with It doesn't necessarily
13:32
Speaker 2: show up on the stat sheet, but those who watch
13:34
Speaker 2: college football, CJ, I think you would agree also. Just
13:38
Speaker 2: kind of be nasty. Be maulers. Play angry. I think
13:41
Speaker 2: that's what they're doing right now. There's instances against Kentucky
13:44
Speaker 2: that they're setting opposing defense linemen four or five yards
13:49
Speaker 2: off the ball and then finishing that block, laying on
13:51
Speaker 2: top of them, creating those holes. So there's a lot
13:54
Speaker 2: to like about the potential of this group. Is it
13:56
Speaker 2: quite there yet? No, I think the staff would agree
13:59
Speaker 2: with that. I think a lot of players would also
14:00
Speaker 2: say the same thing. Jackson Lloyd, again, the starting left tackle,
14:04
Speaker 2: said it during media availability on Tuesday. They're not satisfied yet,
14:10
Speaker 2: but they're happy with the kind of work they've done
14:13
Speaker 2: through two games so far.
14:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, you made a really good point as far as
14:18
Speaker 3: the offense line. It's pretty much a team within the team.
14:21
Speaker 3: It's pretty much a team within the team within those
14:23
Speaker 3: five guys.
14:24
Speaker 1: It's a team.
14:25
Speaker 3: As far as working together and being that cohesive unit.
14:27
Speaker 3: So reps together and camp and that type of deal,
14:32
Speaker 3: spring practice included, is very important. Let's move over to
14:37
Speaker 3: the pass catchers of the group. Room led by Ryan Coleman-Williams,
14:41
Speaker 3: a sighting player going into year three. Let's talk about
14:44
Speaker 3: the pass catchers, which is one of my biggest worries,
14:47
Speaker 3: the explosiveness on the outside for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
14:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lot of explosiveness, and I think anyone
14:53
Speaker 2: who's followed college football, knows the type of talent Ryan
14:56
Speaker 2: Coleman Williams is, and bursts onto the scene as a freshman,
14:59
Speaker 2: excuse me, has those two touchdowns against Georgia in Tuscaloosa.
15:02
Speaker 2: And it's like, holy moly, this kid is already getting
15:05
Speaker 2: compared to Julio Jones even before he puts on a uniform.
15:08
Speaker 2: He doesn't quite have the same measurables as a Julio Jones,
15:11
Speaker 2: but the expectations were so high. Then he kind of
15:13
Speaker 2: clears those. And then the sophomore year was something that
15:17
Speaker 2: I think Alabama fans and Ryan Coleman Williams would like
15:19
Speaker 2: to forget. I mean, he led, he was, if not led,
15:22
Speaker 2: but was up top, near the top of total passes
15:26
Speaker 2: dropped last year. And that was a huge, huge issue.
15:29
Speaker 2: And it was something that he acknowledged, something that he
15:31
Speaker 2: said he was working on, that he comes out against
15:34
Speaker 2: East Carolina and has two drops, but also has 130
15:37
Speaker 2: total yards. So it's like one of those things I
15:39
Speaker 2: tell my buddies and tell other people, like, if he
15:41
Speaker 2: can catch it, he's still one of the most dynamic
15:43
Speaker 2: playmakers in college football. And I think he's shown that.
15:46
Speaker 2: Beyond Ryan Coleman-Williams, you've got Luxier Brooks, who's the former
15:49
Speaker 2: three-star freshman that showed flashes last year. had two touchdowns
15:54
Speaker 2: in the comeback win over Oklahoma during the college football playoff.
