Alabama's ceiling in 2026| SEC Media Poll USUALLY wrong.... so no worries right?| Mac and Cube

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Alabama's Ceiling in 2026 | SEC Media Poll USUALLY wrong... so no worries right?"

Podcast: McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning
Date: July 27, 2026
Hosts: Conrad Van Order & Damian Mitchell (Filling in for Greg & Cole)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Conrad Van Order and Damian Mitchell take over hosting duties to deliver a fast-paced and lively discussion focused primarily on SEC football, with a deep dive into Alabama and Auburn’s prospects for the upcoming season. The hosts break down the narrative following the SEC Media Days, examine SEC recruiting trends, dissect the perception and reality of the SEC Media preseason poll, and answer listener questions about players and program outlooks. There are also lighter moments covering college golf, MLB’s Atlanta Braves, and plenty of banter around rivalries and fan cultures.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. SEC Media Days & Preseason Polls: Perception vs. Reality

• Discussion opens with a recap of SEC Media voting and Alabama/Auburn’s national standing. Both hosts reiterate how preseason polls (especially media polls) are often wrong and how little they ultimately matter once games are played.
  • “If everything goes right, you know, where could they end up at the end of the year? If everything goes poorly, how bad could it get?” — Damian Mitchell [01:27]
• The hosts reassure fans—especially Auburn and Alabama supporters—not to panic about predictions. Historically, teams often over- or under-perform these early expectations.

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2. Auburn Golf Shines: Jackson Koivan’s Breakout

• Highlight: Former Auburn golfer Jackson Koivan wins the PGA 3M Open, setting a course record and outpacing Scottie Scheffler.
  • “He had himself quite a weekend... shot a course record 25 under par to win his first PGA Tour event and just his third start. And who was behind him nipping at his heels? Scotty Scheffler—the best golfer in the world!” — Damian Mitchell [02:03]
• Historical context: Koivan, at 21, becomes the youngest American to win a PGA Tour event by multiple strokes since 1932, even topping Tiger Woods’ pace for first win.
  • “Winning in his 13th overall appearance—faster than Rom, McIlroy, Tiger, Spieth... That’s impressive.” — Damian Mitchell [06:14]
• Banter on NIL money for college golfers, comparing Koivan's $1.58M check to top college athlete earnings.

Notable Quote

• “If you’re bringing in 1.5 [million], there’s no doubt about it… That’s star running back money, maybe!” — Damian Mitchell [08:05]

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3. SEC Recruiting: Alabama’s Head Start in '28 Class

• Alabama is leading the 2028 recruiting class, recently securing a commitment from 4-star linebacker Tycere Young. Rapid-fire commentary on how early recruiting can be unpredictable as many top-ranked commitments change:
  • “They got another commitment—the seventh best linebacker according to Rivals… Number one class in 2028.” — Damian Mitchell [10:44]
• Tone is playful and semi-skeptical, acknowledging that “these kids haven’t even started their junior years of high school yet.” [11:31]

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4. Auburn & Braves Fanbase Crossover

• Segment reflects on the shared fan cultures between Auburn football and Atlanta Braves baseball.
  • “If you’re an Auburn fan, you’re also a Braves fan, and vice versa… There are more people like that than [Braves and Alabama fans].” — Conrad Van Order [12:44]
• Notes that after a rough last year for Auburn/Braves fans, optimism is building for both programs, feeding into the “hope springs eternal” atmosphere heading into football season.

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5. Auburn Football: Realism vs. Optimism

• In-depth breakdown of Auburn’s strengths and question marks with the upcoming regime change (“the Alex Golesh era”).
• Major concerns: Offensive cohesion, quarterback play, and offensive line stability.
  • “It’s the uniqueness of it. You get to the end of baseball season right when conference play in the SEC starts to pick up, and... for Auburn fans, it's just been tough. But we’re back up. Send the word. We’re back up.” — Damian Mitchell [13:43]
• Comparisons to last season: Reviewing Hugh Freeze’s lofty preseason promises and the inconsistency at quarterback and offense.
  • “As the season went on, your defense is giving you every opportunity. Hugh Freeze was hired for the offensive side… and the Achilles heel has been the offense.” — Damian Mitchell [15:26]

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6. Listener Q&A and rapid-fire commentary

• Wide-ranging questions from listeners on everything from baseball prospects to college football roster construction.
• Notable text: “How many starts did it take Happy Gilmore to win one?” [22:57] — hosts joke about calling Adam Sandler for the answer.
• Discussion of whether Auburn is an “everything school” (multi-sport excellence).

