Happy Friday, everyone. Both baseball and softball are in Knoxville this weekend. Baseball started off their series well, beating Tennessee 12-8 last night. The ladies have a three game series against the 8th-ranked Vols starting tomorrow. We will have additional coverage of that later.
Both Ty Simpson and Kadyn Proctor went in the first round of last night’s NFL Draft, extending Alabama’s first round streak for another year. Ty went earlier than expected, and it never gets old watching these young
dudes achieve their lifelong dreams.
Chase Goodbread notes that Simpson and Proctor are walking into very different circumstances.
As a coach’s son, Simpson will be a sponge when the two of them put him on the drawing board. Whether it takes him a couple years to take over the starting job or a couple games − Stafford, after all, is 38 − Simpson is entering an ideal learning environment. And unlike a lot of first-round quarterbacks, the weight of the franchise isn’t already on his shoulders.
The demands on Proctor in Miami, by contrast, will come harder and faster.
Whether it’s at guard or tackle, the Crimson Tide‘s latest three-and-out NFL prize will be counted on to shore up the Dolphins’ offensive line immediately. The club is all but starting over this season, having overhauled its entire organization after failing to reach the playoffs. New general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan will be instantly judged by Proctor’s career trajectory. As his first draft choice in the GM seat, he’s now attached to Proctor in much the way a college athletics director gets tied to a critical coaching hire.
The next Alabama player off the board will likely be Germie Bernard.
In addition to being a blocker, Bernard showcased his abilities as a running back this past season. He had 18 carries for 101 yards (5.6 yards per rush) and two touchdowns. He reached the end zone a total of nine times, but perhaps the run against South Carolina was his most impressive.
Tied at 22 apiece on the road on Oct. 25, Bernard took a direct snap 25 yards into the end zone with 34 seconds remaining. He could’ve hone down near the goal line and Alabama would’ve attempted a chip-shot field goal as time expired, but head coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb gave Bernard the green light to score.“We got all the trust in the world,” DeBoer said during the postgame press conference. “…Guys who are disciplined, the game slows down for them. You give them the opportunities as much as possible in critical moments to go make plays for you.”
Last, count Jordan Rodgers among those who agree with Kalen DeBoer’s extension.
“I absolutely think so,” Rodgers said. “He’s a guy that’s proven at every stop he can be a winner and take a team to a College Football Playoff. Took Washington there. Now, Alabama in Year 1, they were the first one on the outside. Year 2, they get to the playoff. They win a road playoff game. Obviously, it fell apart against Indiana after that. But, in this era, the twisted kind of mindset of the Alabama fans is, ‘Well, we should be dominant every year. We should only lose one game at most.’
“That was the old college football, where Nick Saban, yes, was the GOAT, but also you had a monopoly on recruiting and facilities. With the NIL era, that’s not the same. Competition is even across the board. It’s only going to get harder and harder to sustain success, and he’s proven he can do that multiple different ways, despite some bumps in the road. He’s absolutely worked.”
That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.
Roll Tide.