15:57
Speaker 2: He's a guy that didn't have much opportunities against East
15:59
Speaker 2: Carolina for whatever reason, but then they schemed him up
16:02
Speaker 2: quite a bit against Kentucky. Another guy is Rico Scott,
16:06
Speaker 2: who stick around that junior year, had opportunities to maybe
16:09
Speaker 2: go elsewhere, but has stuck it out. Offense corner Ryan
16:11
Speaker 2: Grubb was talking about him earlier this week. He ended
16:14
Speaker 2: up scoring a touchdown against Kentucky, and he's just kind
16:16
Speaker 2: of in this day and age when guys are kind
16:19
Speaker 2: of jumping ship, going crazy, different other schools he stuck
16:22
Speaker 2: it out he's it's paying off and you look at
16:24
Speaker 2: those three guys they're all similar in size you know
16:27
Speaker 2: six foot to six one a hundred and you know
16:29
Speaker 2: 75 to 190 pounds maybe even 200 when you're talking
16:32
Speaker 2: about Rico Scott the other guy I bring that up
16:35
Speaker 2: to say there's a Derek Meadows in the room a
16:38
Speaker 2: sophomore who they played a lot last year mainly to
16:41
Speaker 2: use for blocking you know six foot five 220 pounds
16:45
Speaker 2: type of an athlete that can you know was a
16:48
Speaker 2: Max Kreps, I believe, track player of the year over
16:50
Speaker 2: at Bishop Gorman in high school. So he has that speed.
16:54
Speaker 2: He's kind of that bigger receiver, if you will. Cedaria
16:57
Speaker 2: Morgan's also in the building. That's a former highly ranked
17:01
Speaker 2: recruit in a 2026 class. I'm not sure how much
17:04
Speaker 2: run he'll get. It's been a little surprising how lack
17:07
Speaker 2: of snaps there. But again, it's a very talented room.
17:09
Speaker 2: You got Noah Rogers, who came over from NC State.
17:13
Speaker 2: in the spring game. I don't expect him to be
17:16
Speaker 2: back this weekend. It could happen. He's dressed out the
17:18
Speaker 2: last two games and has gone under warm-ups but hasn't
17:22
Speaker 2: played any snaps. So that's one I'm kind of tracking.
17:25
Speaker 2: And then bringing up the tight ends as well. You
17:28
Speaker 2: go out of a good point about the offensive line.
17:30
Speaker 2: That's a team within the team. This tight end room
17:33
Speaker 2: is almost like an extension of that offensive line. They
17:36
Speaker 2: brought in a new tight ends coach who was a
17:38
Speaker 2: former offensive line coach at Louisville. They brought in another
17:42
Speaker 2: you know, kind of assistant tight end coach that had
17:43
Speaker 2: a lot of experience at the offensive line level. And
17:45
Speaker 2: this offense has run a whole lot of 12 and
17:48
Speaker 2: even 13 personnel. Like I think Florida state fans will
17:51
Speaker 2: probably see, you know, for the most part, two tight
17:54
Speaker 2: ends out there for most of the plays. And if
17:56
Speaker 2: not three, they've ran a couple of times with three
17:58
Speaker 2: tight end sets on the goal line. And it's kind of,
18:01
Speaker 2: you know, these three tight ends on one side, they're
18:03
Speaker 2: going to run to that side type of thing. So
18:04
Speaker 2: you're having, you know, six, seven offensive linemen basically out there. Um,
18:09
Speaker 2: It's been a little bit surprising to not see them
18:11
Speaker 2: be as much of a threat in the passing game.
18:14
Speaker 2: I think if you were to circle one guy, if
18:16
Speaker 2: you're a Florida State fan, it's Marshall Pritchett, number nine.
18:20
Speaker 2: He's probably the best pass catcher in the tight end room.
18:23
Speaker 2: He's very dynamic, but also he hasn't had that many opportunities.
18:27
Speaker 2: I think he only has one or two catches. That
18:29
Speaker 2: was something that the staff has talked about. They're looking
18:31
Speaker 2: forward to trying to continue to get those guys more involved.
18:34
Speaker 2: How much of that is, again, that scheme of running 12,
18:37
Speaker 2: 13 personnel and trying to run it down defensive, you know, throats.