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7. SEC Wide Receiver Rankings & Player Debates

• Listener asks whether Georgia Tech transfer Eric Singleton should be First Team All-SEC at WR.
  • “I think Eric Singleton has the potential… He was so good at Georgia Tech. You didn’t get to see him be Eric Singleton at Auburn.” — Damian Mitchell [27:19]
• Banter around Cam Coleman and how production and talent get weighed in preseason (and sometimes overvalued due to recruiting hype).

Notable Quote

• “If you looked at his first team all-conference in the SEC, you are looked at as the best at your position… if you are the number one dude, you should be almost force-fed targets.” — Conrad Van Order [28:34]

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8. Alabama’s 2026 Outlook: Quarterback, Running Game, and Ceiling/Floor Discussion

Quarterback Situation

• Key question: Would Alabama’s perception be different if Ty Simpson had returned? Hosts discuss if current optimism around the QB room is justified.
  • “Having a known commodity at quarterback … I have more confidence in the quarterback situation right now than I did at the same time last year…” — Conrad Van Order [35:00]
• Keelan Russell vs. Austin Mack: Both are promising; DeBoer’s QB development is trusted from past stops (Washington, Indiana, Fresno State).
  • “The juice is there [with Russell]… something about him looks a little different.” — Conrad Van Order [36:15]
• Listeners’ skepticism surfaced (“You also thought DJ Lagway and John Matier would light it up last year…”) — hosts own their past predictions and keep the tone fun.

Running Game & Offensive Line

• Biggest concern: Will the reconstructed O-line jell?
  • “You brought in pretty much a whole new offensive line… [but] they need to be ready to go in five weeks.” — Conrad Van Order [42:17]
• Solid RB depth but little proven star power; E.J. Crowell is hyped but untested and banged up in spring.
  • “It’s a lot to put on an 18-year-old kid to come in and solve all your problems.” — Damian Mitchell [41:58]
• Need for improvement in pass protection and offensive cohesion.
  • “AKD might be the home run threat, but when you can’t do the little things… it really limits what you’re able to do.” — Damian Mitchell [42:17]
• If the O-line comes together and the run game clicks? Hosts see a potential for Alabama to exceed their polling and national skepticism. If not, they could fall out of SEC contention.

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On SEC media polls:
  • “Media polls are almost always wrong… Let’s just see the teams play.” — Tone from opening [paraphrased throughout, e.g., 01:27]
• On Jackson Koivan’s big win:
  • “I’m happy to break 100, so I can't imagine what it'd be like to go out and shoot 61 like Jackson Coyman did on Saturday.” — Damian Mitchell [04:07]
• On quarterback optimism:
  • “I have the utmost faith… Kaylin DeBoer has proven time and time again he can get the most out of whatever quarterback situation he had in front of him.” — Conrad Van Order [35:00]
• On offensive line woes:
  • “You need to see it now because you've had an offensive line that’s let you down a couple of years in a row now.” — Conrad Van Order [43:48]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Opening, SEC Media Days & Polls: 00:00–03:00
• Jackson Koivan/PGA & Auburn golf: 03:45–09:00
• Alabama & Auburn recruiting updates: 09:38–11:31
• Auburn/Braves fans crossover: 12:25–13:43
• Auburn’s optimism & new regime: 13:46–16:42
• Listener Q&A / Fun banter: 17:23–22:00
• Auburn/Alabama “everything school” debate: 22:38–24:54
• Wide receiver rankings/Cam Coleman vs. Eric Singleton: 27:19–29:52
• Alabama QB, perception, & optimism debate: 34:44–39:01
• Alabama run game and offensive line concerns: 41:58–43:48

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, humorous, and fast-moving—Hosts keep discussion light but informed, making the show engaging for both diehards and casual fans.
• Listener engagement is a strong feature, with plenty of readouts and on-air reactions to texts and comments.
• Strong mix of optimism, realism, and regional pride, particularly when comparing SEC teams and cultural ties (Auburn, Alabama, Braves).

