Top 10 from the Weekend: Jalen Hurts not a favorite for the Heisman Trophy?
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Kyle Henderson of BamaInsider.com recaps his Top 10 from the Week/Weekend and with A-Day just around the corner there is plenty to cover. Scroll down to read the latest.
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1. Hurts Not Listed As Favorite To Win The Heisman?
Here are the odds on favorites
Sam Darnold - USC- Quarterback - 5-1
Baker Mayfield - Oklahoma - Quarterback - 7-1
Lamar Jackson - Louisville - Quarterback - 8-1
J.T. Barrett - Ohio State - Quarterback - 10-1
Jake Browning - Washington - Quarterback - 12-1
Deondre Francois - Florida State - Quarterback - 12-1
Six quarterbacks lead the way according to Las Vegas Superbook, but I could not help to notice that Alabama Quarterback Jalen Hurts was not listed. The returning SEC Offensive Player of the Year was 240-382 passing (62.8%) for 2,780-yards with 23 touchdowns, tack on his 954-yards and 13 rushing touchdowns, Hurts as a Freshman accounted for 3,734-yards of offense and 36 touchdowns while leading Alabama to a 14-1 season.
So to not see Hurts on the preseason list seemed very surprising, considering his production numbers in 2016. While the past does not dictate the future, there have been no signs of Hurts slowing down and overall, he’s looked much more polished as a passer enter just his second year at Alabama.
Read: Things are slowing down for fast-learning Jalen Hurts at Alabama | Video Here
2. Texas Locker Rooms
The Texas Longhorns Football Program just released a new feature to their locker rooms. A 43-inch monitor atop each locker with a running highlight of that particular player.
The monitor replaces the standard nameplate, so instead of reading, for example, No. 34 Damien Harris now the locker has a big screen monitor above where the player gets ready, which plays highlights and has photos that particular player. Coming off a 5-7 season and the firing of former Head Coach Charlie Strong, it is clear that the Longhorns need every advantage to revamp their program under First Year Head Coach Tom Herman.
The new monitor is obviously a recruiting tool to draw in more of a wow factor to help sell the program, but at the end of the day, recruits want to go to a place that wins and competes for a championship every year. This is what has separated Alabama Football from others. It starts with Nick Saban’s process to succeed and the rest continues to fall into place.
3. Distribution of the football in 2017
How is the Alabama offense going to keep the overwhelming amount of highly talented offensive skill players they have fed during the season?
Last season Running Back Damien Harris carried the football 146 times, Bo Scarbrough 125 times, Josh Jacobs 85 times, and BJ Emmons had 35 touches. All those backs return in 2017 along with Najee Harris and Brian Robinson, two early enrollees at Alabama that could start likely anywhere else in the Country.
That is just the running game. You also have to get the football to one of the best receivers in the SEC in Calvin Ridley, who last year he caught for 72 receptions plus getting the football to rising stars like Jerry Jeudy, Cam Sims, among others. Everyone is interested to see how Alabama’s new offensive coordinator Brian DaBoll handles this gigantic task.
Video: Najee Harris and Brian Robinson are turning heads at Bama
4. Secondary Concerns
Is the defense really getting torched by the offense as much as we’ve been hearing? Seems the case after the last two Alabama scrimmages and by our count, Alabama Quarterbacks, Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa have already accounted for seven passing touchdowns. Anthony Averett is projected to start corner along with Trevon Diggs, Averett who is now a senior led the team in pass deflections last year with 8, Diggs is a first-year starter or at least projected to be a starter in April.
Besides Diggs being new at the position, Alabama does have plenty of experience in the secondary with Minkah Fitzpatrick (Junior), Hootie Jones (Senior), Ronnie Harrison (Junior), and Tony Brown (Senior) all returning so it’s been really surprising to hear that the secondary group has been getting beat by the offense. We’re keeping our eyes on the secondary unit during A-Day as this could just all be hearsay.
Alabama safety Ronnie Harrison believes 'now it's my turn' to lead
Trevon Diggs playing 'big boy football' at cornerback for Alabama
5. Spring Game Attendance Numbers So Far
The bar has been set by Ohio State University with 80,134 fans that attended their annual spring game on April 15th. Last year, just over 75,000 attended A-Day in Tuscaloosa. The record fan attendance for an Alabama Spring Game is 92,310 which was set in 2011.
The bar has been set, will Alabama Football have more than 80,000 for A-Day?
2017 Spring Game Attendance Numbers
Alabama TBA (April 22nd) (Last Year 76,212)
Ohio State 80,134 (April 15th)
Nebraska 78,312 (April 15th)
Clemson 60,000 (April 8th)
Michigan 57,418 (April 15th)
Florida 48,000 (April 7th)
Auburn 46,331 (April 8th)
Oklahoma 43,331 (April 8th)
Texas 35,000 (April 15th)
Florida State 26,649 (April 8th)
Michigan State 25,000
Texas AM 21,000 (April 8th)
Miss State 16,630 (April 8th)
Missouri 16,457 (April 15th)
USC 14,781 (April 15th)
Ole Miss 8,000 (April 8th)