18:40
Speaker 2: How much of that is maybe a young quarterback in
18:43
Speaker 2: Keelan Russell not seeing them? It's kind of a combination
18:46
Speaker 2: of all that. But there's a, you know, a group
18:48
Speaker 2: of three or four that I think out, Florida State fans,
18:51
Speaker 2: excuse me, are going to see on the field quite
18:53
Speaker 2: a bit on Saturday.
18:55
Speaker 1: Interesting.
18:55
Speaker 3: You made a really good point as far as the
18:57
Speaker 3: offensive line. Well, the tight end room being, well, the
18:59
Speaker 3: tight end room itself being the 6-0 offensive line and
19:02
Speaker 3: using a lot of 12 personnel shows me that Keelan
19:05
Speaker 3: really wanted to get the running game going for this year.
19:07
Speaker 3: All right.
19:08
Speaker 1: Let's transition over to the defense. We're going to start
19:11
Speaker 1: with the defensive line before we get started there.
19:12
Speaker 3: Make sure you guys hit that like button and subscribe
19:14
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19:16
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19:21
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19:23
Speaker 3: All right, Brett, let's talk about the defensive line and
19:25
Speaker 3: what those guys are trying to do on the football
19:27
Speaker 3: field for this year.
19:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, similar to the offensive line, it kind of went
19:33
Speaker 2: under a complete makeover. Kane Walman, the defense coordinator, Freddie Roach,
19:36
Speaker 2: the defensive line coach, have been Over the last two
19:39
Speaker 2: or three off seasons, I guess this is year three
19:43
Speaker 2: of the new staff, we've kind of slowly tried to
19:46
Speaker 2: get bigger, longer, and also faster guys into the building.
19:49
Speaker 2: and it looks like they have through two weeks you're
19:52
Speaker 2: looking at a Terrence Green a former Oregon player he's
19:55
Speaker 2: kind of that interior run stopper 6'6 316 pounds may
20:00
Speaker 2: not jump off the stat sheet which I think as
20:02
Speaker 2: you know like nose tackle doesn't quite you know maybe
20:05
Speaker 2: have that many opportunities to make plays but he's a
20:07
Speaker 2: guy kind of swallowing up a guard and a center
20:09
Speaker 2: at the same time. You've got Devon Hopkins, who kind
20:13
Speaker 2: of looks like a superhero, just the way he's kind
20:16
Speaker 2: of built. Former USC player, can line up inside. He
20:20
Speaker 2: was very disruptive against Kentucky in the interior, but then
20:22
Speaker 2: also at 300 pounds had an insane clip of him
20:26
Speaker 2: bending under the right tackle and getting a sack and
20:29
Speaker 2: forcing a fumble as well. So there's a lot of
20:31
Speaker 2: versatility between those two. You've got Yonsei Pierre, which I
20:36
Speaker 2: think most Florida State fans are probably familiar with. Didn't
20:39
Speaker 2: play quite as much last year, but he's kind of
20:41
Speaker 2: a national household name. He's had a good start to
20:44
Speaker 2: the year. More of your edge rusher type of role,
20:46
Speaker 2: number zero. He's going to probably continue to be pretty disruptive.
20:52
Speaker 2: You've got Desmond Umiozulu, 6'6, 256 pounds. You're dealing with
20:57
Speaker 2: guys that have, again, a lot of length in athleticism
21:01
Speaker 2: and a lot of versatility. One thing I will say,
21:03
Speaker 2: you know, under this Kane Womack defensive coordinator's unit. Like,
21:06
Speaker 2: there was one drive last week against Kentucky. They used
21:10
Speaker 2: 18 different players on one single drive. Like, they love
21:13
Speaker 2: and love, love to rotate, and I feel like they
21:16
Speaker 2: feel like they're confident with eight, nine, maybe even ten guys.