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Don’t sweat preseason polls—SEC football is too unpredictable.
• **Alabama’s recruiting pipeline remains elite, but results hinge on new faces gelling—especially on the O-line and at quarterback.
• Auburn is rebuilding but optimism is justified, even if skepticism about offense remains.
• Fun fanbase debates and plenty of listener Q&A make this episode interactive and entertaining.
• If you haven't tuned in to the SEC preseason storylines yet, consider this your engaging primer.

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Transcript

[Conrad Van Order]

Foreign.

[Damian Mitchell]

Welcome back into Mac and Cube, Greg and Cole out. Cole be back on Wednesday. Greg back next Monday. So you've got Conrad Van Order and Damian Mitchell with you until 10 o' clock when we will pass you off to three man front. They're with you 10 to 2 and then the Paul Finebaum show from 2 to 6 and then right after that Braves baseball. So you've got you covered here all day long on Jock. So appreciate you joining us tuning in now, many of you on your way to work. Hopefully stay safe out there on the roads as it's gotten a little wicked weather wise out there. But if you are just now joining us, spend a lot of the first hour talking SEC football, SEC media voting after media days and where Auburn and Alabama, how they fared kind of from a more national perspective. And we'll continue to talk Alabama and Auburn and kind of our expectations and if everything goes right, you know, where could they ultimately end up at the end of the year if everything goes poorly, you know, how bad could it get for both of those programs the upcoming year? We can also talk a little Big Ten as their media days are getting underway tomorrow there in Chicago. And we haven't talked a lot about the Big Ten, Damien, just because, I mean we kind of know who the top dogs are, but we can go through and you know, kind of give our expectations, pretenders, contenders, all that good stuff for the Big Ten Conference as well. But all this talk means we are getting closer to the college football season and that also means that we've got a chance to celebrate all of that together. And we can do that at the kickoff to college football. Our party presented by Bill Smith, Buick gmc. The Jocks Kickoff Party, located in the ballroom at Regents Field, is just a couple of weeks away. And if you want to win a pair of tickets for you and a guest, this is your opportunity. So you just need to text in the keyword rival along with your Full name to 205-834-9450. Again, text in today's keyword rival, R I V A L along with your Full name to 205-834-9450. Winners are drawn and notified daily. It's the Bill Smith Buick GMC Jocks Kickoff Party presented by Myers Tree Service. For more info, you can visit us online there@jocks fm.com we always encourage you to chime in on the text line 205-834-9450 and we will get to those text coming up. But a couple of other things to make you aware of as we, before we get back to the college football conversation, we had a lot of fun talking about this on Morning Jocks. But all you Auburn fans out there had to be very excited over the weekend as one. Jackson Coyvin, the former Auburn golf legend led the Tigers to a natty earlier this year. Damian, he had, he had himself quite a weekend, if I may say so myself. So he was competing in the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities up in Minnesota. It's just his third event as a professional golfer. He had a handful of appearances as an amateur, but now he's officially moved on and started his pro career. And all he did was shoot a course record 25 under par to win his first PGA Tour event and just his third start. And who was behind him nipping at his heels the entire weekend? Damien Just some guy named Scotty Scheffler. The, I don't know, best golfer in the world, former felon, right?

[Conrad Van Order]

I thought I was a misdemeanor, but

[Damian Mitchell]

ah, whatever it is, he was in jail. He was in jail, but nonetheless, Jackson Coyvin, he finishes 25 under par compared to Scotty's 22 under par. So I mean, I guess you would say the course, you know, not, you know, maybe not the most difficult course on the tour, but hey, they were having fun out there.

[Conrad Van Order]

You ain't lying.

