Tide’s Love won’t just add depth

By Robert Rousseau  |   Sunday, June 01, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Alabama Crimson Tide
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It’s no surprise that Alabama’s 2008 recruiting class was nothing short of stellar. By some accounts, in fact, it was the best in the nation. Still, there are four returning starters to the Tide's offensive line, one of whom -- junior left tackle Andre Smith -- won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy last season as the top O-lineman in the SEC and was an all-conference first-team selection.

Entering spring ball, the right tackle position was somewhat wide open. However, 6-foot-7, 286-pound junior Drew Davis had an excellent spring to emerge as the front-runner to start there.

So here’s the question: Where does that leave five-star offensive tackle recruit Tyler Love in 2008?

The 6-7, 286-pound 286 pound Love, from Mountain Brook High School in Alabama, will be seen by the Tide and Nick Saban for the first time over the summer. Therefore, why even mention a soon-to-be-freshman, you ask?

Perhaps because this one was considered the 30th-best recruit in the entire 2008 class. Not to mention, Rivals also considered Love to the No. 8 offensive tackle and the third-ranked player coming out of Alabama.

Love has a great frame to build an NFL kind of offensive body out of, and he’s also very aggressive -- once this guy locks in, it’s all over. And finally, he’s athletic, as evidenced by his 360-pound bench press, 5.1 speed in the 40, and 26-inch vertical leap.

So the future is no doubt bright for Love. But is the future now?

Barring injury, obviously, Love will not overtake Andre Smith at the left tackle position. Smith is just too good and experienced. Love may have the athleticism to play guard as well, but Mike Johnson and Marlon Davis are returning starters and the team may not want to make a move like that with a player certain to be the future at the tackle position.

Of course, senior center Antoine Caldwell is outstanding and a move to center is highly unlikely. Thus, the immediate possibilities would seem to be twofold for Love.

First, Davis certainly had a good spring, but it isn’t like he couldn’t be overtaken at right tackle; thus, Love has a chance there. Second, the Alabama offensive line is not unbreakable, and that means it could really use some depth in case of injury. Love, with all that size and athleticism, certainly could offer that.

It will be interesting to see just how much of an immediate impact this future star can make.
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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or ...
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