21:21
Speaker 2: Maybe not ten once you get to, you know, that
21:23
Speaker 2: conference play, but there's seven, eight, nine guys that they
21:26
Speaker 2: feel comfortable with that they can run different sets different fronts,
21:30
Speaker 2: whether that's just two huge guys in the middle and
21:34
Speaker 2: then have two edge rushers or three huge guys and
21:36
Speaker 2: one edge rusher or whatever it may be. I think
21:38
Speaker 2: they're pretty confident in the ability of not just the
21:42
Speaker 2: starting guys but even the rotational guys as well. So
21:45
Speaker 2: it's going to be interesting to track all year just
21:47
Speaker 2: on the Alabama side who gets the most snaps and
21:50
Speaker 2: what situation. But I think if you're a Florida State fan,
21:53
Speaker 2: I would expect to kind of see a whole lot
21:55
Speaker 2: of rotation, a lot of different faces rotating on the field,
21:58
Speaker 2: you know, at least early in the game and going
21:59
Speaker 2: into the, as the game progresses.
22:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a coach's dream, right there. Fresh bodies on
22:05
Speaker 3: the defensive line that you can trust and, you know, rotate.
22:07
Speaker 3: That's why I feel like recruiting, and this is something
22:10
Speaker 3: Alabama's done well since the saving days, you know, emphasizing
22:13
Speaker 3: the trenches as far as recruiting. If you could do
22:16
Speaker 3: that and get a lot of depth on the defensive line,
22:18
Speaker 3: it could create havoc for the opposing offenses and make
22:21
Speaker 3: the job easy for the linebacker going to and going to.
22:25
Speaker 3: segue to and discuss next. Let's talk about the linebacker room.
22:28
Speaker 3: I know Xavier Griffin just from recruiting that. So let's
22:33
Speaker 3: talk about the linebacker room and what these guys bring
22:34
Speaker 3: to the table.
22:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, real quick. It's funny you brought that up about
22:38
Speaker 2: the coach's dream. Kane Womack, defensive coordinator, on Monday was
22:41
Speaker 2: talking about it. He's like, I've never had this much
22:43
Speaker 2: fun coaching. He's described them as toys in the past.
22:47
Speaker 2: Put this guy here, that guy there type of thing.
22:49
Speaker 2: Scheming up that. So I think you hit it right there.
22:52
Speaker 2: But yeah, Linebacker room, obviously, you mentioned Seminole fans are
22:56
Speaker 2: familiar with Xavier Griffin, the former five-star out of the
22:59
Speaker 2: Peach State. There's talent above him right now. He's gotten
23:06
Speaker 2: some opportunities. He plays a lot of special teams. He's
23:08
Speaker 2: going to come in in certain packages as well. So
23:10
Speaker 2: I would probably expect number 11 to be out there.
23:13
Speaker 2: But it really starts with Luke Metz, the former three-star
23:17
Speaker 2: who has been really, really good for Alabama. You heard
23:19
Speaker 2: about him all offseason long. That's number four in the middle.
23:23
Speaker 2: Had a pick six against Kentucky. Kind of flies around.
23:26
Speaker 2: More of that kind of old school linebacker, if you will.
23:28
Speaker 2: And then you've got Caleb Woods in the transfer from
23:31
Speaker 2: Virginia Tech. Another guy who has really come on strong.
23:35
Speaker 2: A guy that you brought that people raved and raved
23:39
Speaker 2: about once he got onto campus. Kind of just that,
23:41
Speaker 2: you know, the linebacker is the quarterback of the defense.