[Damian Mitchell]

They were having a lot of fun out there. But yeah, no matter how you slice it, 25 under par is, that's absolutely sensational. I'm happy to break 100, so I can't imagine what it'd be like to go out there and shoot 61 like Jackson Coyman did on Saturday. That's, that's some nasty work right there. But as I mentioned, it's a tournament record 25 under par. He set a nine hole record on Saturday. He shot a 28 on the back nine, including a pair of eagles on 12 and 18. Absolutely remarkable performance by him. And, and as many of us imagine, right just the start of what has all the makings of a, of a legendary career on the tour. Not to put any pressure on him, but I mean when you're that young and already out there out shooting, you know, some of the greats like Scotty Scheffler certainly going to have a lot of hype to go along with that. And I shared this stat, we talked about this on Morning Jocks. So a couple of stats that just kind of put into perspective how impressive this was. So this One came from ESPN, so Jackson Koivan he's 21 years old and winning the 3M Open over the weekend. He became the youngest American to win a PGA Tour event by multiple strokes since 1932. That is 94 years. 94. We all remember Ralph Goodall.

[Conrad Van Order]

Oh, man.

[Damian Mitchell]

Ralphie g. Ralphie G. 20 year old, won the Arizona Open back in 1932.

[Conrad Van Order]

Oh, yeah. Yeah, man. It was. That was a tough. I was tough field.

[Damian Mitchell]

Is the Arizona Open. Is that now the current day Waste Management Open? Because that's.

[Conrad Van Order]

That is a great question.

[Damian Mitchell]

They get wicked back then because that would have been what, right after Prohibition. So people could have been like, get like turned.

[Conrad Van Order]

I was about to make a, like going for it. I was about to make a joke.

[Hayley Carania]

What?

[Conrad Van Order]

I'm glad you know that information.

[Damian Mitchell]

Oh yeah, no, I retained a couple of things. It's not as bad as me forgetting who the 18th president was last week and being like, yeah, as a general in the army, it's like, was he also a president? Nah, he definitely was a president at one point. But you know, you win some, you lose some.

[Conrad Van Order]

You do.

[Damian Mitchell]

You win some, you lose some. It is what it is.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah. It's been a while.

[Damian Mitchell]

It has been. Yes. 94 years. That's. That's quite some time. So that one's impressive. And then Golf Digest, they put this out last night as well after his win. So I mentioned it's his third pro start. Koivan, his third pro start. And it's his 13th overall start, including amateur and pro appearances. So winning in his 13th overall appearance on the PGA Tour, that is faster than all of the golfers that I'm about to name. John rom took him 17 appearances. Roy McElroy took him 18. Some guy named Tiger woods took him 19 appearances to get his first win. How about Jordan Spieth, another SEC guy, 24 appearances before he was able to pull off the victory. Bryson DeChambeau took him 40 appearances. The Pride of the Crimson tide, Justin Thomas, took him 43. So there's a notch on the Auburn belt versus Alabama, right?

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, of course.

[Damian Mitchell]

Scotty Scheffler, best golfer in the world. The guy that came a runner up to Jackson quivering over the weekend. Took him 71 appearances.

[Conrad Van Order]

Seems like a lot to get his

[Damian Mitchell]

first PGA Tour win. It's not as many Tommy Fleetwood, it took him 164 events.

[Conrad Van Order]

Oh, wow.

[Damian Mitchell]

To get a win. Okay, so. And there's some other names on there as well, but those are just to put it into context how impressive it is. You know what Jackson Coyman did over the weekend. And to top it all off, he is walking home with a big, fat check worth $1,584,000 at 21 years old. 21 years old.

[Conrad Van Order]

Boy, oh, boy.

[Damian Mitchell]

I mean, that's.

[Conrad Van Order]

You know, man.

[Damian Mitchell]

You know, if him and. Well, I guess they wouldn't hang out anymore, but him and Cam Coleman were to get together and hang out, and it's like, oh, look at my money. And then Cam Coleman's like, oh, well, you know. Yeah, look at my bank account, brother.

[Conrad Van Order]

Just drop it on the table.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yeah. So, you know. But, hey, that's good. What? 1.5 million. That's a who. Like what? Star. Star edge, rusher, money, maybe? Something like that. So something like that. Star running back.

[Conrad Van Order]

I'm. I would think that Xavier Atkins is probably making a little bit more. Yeah. Like, if he was on the other side, he'd probably. Number two.

[Damian Mitchell]

Okay. Yeah.

