My biggest question marks...or,
"Wouldn't it be great if________?"

If my faith in Alabama was written on a dollar bill, it would contain one of these statements: "In Andre Smith I trust," "In Antoine Caldwell I trust," "In Nick Saban I trust." But with so few assurances on the team this year, I find myself instead leaning on Andre, and Antoine, and Coach Saban and the other returning performers, and then looking forward to seeing if some of the other players (even freshmen!) perform like I think they can.

I recently read an article by Stewart Mandel over at Sports Illustrated that broke down his list of ten things he'd like to see "live up to their billing" this season in college football (things like Tony Franklin, BYU, Jimmy Clausen and, yes, Julio Jones), and I immediately made my own "wish list" of things I'd like to see come to fruition this year.

So I give you my fill-in-the-blank answer to the question: "Wouldn't it be great if ____________?" . . .

John Parker Wilson had a monumental senior season. It kinda seems like he's due for one. After all, he owns all sorts of Alabama records and, when you look at the numbers, he's looked pretty good since his start at Bama and has even had flashes of brilliance (against Tennessee last year, in the closing moments of the Arkansas game), but he's suffered from a lack of consistency and what I like to call "scaredy cat feet."

If he can get smarter with his decisions and not throw into situations that he shouldn't, I think he'll have a really good season. And we all know that, "as the quarterback goes, so goes the team."

Jim McElwain's new offense brought consistency. McElwain seems like a pretty sharp guy, with a good track record at Fresno State and a reputation as a good coach to quarterbacks. If he can get Wilson settled down, as well as create a productive offensive scheme, he will be in good shape. (Right now, indications from practice seem to say that the offense will be quicker with more dink-and-dunk passes, more use of tight ends, and more use of runners as receivers).

Julio Jones lived up to all the hoopla, and become a bonafide playmaker.
For the first year ever, I got sucked into the recruiting hype this year and got a tad bit nervous right before heralded Foley five-star receiver Jones signed his letter of intent. Not that one person can change a team, but all the hype said that this guy could be the "real deal." Once he'd committed, though, I waited with guarded optimism to see what he might bring to the team; and early signs show that he could truly be a "real deal." Reports from practices and scrimmages say he has a great vertical leap; that he can outmanuever defenders; and make some catches others can't make. I see a primary mixture of Julio and Mike McCoy adding some brand-new excitement to the receiving game this year.

Mark Ingram became the type of power runner we've needed for a while.

All indications are that Ingram is a bruising runner with lots of speed and power, who's hard to take down. Since he came all the way from Michigan, he's a bit of an unknown in the South...but I think Saban knew what he was doing with this guy. I expect him to be one of the freshmen to get significant playing time (probably alternating it in with Terry Grant and Glenn Coffee) from very early on.

The linebacking corps gelled as a group, with the youngsters quickly adjusting to SEC play. This is where we are most thin this year, after losing Ezekial Knight, Jimmy Johns, and temporarily Prince Hall out of the lineup. I heard Coach Saban in a radio interview this morning and he made it sound like all of the freshmen in this group will be in the two-deep rotation. So, it's a young group...but, if it's a young, talented group that gels well, we might improve pretty quickly.

Sophomore Rolando McLain continues where he left off last season.
McClain was our biggest impact newcomer last year as a true freshman. And it says a lot for the youthfulness of the Bama team this year that he is already considered a veteran--even though he's just a sophomore. If McClain can keep up his all-SEC play, we'll have one fewer question to worry about.

Terrence Cody administered at least one concussion per game. Cody is a huge junior college transfer (he came in around 400 pounds and has apparently gotten down to more like 370, but still...) who seems to have been quite impressive in Fall practices. At the second scrimmage of the season, he was instrumental in a goal-line stand preventing the offense from getting into the endzone on four straight tries. He also apparently can do a 360 slam dunk, and is quite lithe on his feet. He sure looks happy here...

but he'll assuredly look happier still when he is administering said concussion (not that I promote violence or anything. I'm just ready for a tough as nails tackle who is big and strong).

With that being said...

What are YOUR biggest questions for the upcoming season?
What surprises on the playing field would make you most happy?
Who do you think needs to excel especially for the team to do well this year?

~~~~~~

The Mandel column in SI that I already referenced was really good, and I recommend it for your reading pleasure.

Some other good reads on this morning include ...

* Over on Espn.com, Pat Forde gives his predictions for the SEC season this year. (Included: a no-repeat for Tebow at Heisman, a surprise win in either the first or last week for Bama)

* This season's CBS schedule was apparently leaked and this blog got a hold of it. I'm not sure if it's 100% accurate, but it has Alabama's Kentucky, LSU, and Auburn games scheduled.

* In my favorite "so absurd that it can't be true" story, go read about the outbreak of jock itch that invaded the USC campus.

* It's now just nine days until our opening game with #9 Clemson. This is a good story about Clemson's last scrimmage of the preseason (it's always good to know what you're going up against).

* I have totally enjoyed the "Blog around the SEC" that Espn's Chris Low is winding up right now. He traveled the SEC over the course of a few weeks and gave some really good insights into fall camps and expectations. He gave some good interviews with coaches and players too; if you are an SEC fan, it is well worth the read. Start reading it here, but also scroll down and read all the blogs in the series (the Alabama stories are several days past).

Nine days and counting...Roll Tide!

(And thanks to all of you who popped by yesterday for my debut. Keep stopping by!)