Clay Travis thinks Bama would give Titans a close game...

#26
#26
Get ready, for this is bound to be a long post...I have gotten together a list of players that were all on the 2009 Alabama team, and listed them by position and what round they were drafted in. For players still on the team, I have listed where they are projected to be drafted. The reason I chose 2009 is because 1. that is when the dominance started, and 2. that would give most of the players time to see where they would ultimately end up in the NFL.

One guy said in this thread that Alabama MAY have ten players at the most make it into the draft this year vs. 53 on an NFL roster. This is true, but many of these players will ultimately get drafted, but they either 1. are not eligible yet, or 2. have not had their opportunity because of experienced players ahead of them on the depth chart. However, as time goes by, you cannot argue that the talent is there. And this lineup shows you that. True, there are some holes, and depth would be a problem, but this is a D@MN good lineup.

Offense:
QB – Greg McElroy (7th round); AJ McCarron (projected mid – late round)
RB – Mark Ingram (1st round); Trent Richardson (1st round); Eddie Lacy (projected mid round)
C – Barrett Jones (proj. 1st round)
G – Mike Johnson (3rd round); Chance Warmack (projected early round)
T – James Carpenter (1st round); D.J. Fluker (projected first round)
WR – Julio Jones (1st round); Marquis Maze (UDFA); Darius Hanks (UDFA)
TE – Michael Williams (projected mid round)
Defense:
NG – Terrence Cody (2nd round)
DE – Marcell Dareus (1st round); Brandon Deaderick (7th round)
LB – Dont’a Hightower (1st round); Rolando McClain (1st round); Courtney Upshaw (2nd round); Nico Johnson (projected mid round)
CB – Javier Arenas (2nd round); Kareem Jackson (1st round); Dre Kirkpatrick (1st round)
Safety – Mark Barron (1st round); Robert Lester (projected early round)

Now I know that there are some issues with this list. All of them weren't NFL-ready as freshmen. Some of them may not have panned out as to where they were drafted. But at the end of the day, that is some serious talent. Now, these players were likely all recruits from the classes of 2005 - 2009, as where the players on 2012's team are likely all recruits from the classes of 2008 - 2012. Here are Alabama's class rankings through those years:

2005: 18
2006: 11
2007: 10
2008: 1
2009: 1
2010: 5
2011: 1
2012: 1

While I like 247 better now, I used Rivals for these numbers, as 247 was not around that far back. This would show that this year's team is likely more stacked with talent and depth than the 2009 team, IMO. To truly compare, we would likely need to wait until another 3-4 years go by, but this team is truly loaded with top-end NFL talent.

Now, this will likely never be known, because what NFL team in their right mind would take on this challenge? I would love to see a team like Cleveland take a trip down to Tuscaloosa and play the Tide in front of 100,000 plus. Not saying that Bama would have the better team, but I think it would be a lot closer than many think. I don't think Cleveland could put a whole lot of points on the board.
 
#27
#27
onefesternation said:
Get ready, for this is bound to be a long post...I have gotten together a list of players that were all on the 2009 Alabama team, and listed them by position and what round they were drafted in. For players still on the team, I have listed where they are projected to be drafted. The reason I chose 2009 is because 1. that is when the dominance started, and 2. that would give most of the players time to see where they would ultimately end up in the NFL.

One guy said in this thread that Alabama MAY have ten players at the most make it into the draft this year vs. 53 on an NFL roster. This is true, but many of these players will ultimately get drafted, but they either 1. are not eligible yet, or 2. have not had their opportunity because of experienced players ahead of them on the depth chart. However, as time goes by, you cannot argue that the talent is there. And this lineup shows you that. True, there are some holes, and depth would be a problem, but this is a D@MN good lineup.

Offense:
QB – Greg McElroy (7th round); AJ McCarron (projected mid – late round)
RB – Mark Ingram (1st round); Trent Richardson (1st round); Eddie Lacy (projected mid round)
C – Barrett Jones (proj. 1st round)
G – Mike Johnson (3rd round); Chance Warmack (projected early round)
T – James Carpenter (1st round); D.J. Fluker (projected first round)
WR – Julio Jones (1st round); Marquis Maze (UDFA); Darius Hanks (UDFA)
TE – Michael Williams (projected mid round)
Defense:
NG – Terrence Cody (2nd round)
DE – Marcell Dareus (1st round); Brandon Deaderick (7th round)
LB – Dont’a Hightower (1st round); Rolando McClain (1st round); Courtney Upshaw (2nd round); Nico Johnson (projected mid round)
CB – Javier Arenas (2nd round); Kareem Jackson (1st round); Dre Kirkpatrick (1st round)
Safety – Mark Barron (1st round); Robert Lester (projected early round)

Now I know that there are some issues with this list. All of them weren't NFL-ready as freshmen. Some of them may not have panned out as to where they were drafted. But at the end of the day, that is some serious talent. Now, these players were likely all recruits from the classes of 2005 - 2009, as where the players on 2012's team are likely all recruits from the classes of 2008 - 2012. Here are Alabama's class rankings through those years:

2005: 18
2006: 11
2007: 10
2008: 1
2009: 1
2010: 5
2011: 1
2012: 1

While I like 247 better now, I used Rivals for these numbers, as 247 was not around that far back. This would show that this year's team is likely more stacked with talent and depth than the 2009 team, IMO. To truly compare, we would likely need to wait until another 3-4 years go by, but this team is truly loaded with top-end NFL talent.

