Tide’s Fanney has opportunity to step up

By Robert Rousseau  |   Monday, June 30, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Alabama Crimson Tide
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The Alabama Crimson Tide dismissed senior linebacker Jimmy Johns from the football team last week after his arrest on multiple drug charges. Johns was moved from running back to linebacker this spring in the hopes of helping out a very inexperienced Alabama LB corps. But with Johns now gone, Ezekiel Knight currently on the sidelines with a heart ailment that could be career-threatening, and Prince Hall suspended for disciplinary reasons, the team has to be concerned about the state of its linebacking situation.

That means looking at several players who haven’t played much over the years and hoping they step up. One of those players is Brandon Fanney, who was arrested in 2007 on a charge of disorderly conduct.

Off-field troubles aside, Fanney was a four-star strongside defensive end recruit coming out of Hargrave Military Academy in 2005. Moreover, he was considered the fifth-best prep player in the country.

Still, as a defensive lineman Fanney hasn’t really panned out for the Tide, only playing in one game during the 2006-07 season. Though he appeared in 10 games last year on both the line and at linebacker, he only managed seven total tackles and two quarterback hurries.

Fanney was always a fast defensive end, so he appears athletic enough to make the transition to linebacker. Further, he is currently listed as a starting linebacker for the Tide because of a strong spring showing, which likely gives him an advantage coming into the season. But that’s before the true freshmen, including Jerrell Harris, Don’ta Hightower, and Courtney Upshaw, start rolling in for the team. Additionally, there is sure to be some reshuffling once Hall -- who is expected to be reinstated -- comes back.

For now, though, Fanney is listed as a starter ahead of Alex Watkins at one of the weakside positions. So if he wants to be a cog in the Tide's defense during the 2008 season, it’s time for him to step up. After all, even if he doesn’t nail down a starting position, starters can go down for a variety of reasons and this Nick Saban-led team really needs some depth they can count on at linebacker.
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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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