[Conrad Van Order]

Offensively, I mean, you're not paying Cam Coleman anymore. He's off the books. Malcolm Simmons is off the books. He's probably right under Byron Brown. Yeah. See?

[Damian Mitchell]

Okay. Okay.

[Megan Klingenberg]

Yeah.

[Conrad Van Order]

So, like, he would be. He'd be a star. Like, he'd be a star.

[Damian Mitchell]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. You're making good money if you're. You're bringing in 1.5. There's no doubt about it. But, yeah. Just putting that into context. It's the same thing with. And we're not going to spend a lot of time on this, but, you know, LeBron, when he signed his deal with the 76ers, and then everybody started listing all the college athletes that are going to make more money than LeBron James.

[Hayley Carania]

Yeah.

[Damian Mitchell]

Like, you had the Iowa State kid that went to Kentucky, and He's making, like, one and a half or two million dollars more this upcoming season than LeBron James.

[Conrad Van Order]

Enjoy it.

[Damian Mitchell]

To play in college. Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's totally not messed up. And, you know, the money's all out of whack or anything when that's happening, but nonetheless, congratulations to former Auburn Tiger Jackson Coyvin on his fantastic showing this weekend on the golf course. Also, some recruiting news over the weekend, if you missed it. Alabama, they keep racking up that 2027 class. Who cares about it, right? We're. Yeah, we're moving on.

[Conrad Van Order]

Absolutely.

[Damian Mitchell]

We're moving on. The 2028 class, though, if you haven't seen it for Alabama.

[Hayley Carania]

Whoo.

[Conrad Van Order]

Stacked.

[Damian Mitchell]

Chef's Kiss. Absolutely stacked. And I'm sure none of these kids will change their mind in the next 17 months, but nonetheless, they got another commitment yesterday four star linebacker Tycere Young. He committed to Alabama over Miami, Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia and the northeast powerhouse known as Rutgers.

[Conrad Van Order]

Let's go.

[Damian Mitchell]

He's 6, 3, 2, 15, solid, good build out of Middletown, Delaware.

[Conrad Van Order]

Wouldn't be able to spot it on the map.

[Damian Mitchell]

Nope, would not. Had never heard of it until yesterday. You know, heard of Delaware, but not, Not Middletown. Middletown.

[Conrad Van Order]

So that's one where it's located.

[Damian Mitchell]

I was about to say, I would hope that it's where we think it is. Otherwise, how'd you name it? But nonetheless, another nice pickup there. He's ranked the seventh best linebacker and the 2028 class according to Rivals. So a nice pickup there for Alabama as they continue to build out what is what is currently the number one class in 2028.

[Conrad Van Order]

What?

[Damian Mitchell]

Yes, and it comes with the double caveat. Like I said, a lot of time for these kids change their mind. Also, you go and look at, I mean a lot of these schools are like one or two. Alabama's just stacking them up right now.

[Conrad Van Order]

Like, hey, the future is bright.

[Damian Mitchell]

Head start. Yep. You would hope so.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, I mean after you would Hope so. The 2027 classes. The quality class in 2028 is quality and quantity.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yes, yes. Quality and and quantity. But yeah, Alabama doing well in the 2028 recruiting cycle, for what that's worth, on July 27, 2026, just throwing it out there. These guys are entering. These guys haven't even started their junior years of high school yet.

[Conrad Van Order]

Oh, boy.

[Damian Mitchell]

But they're about to. Yeah, but they're about to write, right?

[Conrad Van Order]

A couple of weeks.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yep, just a couple of weeks away there. And then kind of the final note from the weekend. Braves, they take two of three from the Orioles. They win seven to six on Friday and extra innings thanks to Matt Olson, a three run bomb from him in the 10th inning. And. And then you won yesterday, three to two and 11 innings thanks to Austin Riley. He hits a go ahead RBI double there in the top of the 11th inning to give the Braves a series win over Baltimore. They lost on a walk off on Saturday, three to two. So Atlanta now five and a half games up on the Phillies in the NL East. So you feel pretty good about that as it stands right now as you're about to enter the month of August. And just to make the day better for Braves fans, Andrew Jones got a inducted into the hall of Fame alongside Carlos Beltran and Jeff Kent. So yeah, good weekend.