Now, this will likely never be known, because what NFL team in their right mind would take on this challenge? I would love to see a team like Cleveland take a trip down to Tuscaloosa and play the Tide in front of 100,000 plus. Not saying that Bama would have the better team, but I think it would be a lot closer than many think. I don't think Cleveland could put a whole lot of points on the board.
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Bama wouldn't even score against any team in the league. The off/def lines in the NFL, on any team, would destroy them, the blocking schemes and techniques are 10x better in the NFL, as is the tackling. In college, the talent may be there, but not the experience and fundamentals mastered. Basically, the Browns playing Bama, would be equal to Bama playing Savannah St, or worse.
 
#29
#29
Thrasher865 said:
:no:

Bad form to show your ignorance on a message board. People won't let you live it down.
Click to expand...

My comment about the Titans' roster was written as a Titans fan, not as a Bama fan. I would never suggest that a college team would beat a pro team.

But the Titans suck hard, and several of them are committing legalized theft via their NFL contracts.
 
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#31
#31
Holy hell.. anyone who thinks that 18 to 22 year old KIDS could compete with grown MEN who are at the pinnacle of their athletic marvel are mindless idiotic fools. The worst NFL team would murder those poor kids. The schemes alone in the NFL are so complex that Bama would be lucky to crack midfield at any point in the game... then take into the consideration the actual speed in which the pros play. SMH.
 
#33
#33
CMcEver said:
Bama wouldn't even score against any team in the league. The off/def lines in the NFL, on any team, would destroy them, the blocking schemes and techniques are 10x better in the NFL, as is the tackling. In college, the talent may be there, but not the experience and fundamentals mastered. Basically, the Browns playing Bama, would be equal to Bama playing Savannah St, or worse.
Click to expand...

You say the lines in the NFL are ten times better, yet miraculously, every year there are many NFL starting linemen that are rookies. On the offensive side, I'd say about half of the picks in the first 3-4 rounds are starters. A lot of the defensive line guys may not be listed as starters, but they get heavily involved in the rotation. I guess that one NFL training camp improves their skill set by 1,000 percent, huh?

By your comparison of teams, I'm assuming you're saying that the Browns would be about an 80 point favorite over Bama, right? Look at Cleveland's offensive starters. You really think they're putting up 80 against Bama's defense? And you might wanna take a look at their defense as well. I just did. D'Qwell Jackson and a bunch of nobodies. I don't think they're shutting out anybody. Well, maybe Savannah State.
 
#34
#34
The 0-16 Lions would absolutely destroy the top college team in the nation. How anyone can think college kids could hang with grown men is crazy.
 
#36
#36
Burhead said:
The 0-16 Lions would absolutely destroy the top college team in the nation. How anyone can think college kids could hang with grown men is crazy.
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I know there's an age difference, but college kids to grown men? The link provided is an article with a chart of NFL players in 2010 based on years experience in the league. 68.3% of the league had 4 years experience or less, which would mostly be guys between the ages of 21-26 or thereabouts. And, of course, most college kids are between 18-23. Is that really that big of a difference? The experience factor, no doubt, would play a huge factor, but there's not that much of a difference in age. Sure, some of the freshmen would be raw, but most freshmen don't play either. At least, not on the well-built teams.

NFL Career Length and Average Age versus Average Life Expectancy | The Big Lead
 
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#37
#37
leevol20 said:
If Matt Hasselback starts for the Titans, it wouldn't be close.

With Jake Locker, its a 14 point ball game.
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Not sure if serious.

It would take a college all-star team to even compete with the 0-16 Lions in a stacked year of college talent. No single college team has a chance of beating an NFL team.
 
#40
#40
I really wish you middle Tennessee guys would stop listening to and/or shut up about Clay Travis. Everyone knows he's an idiot. Only you guys can't seem to shut up about him.
 
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#41
#41
Am I the only person that would love to see the college all americans each year vs the pro all rookie team?


That's about as fair as this argument can get right? Mostly juniors/seniors in college vs the youngest possible NFL players. The best of both sides on all ends of the ball. It gives college more depth (because all americans go to what, 3rd/4th team?) give the rookies each some depth at all positions (1 extra QB is all that should be needed, a few extra linemen, etc)

I'd pay to see this game. PLUS if you did it either right after the draft or right before it you could just have more NFL scouts seeing what to pay the kids and how they'd stack up against real NFL talent. Only problem here is of course risk for injury.

This is why we need to adopt Bill Simmons' idea of Sports Czar so we can make something like this happen.
 
#42
#42
Vercingetorix said:
I really wish you middle Tennessee guys would stop listening to and/or shut up about Clay Travis. Everyone knows he's an idiot. Only you guys can't seem to shut up about him.
Click to expand...

Get out of my head.

The more posts I read from you, the more I realize how often we agree.
 
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#43
#43
Clay Travis thanks volnation.com for helping him keep his job.
 
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