23:43
Speaker 2: I think you would probably agree. Those guys bring a
23:45
Speaker 2: lot of IQ. They can rush the passer, but they
23:48
Speaker 2: can also have extreme speed sideline to sideline. This is
23:51
Speaker 2: probably one of the better linebacker units that Alabama's had
23:54
Speaker 2: probably in three, maybe even four years. So it was
23:57
Speaker 2: a group that lost a lot of veteran talent. You
24:00
Speaker 2: deal with two fifth years and one senior that were
24:05
Speaker 2: taking all those snaps last year. So what is it
24:07
Speaker 2: going to look like? Again, I know it's early on
24:09
Speaker 2: in the season, but it looks like between a Luke
24:11
Speaker 2: Metz and the transfer and Caleb Woodson from Virginia Tech,
24:14
Speaker 2: that they feel very good about what they have in
24:16
Speaker 2: the middle of the defense.
24:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's real good stuff there. All right, let's move
24:20
Speaker 3: on to the defensive back room. And one of my
24:22
Speaker 3: favorite players, and he plays without fear, regardless of size,
24:26
Speaker 3: is Ray Morton.
24:27
Speaker 1: Again, he's another Florida State guy.
24:29
Speaker 3: And I saw it on film when we recruited him,
24:31
Speaker 3: and he was committed to Florida State, and he was
24:33
Speaker 3: a three-star.
24:33
Speaker 1: And I saw his tape and said, no, this kid
24:35
Speaker 1: is a player.
24:36
Speaker 3: And sure enough, Bama came calling, and he made the flip.
24:41
Speaker 3: But just talk about that secondary and what they bring
24:42
Speaker 3: to the table, including Red and the other guys.
24:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm glad you said that. You kind of teed
24:46
Speaker 2: me up there. I was going to lead with Red.
24:48
Speaker 2: I think he's one of the more underrated guys in
24:51
Speaker 2: the SEC, maybe even the country, and you hit it
24:53
Speaker 2: right there. Again, when I followed recruiting, going over to
24:55
Speaker 2: Central Phoenix, watching him, just running around with his head
24:59
Speaker 2: cut off, just kind of clapping dudes, whether that's in
25:02
Speaker 2: the secondary or that quarterback running off the edge. He
25:06
Speaker 2: is a guy that has so much talent, and I
25:09
Speaker 2: don't say this in a bad way, but now he
25:11
Speaker 2: understands the playbook, so he's even that much better Like
25:14
Speaker 2: the fact that he was out there last year making plays,
25:16
Speaker 2: it was kind of just see ball, hit ball, like
25:18
Speaker 2: go after, you know, whatever you need to do because
25:20
Speaker 2: you're a playmaker. But he understands the playbook a whole
25:23
Speaker 2: lot more, which makes him a lot better. And I think,
25:25
Speaker 2: you know, most Alabama fans would agree or anybody who's
25:28
Speaker 2: followed Alabama, like the only sure thing going into this,
25:32
Speaker 2: you know, and the offseason going this year is that secondary,
25:36
Speaker 2: which it's funny, you know, Nick Saban retires. How is
25:38
Speaker 2: recruiting going to be? How's recruiting going to be in
25:41
Speaker 2: the secondary? Because he was, you know, There was recruits
25:45
Speaker 2: trying to knock down the door to be coached by
25:47
Speaker 2: Nick Saban, who was basically the defensive back coach for
25:49
Speaker 2: all 17 years that he was at Alabama. And it's
25:54
Speaker 2: ridiculous what Coach Mo Linguist, Coach Jason Jones, that's the
25:56
Speaker 2: cornerbacks and the safeties coach, have been able to do
25:59
Speaker 2: to build up that room. You've got Dijon Lee, who's 6'4,
26:02
Speaker 2: 200-plus pounds. You've got Sabian Brown, who has all the
26:06
Speaker 2: makings to be a first-round pick this year. They don't
26:08
Speaker 2: get targeted a whole lot. I think if you're a
26:11
Speaker 2: Florida State fan, I would you know, you're probably leaning
26:14
Speaker 2: towards targeting Dijon Lee a little bit more. Zabian Brown
26:16
Speaker 2: has kind of established himself as a, you know, kind
26:19
Speaker 2: of locked down, shut down corner. And then at the,
26:22
Speaker 2: even further in the, you know, level of safety is
26:24
Speaker 2: a veteran duo and Bray Hubbard and Keon Saab, who
26:28
Speaker 2: both returned, bring a whole lot of experience and snaps,
26:31
Speaker 2: but it's beyond kind of that starting group. Cornerback room
26:35
Speaker 2: is a little bit, you know, short right now. They're
26:38
Speaker 2: dealing with three guys out or two guys out to injury,
26:40
Speaker 2: but again, they don't, rotate a whole lot between Zabian
26:43
Speaker 2: Brown and Dijon Lee, but the safety room has got
26:46
Speaker 2: Ivan Taylor, son of Ike Taylor, Pittsburgh Steelers legend. That
26:50
Speaker 2: kid is a guy that came in as an early
26:52
Speaker 2: enrollee in the 2025 class and was texting HaHa Clinton Dix,
26:56
Speaker 2: who played for Alabama and also played for the Green
26:58
Speaker 2: River Packers, like, hey, meet me at the facility to
27:00
Speaker 2: go work out. This was at 4.30, 5 in the morning.