[Conrad Van Order]

Good weekend. If you're a Braves fan and also an Auburn fan, you gotta feel pretty good over this weekend.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yeah. And I don't know if you agree with this, but just based on, you know, me living here for the vast majority of my life, I feel like there's a lot of correlation between those two fan bases.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah.

[Damian Mitchell]

Like, if you're an Auburn fan, you're also a Braves fan and vice versa.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, it's. There are more people like that than there are Braves and Alabama fans.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yes.

[Conrad Van Order]

Which makes it. Which, which understandably makes it tough some years.

[Damian Mitchell]

Well, like last year.

[Conrad Van Order]

Brutal.

[Damian Mitchell]

Brutal. And football didn't go well. Baseball absolutely went off the rails. Like it was. It was. It was a dark time.

[Hayley Carania]

It was.

[Damian Mitchell]

But this year, you got the optimism back, so it's like you're feeling pretty good, probably.

[Conrad Van Order]

And that's. That's kind of the. That's the uniqueness of it. Of. It's almost like you can't escape it where if, like, you. You get to the end of baseball season is right when conference play in the SEC starts to pick up and you try to. You try to remove it and then you. It's been tough for Auburn, for Auburn fans, it's just been tough.

[Damian Mitchell]

But we're back up. Send the word. We're back up.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, I'm with it. I'm with it because it's. It's funny how. And I don't want to pick on him, but he is a great kind of gauge of. Just when we say fan. But Don. Don, for example, like, there's. He believed in Hugh Freeze, whether he wants to admit it or not. Like, he, he was buying into it. And I always left that little bit of wiggle room of man, you know, it's. He's never done it before. And I understand the talent that you're getting, but there still needs to be some sort of reflection of that on the field. Yeah. And Alex Golish does kind of give you a little bit of confidence because he's not. He's not with the B.S. like, he's not going out here trying to tell people. Like, this time last year, Hugh Freeze got up there on the podium at SEC media days and said, like, we should be in the College Football Playoff conversation. And it gave you a little bit of hope, but it kind of felt as though, like you're trying to sell it. Like, how can we believe in Jackson Arnold when he transferred from Oklahoma, and it wasn't pretty when he was in Oklahoma, Ashton Daniels being the backup. It's okay. Like, what. What are we going to hang our hat on? We've got the. These young receiving corps and it's, yeah, they look great, but also we need somebody to throw the ball to them. And then as the season went on, it's, your defense is giving you every opportunity. Like DJ Durkin's doing everything he possibly can defensively. And it's. Hugh Freeze was hired for the offensive side of the ball. And the Achilles heel for the past three years he's been here has been the offense. I don't think you're gonna get that from Alex Goldish. It's, it's, it's the Baylor game last season. I actually went back and watched it the other day. It set such a high mark because of how easy it was for that offense to go out there and just, I mean, they ran up and down the field on Baylor and it's, oh, boy. If they would have just stuck with this game plan, there's no telling how this season could have looked. And then as the season went on, it's, man, okay, this offensive line, like, ooh, they can't keep anybody upright. And even when they kept them upright, it was who. These quarterbacks may actually not be that good. It may be kind of apologize to Peyton Thorne of, man, you actually covered up a lot of wounds. And then now this season under a whole new regime. It's okay. I have faith in DJ Durkin defensively, but there's still kind of a little bit of a question mark offensively of what if it doesn't work out right now? Like, what if it doesn't? I don't see them making that big of a drop off. But also, again, it kind of speaks to why they're ranked number 12 in the SEC Media Poll is. Maybe not right now, but if, as long as it looks better. I think if they could find cohesion and say if, if every game were to look like Vanderbilt last year, granted, I know you lost, but if you're offense and go out there and play the way they did against Vanderbilt, you will feel confident how Auburn looks.

[Damian Mitchell]

Absolutely.

[Conrad Van Order]

It's just, yeah, maybe our defense can take, you know, not take a step back.

