Three newbies equate to good year for Bama’s Wilson

By Robert Rousseau  |   Thursday, August 14, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Alabama Crimson Tide
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Despite having thrown for a lot yards in an Alabama uniform, senior John Parker Wilson isn’t considered an upper-echelon SEC quarterback yet. Part of that likely has to do with the fact that Wilson may not have been the right guy for former coordinator Major Applewhite’s offense. After all, Wilson completed 55 percent of his passes for 2,846 yards and 18 touchdowns (12 interceptions) last season in that offense, as opposed to hitting on 57 percent of his attempts for 2,707 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 picks the year previous.

In other words, although the numbers are similar, an argument can be made that he regressed.

Enter Applewhite's replacement, Jim McElwain, who should help Wilson have a good year. The Tide quarterbacks last season were expected to utilize the entire field -- a difficulty for a lot of college passers -- but McElwain, with his QB-friendly offense, limits the view, so to speak.

"Quarterbacks really needed to see the whole field in last year's offense," backup quarterback Greg McElroy says. "This year, everything is isolated. You know where you're going to look each play. It makes our progressions just a little bit easier."

The next newcomer in Alabama's offense who should make an impact is freshman wide receiver Julio Jones. While it's true that freshmen, particularly wideouts, don’t usually make a splash in the SEC, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Jones -- with his ridiculous 41-inch vertical, 315-pound bench press and 505-pound squat -- is clearly unique.

Jones is already impressing in practice.

"He made a one-handed catch where he was half out of bounds and being pushed out and just grabbed it, and you're like, 'Wow,' " Wilson recounted. "Just being able to throw it up and him jumping over everybody will be big. He knows how to get open and knows how to control his body, too. He can run a route, turn around and jump and catch the ball falling down. With the shorter DBs, it's going to be tough."

There’s a reason why Jones pulled in 194 passes for 3,000 yards and 40 touchdowns during his last three seasons in high school.

“Julio's a special player. He'll have an impact Day 1, Game 1,” Wilson stated.

The final newbie who sure to aid Wilson is Burton (or B.J.) Scott.

"B.J. isn't scared. He'll go across the middle and catch it," said Wilson.

The best part, however, is that in addition to that fearlessness, Scott is fast and as shifty as they come.

The Crimson Tide’s offense should improve in a big way this season, and the three aforementioned additions are a major reason why. On top of it all, the Tide returns a good offensive line.

The rest of the SEC has surely taken notice of Year 2 of Nick Saban’s rebuilding project.

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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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