27:04
Speaker 2: He's done that since he's been there. The guy has
27:06
Speaker 2: all the talent in the world. And then another guy
27:08
Speaker 2: is Jyra Edwards, the former highly-ranked recruit. He's a freshman
27:13
Speaker 2: this year. Underwent arm surgery in the offseason 19 days later.
27:19
Speaker 2: He went under surgery for a broken arm, excuse me,
27:21
Speaker 2: 19 days later. He's having tackles for loss and disrupting
27:24
Speaker 2: the offensive line last Saturday. So I don't know what
27:28
Speaker 2: your pain tolerance is, but I don't think I would
27:31
Speaker 2: be even out of bed 19 days later on a
27:33
Speaker 2: broken arm, let alone flying around making plays in the defense.
27:36
Speaker 2: So again, the secondary is kind of The defense as
27:39
Speaker 2: a whole is probably the stronger group compared to the
27:41
Speaker 2: offensive line, but it's that cornerback, safety room, whole secondary,
27:45
Speaker 2: red roaming the middle of the field. That's really, really
27:48
Speaker 2: kind of the best thing about this roster, if you will.
27:53
Speaker 1: All right, Brett, give me your prediction for the game,
27:55
Speaker 1: how you feel like the game would go.
27:58
Speaker 2: So I think if you're asking an Alabama fan, I
28:02
Speaker 2: know you're asking me, but they want... and me included,
28:06
Speaker 2: you want to see this team start out fast. Again,
28:08
Speaker 2: it couldn't have gone worse last week against Kentucky. It was,
28:12
Speaker 2: I think, a tackle for loss, an incomplete pass, then
28:15
Speaker 2: a pick six on the third play of the game
28:17
Speaker 2: at the goal line for Keelan Russell. So I think offensively,
28:20
Speaker 2: you want to see them kind of push the ball
28:22
Speaker 2: down the field, have maybe a long extended drive that
28:24
Speaker 2: results in any type of points. You want this defense
28:27
Speaker 2: that was pretty good in the first half against Kentucky,
28:30
Speaker 2: but then suffocated the Wildcats again, shutting them out 32-0
28:33
Speaker 2: in the second half. that really started swarming the defense.
28:36
Speaker 2: So I think you want this team to start out really,
28:38
Speaker 2: really fast. I think that will happen. And if it does,
28:43
Speaker 2: I just think there's too much talent on this Alabama
28:46
Speaker 2: roster that for Florida state to compete. I know that's
28:50
Speaker 2: not exactly probably what Seminole fans want to hear. I
28:53
Speaker 2: don't know if they're already at the point where they
28:56
Speaker 2: want to lose this game. So it makes maybe a
28:59
Speaker 2: process even quicker. If you try to, you know, you
29:02
Speaker 2: pick it up what I'm putting down, but, I don't
29:04
Speaker 2: have an exact score prediction quite yet. I usually put
29:07
Speaker 2: those out on Fridays. But I think if this– I'm
29:11
Speaker 2: leaning towards this probably being a little bit out of
29:14
Speaker 2: hand at the start of the fourth quarter, if not
29:16
Speaker 2: maybe a little bit into the third quarter as well.