[Damian Mitchell]

No, I'm, I'm right there with you. So we'll, we'll have that conversation here in just a little bit. We'll talk more in depth about Alabama and Auburn and how good they could look, how good they could be this year as well as, you know, what if some things don't go right? What could that also look like on the other side of the coin for both of those programs? But before we have that conversation, we have been getting a lot of your texts this morning. We're going to get to those, I promise. 205-834-9450. A lot of you chiming in with your thoughts from the weekend, Jackson Koivan, SEC Media days and much, much more. So we'll get to your text, your phone calls as well next here on Mac and Cube. The United States Soccer Federation presents the U.S. soccer Podcast.

[Megan Klingenberg]

I'm your host, Megan Klingerberg. One thing I promised you is an all access pass that you wouldn't get on any other show. And we found out that whoever comes on scores a goal. Burho Freeman, trustee, U.S. soccer Podcast Magic is real, people. We still got plenty of coverage all throughout this World Cup. Okay, let's get into it.

[Damian Mitchell]

The US Soccer Podcast presented by Henkel. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Tyler redick here from 2311 Racing. Another checkered flag for the books. Time to celebrate with Chumba. Jump [e-mail] let's Chumba.

[Conrad Van Order]

No purchase necessary. BTW group void where prohibited by law. CTNC21+ sponsored by Chumba Casino.

[Damian Mitchell]

Welcome back into Macaron Kubik in the morning. Conrad Van Order and Damian Mitchell here with you. Appreciate you tuning in here on this Monday morning. You can take us along with you wherever you go. The Jocks9405 app available in the App Lab store, Google Play store, all that good stuff. So appreciate you those of you that listen on the app, whether it's out of state or, you know, when you go on vacation, you take us with you, always have us on there on the Jocks app. You can also follow along on YouTube. Just look up Jocks TV and you can watch live like right now you can watch me and Damian live in the studio and we come to you live each and every day from 6 until 2 on YouTube. So go like subscribe all that good stuff. You can also follow us along on Twitter @rundm6 for Damien and onradvoradio for myself if you want to follow us there on social media. So about to get to your text messages and then we'll continue our conversation on Alabama and Auburn in the upcoming season. But a quick update on a story we shared with you at the end of the last hour. So if you're just now joining us, it was announced this morning that North Carolina, they've placed their general manager, Mike Lombardi on paid administrative leave. If you remember, that was a key piece that came over with Bill Belichick. He was with Bill and the NFL had a lot of success together, put him in place there in North Carolina, making a lot of money to help assemble that roster in that team for Bill Belichick. And he was placed on administrative leave. And now, according to an update from on 3, they've been told that that decision was made by the North Carolina administration. That was not a Bill Belichick decision. So take that for what it's worth. But, you know, we'll keep you updated as more information comes out. But, you know, certainly an interesting, an interesting development there in Chapel Hill. I've already seen people having fun on social media like, did he park in Jordan's spot? And you know, you know, something like that.

[Conrad Van Order]

Bill's like, we're not gonna do this, Mike.

[Damian Mitchell]

I told you that's the one thing you can't do, brother. It's the one thing you can't do. Jordan has to have her. She has to park there. She has to park there. But yeah, so we'll see what, what that entails for the Tar Heels and their football program as they enter a pivotal second season under coach Bill Belichick. But to the text line we go. 205-834-9450. If you want to get your thoughts into the text line like this one. Austin, he chimes in, he says, jimmy baseball Jim Jarvis setting the world on fire from Alabama to the Atlanta Braves. He's the best shortstop we've had since Dansby Swanson. Yeah, he had a nice, a nice weekend. He, he was a big part of the win on Friday. Had a big RBI and extra innings that then set up the Matt Olson three run home run. So definitely good to see him getting some run because I know he, he got a chance earlier in the season and the bat kind of needed to catch up a little bit. But now in his, since he's gotten called back up, it seems to be going a lot better for him there in Atlanta. So a lot of, a lot of fun to watch him play. And I know Alabama fans very excited about that. John Mack chimes in. He says, lol. The only reason that Alabama has the number one class, they have seven recruits while everyone else has one or two. Nice job leaving out the facts. Nice job listening, John Mack. I absolutely mentioned that. So thank you for selective listening as always.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, Texas A and M, you can always count that. They'll get them in the go enjoy

[Damian Mitchell]

your five, five stars you have in the 20, 27 class.

[Conrad Van Order]

We were about 20 or 28 when they get.

