Rueben Foster to have (rotator cuff) surgery. (2 Viewers)

I get that part, I have a hard time justifying it.

I can't see that what they do is so drastically different from everyone else, physically, that they can't recover to become good pros. These kids at Bama are the best of the best. It is interesting how they aren't littering the pros with pro bowlers.

But that could be a good recruiting tool AGAINST them.

I think some of the physical wear has to do with their strength and conditioning program. Think Brian Bosworth...
 
Derek Barnett should be the pick. No worries with him about being "maxed out" or anything like that. And at the end of the day, a better pass rush usually makes an average secondary look good and a good one great if the mix is right.

I'd have to be inside Payton or Allen's head on this next point, but there needs to be some decision on whether Ellerbe is worth keeping around with all HIS injuries, real or imagined. Then and only then would they seemingly assess the true need at WLB heading into draft day.

All his injuries? Real or imagined?

I think all Ellerbe's down time was for 2 injuries, and 1 wasn't even a dangerous or recurring injury. (quad).


I can't believe any reasonable person believes Ellerbe is a malingerer or head case.


If he's healthy and willing to take a pay cut and/or performance-based contract, we should re-sign him. What we shouldn't do is patiently nurse his injuries, then give him to someone else when he's healed up. (Think Ninkovich and Ivory)

But yea, I want the best edge rusher and ILB we can grab in rounds 1 and 2. I have a sneaky feeling Payton is looking at a QB no later than round 3, could mess up my plans. :hihi:
 
I'm with you. If he somehow fell to the 2nd, because of these injuries, maybe. This is pretty significant surgery though. Picking him at 11 is way too much risk in my opinion.

If he were a QB, i'd be a lot more concerned. I recall Ingram having rotator cuff surgery at seasons end last year and he did just fine this year.
 
I get that part, I have a hard time justifying it.

I can't see that what they do is so drastically different from everyone else, physically, that they can't recover to become good pros. These kids at Bama are the best of the best. It is interesting how they aren't littering the pros with pro bowlers.

Interesting thoughts, so I researched it. Here are the colleges with the most players in the NFL:

# of
Players School
65 Alabama
58 Florida
57 Georgia
57 Miami (FL)
56 LSU
56 Ohio State
54 USC
54 Florida State
49 Clemson

Then I looked at pro bowlers by college team:

# of
Players School
6 Alabama
4 Florida
3 Cal
3 FSU
3 Georgia
3 Oklahoma
3 Pittsburgh
3 USC
3 Texas A&M


State of Affairs, this wasn't done to prove you wrong, your post simply made me curious. Some interesting things to note from both of these lists.

Alabama is at the head of the class, clearly.
Clemson should be climbing the list quickly and decisively over the next year or two.
OSU was LOADED over the past 4/5 years.
The state of Florida seems to be where the best players come from (per capita) and where they want to play college ball, geographically.
Georgia should have been contending for National Titles recently.

I'm sure there are other things to glean, if you so choose, these are just a few things that jumped out at me.
 
Interesting thoughts, so I researched it. Here are the colleges with the most players in the NFL:

# of
Players School
65 Alabama
58 Florida
57 Georgia
57 Miami (FL)
56 LSU
56 Ohio State
54 USC
54 Florida State
49 Clemson

Then I looked at pro bowlers by college team:

# of
Players School
6 Alabama
4 Florida
3 Cal
3 FSU
3 Georgia
3 Oklahoma
3 Pittsburgh
3 USC
3 Texas A&M


State of Affairs, this wasn't done to prove you wrong, your post simply made me curious. Some interesting things to note from both of these lists.

Alabama is at the head of the class, clearly.
Clemson should be climbing the list quickly and decisively over the next year or two.
OSU was LOADED over the past 4/5 years.
The state of Florida seems to be where the best players come from (per capita) and where they want to play college ball, geographically.
Georgia should have been contending for National Titles recently.

I'm sure there are other things to glean, if you so choose, these are just a few things that jumped out at me.

There are something that you don't need (or at least I don't) full facts to at least mildly comprehend or project.

What you posted kind of cements what I think. Alabama players come out pro ready. Being a pro is so much more than just learning the playbook etc etc. Its learning to take care of your body, how to watch film, how to prepare, and how to go about football as a job. That is all important and the fact that Saban runs that team like its an NFL team almost (probably why they are the team people choose during the "i bet bama could beat this pro team" blah blah stuff they come up with.

With that beign said the logic I'm applying is imagine if you were trained to be an assassin all your life. You'd either become a very good assassin.......or you'd be this very burned out person mentally that just wanted to live a normal life.

Some of those guys go to Alabama because they know its their best shot to make it to the pro's. Some aren't prepared for the grueling stretch...some are. Some of those kids probably just want to enjoy college and I'm sure some of them after 3-4 years of being almost pro just want to be normal.

Physically i don't think the effect is that big....but mentally I'm willing to bet that some of those guys end up being drained and they get tired of the "process" so to speak.

To me it explains why Alabama players either excel.....or just fall off the map. Football is 90% mental anyway. What Saban does for those kids either makes them mentally strong and subsequently prepared to be Pro's or it completely breaks them and you end up with Trent Richardson.
 
EJW,

I think you see it pretty often in sports, we just have a really interesting microcosm to look at with 'Bama and the NFL.

I'm a golfer, so the parallel I always see is #1 in the OGWR for the LPGA. Very, very often, these young children (5yo) are introduced to the game and then pushed as hard as possible to be the best. Some 20 years later, they reach #1 in the world and then what happens? For every Annika who can stay there and dominate for 10 years, you get one Ochoa who dominates, but then decides to pursue other paths and 5 other ladies who get there and last all of 4 months before falling off the face.

The top of the mountain has a very different view and not everyone wants to continue to put in that amount of work.

A friend of the board here (shout out to The Editor) was at the Senior Bowl many, many years ago and he asked a NFL man why the draft was so hard to get right. The basic response:

Anyone can tell you which one of the players is the better player today, the difficulty is determining which players still have room to improve, and if so, how much.

'Bama players showcase this boom or bust scenario vividly, because even their "okay" NFL players look like busts compared to their college selves.
 
If he were a QB, i'd be a lot more concerned. I recall Ingram having rotator cuff surgery at seasons end last year and he did just fine this year.

Valid point Javon. I just, admittedly, have a bad taste in my mouth for collegiate players with injuries.
 

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