29:19
Speaker 2: And I think if you're an Alabama fan, you expect
29:21
Speaker 2: that to happen. Again, it goes back to kind of
29:23
Speaker 2: the top of the show, taking that next step, Keelan Russell,
29:27
Speaker 2: taking that next step, being comfortable. And ideally you probably
29:30
Speaker 2: want Keelan Russell to be out of the game by
29:33
Speaker 2: the time the fourth quarter starts. Does that happen? I'm
29:35
Speaker 2: not so sure, but again, it just seems like there's
29:38
Speaker 2: a lot of talent a lot more talent on Alabama's roster,
29:42
Speaker 2: at least this year. I know last year felt the
29:46
Speaker 2: same way, but obviously we know how that shaped out.
29:49
Speaker 2: But I think this ends up being not as close
29:53
Speaker 2: as maybe last year.
29:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, you You brought up the fans, and fans are
30:01
Speaker 3: at that point. They really want this process to be
30:02
Speaker 3: sped up. A lot of fans are begging, like on
30:06
Speaker 3: X and Twitter, they're begging for Alabama to do us
30:10
Speaker 3: a favor and kind of get rid of our misery.
30:12
Speaker 3: They're really at that point. It's sad to see. I'm
30:16
Speaker 3: not at that point as far as wanting to lose,
30:18
Speaker 3: but a real list as far as what could happen.
30:22
Speaker 3: I think the spread is like 19 to 20, depending
30:24
Speaker 3: on which site you're looking at. I do think Alabama covers,
30:28
Speaker 3: there's too much firepower on offense, especially the defense for
30:31
Speaker 3: FSU that has been abysmal thus far. Getting off the
30:34
Speaker 3: field on third down, passing down situations, just haven't been
30:39
Speaker 3: seen from a zone standpoint, man coverage standpoint. And then defense,
30:42
Speaker 3: you see, you feel like that's Alabama's strength, especially on
30:44
Speaker 3: the defensive line.
30:46
Speaker 1: Offensive line is still a struggle for Florida State.
30:48
Speaker 3: So I feel like if Alabama defensive line can control
30:50
Speaker 3: the game and contain the running, the running game.
30:53
Speaker 1: It could be a long night for FSU. I'm going
30:55
Speaker 1: to give a prediction.
30:56
Speaker 3: I'm going to go 38-17 or 41-17 Alabama. I think
31:00
Speaker 3: they cover and go from there. Brett, really appreciate you
31:04
Speaker 3: coming on. Let the people know where they can find
31:06
Speaker 3: you at.
31:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, man. Anytime. Anytime. I don't know what Alabama
31:10
Speaker 2: and Florida State are going to play again, but when
31:11
Speaker 2: they do, you can count me in to join your show.
31:14
Speaker 2: But yeah, as CJ mentioned, Brett Greenberg of Bama247, team
31:18
Speaker 2: site writer. You can go over at Bama247. com for All thoughts,
31:21
Speaker 2: I don't know why you would if you're a Florida
31:23
Speaker 2: State fan, but you can follow me over at BrettGremer
31:26
Speaker 2: underscore on socials.
31:29
Speaker 3: Make sure you guys check 247 subscribers. Make sure you
31:31
Speaker 3: guys check out Brett's work this week. He's covering everything
31:34
Speaker 3: leading up to the game. Make sure you guys like
31:36
Speaker 3: and subscribe to the channel. Again, appreciate you joining, Brett.
31:39
Speaker 1: Go Nuggets.
31:40
Speaker 2: Absolutely.