That first quarter, in particular, was painful. The defense looked like it was in a daze--not getting lined up in time, whiffing on pass break ups, lots of missed tackles.
Many people have speculated how the absence of the Outland Trophy winner, Andre Smith, at left tackle was a major factor in how the o-line didn't perform like it has all season. Smith not playing was surely a small factor, but the huge blow to the Tide was when Mike Johnson went down with an injury. He was playing LT in place of Smith, so they switched the first string right tackle, Drew Davis, to play left tackle, and a true freshman, John Michael Boswell, played right tackle. So for most of the game, Alabama played with its third string LT, its second string LG, and its second string RT.
That's not usually a recipe for success.
In a somewhat related development, Smith will probably go into the draft, and most draft experts project him as the number two guy off the board. So are the Rams in need of a cornerstone left tackle like Andre Smith? Is Pace still with the team?
2 comments:
Sure, the Rams could use help on the O-Line (and I sure wouldn't balk if Smith were the pick), but then again they could also use a big linebacker, a couple corners, and even a young QB to start developing.
So....you're saying the Rams need some help.
I scanned a number of draft projections after I posted this, and most folks predict that the Rams take Smitty.
While he is the best offensive linemen in the draft, the Rams might be smart to trade down and take Oher (LT) from Ole Miss later in the first if they truly need a LT.
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