[Damian Mitchell]

Texas A and M is kicking butt on the recruiting trail and next Year's class and, you know, maybe next time actually listen to what we have to say before texting in. Thank you. This text rolls in, it says, Jackson Coyvins nil was two and a half million at Auburn. I don't believe that.

[Conrad Van Order]

What? Golf.

[Damian Mitchell]

If you can give me a source on it. Sure. But I don't buy that at all. There's no way.

[Conrad Van Order]

So he took a pay cut by going to pro.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yeah, there's no way for golf.

[Conrad Van Order]

For golf.

[Damian Mitchell]

Now, if you told me he was making like 500,000 or something, maybe, but 2.5?

[Conrad Van Order]

Man, I'll be getting my master's degree, my doctor, you wouldn't be able to get me out.

[Damian Mitchell]

You're telling me he's making like, Todd Pettiford money. I feel like that's probably about. About right.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, that's. Wow.

[Damian Mitchell]

Look, maybe you know better than I do, you know, Tim, but. Yeah, I don't.

[Conrad Van Order]

Seems like a lot.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yeah, I. I don't know about that one. Doug chiming in on North Carolina, he says, UNC and Petrino, great choice. He really helped Fisher and Pittman. He also helps bring respectability to the North Carolina program. Yeah, I mean, notoriety, name recognition.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Damian Mitchell]

Someone says it's great what Jackson Koivan did, but how many starts did it take Happy Gilmore to win one? That's a good question. I don't know. I'll call Adam Sandler in the break and see if he has an answer for us.

[Conrad Van Order]

Good point.

[Damian Mitchell]

Let's see. Don Don. Speak of the devil and you'll summon him. He chimes in on the text line. He says, oh, he has a new nickname for me. I forgot about that. How do you. How do you like this? This is my new nickname according to Don Don Upde. Conrad. That is my new nickname.

[Conrad Van Order]

Okay.

[Damian Mitchell]

I've never, never murdered a tree before in my life. But, you know, I. I guess I hopefully have a lot of years left, so who knows what. What's to come. But I feel pretty good that I'm going to avoid that one. But Auburn says how or Don Don says, how do you like my new nickname for you, Updike? Conrad says Auburn is in everything school now. Alabama Golf also has several great players. Auburn has. Has others on the tour as well. And he mentions Jason Duffner, Davis Thompson and Kazire. Okay, okay.

[Conrad Van Order]

One. One cool nickname. We can, we can. We can go back in the lab and work on that. But everything school, it just look back at the last sporting calendar for. For Auburn. Auburn missed the bowl game. They also missed the NCAA tournament in basketball, baseball. I mean, he went to the College World Series, but, well, regionals and. Yeah, yeah, but golf. If that. If golf in the question. If that's what's holding you.

[Damian Mitchell]

Golf's doing well.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, if that's your spring school, but, you know, take some time. Take some time. But again, you know, Alex Goldish, they're working their way back Year two for Stephen Pearl. Yeah, it's. I wouldn't. I wouldn't hang the banner now. I wouldn't hang the banner up now.

[Damian Mitchell]

No, no. But you know, on the. On the come up.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, for sure. For sure.

[Damian Mitchell]

On the come up. I was waiting for this. So, Bug Guy, he chimes in. He says it took way more than three starts for Happy Gilmore to get his first win. Says also, this is Conrad doing the show. I take back what I said earlier. Well, that's mean, because you said something nice about me and Damien doing the show.

[Conrad Van Order]

Correct.

[Damian Mitchell]

He was very complimentary of the job that we're doing and then he found out it was me, and so now he doesn't like it anymore.

[Conrad Van Order]

He had to listen closely. He's like, wait a minute. Who is this?

[Damian Mitchell]

That makes me sad. See, but that just goes to show you, if you actually just listen to what we say and don't take whatever your preconceived notions are about who I am into account, maybe I'm not so bad. It's okay. But, Guy, I'll win you over one day.

[Conrad Van Order]

Can't wait.

[Damian Mitchell]

Maybe so. I'll keep trying one day at a time here. Let's see. Joseph says they don't need to add hydration breaks to college football. They already got too many TV time outs. Just hydrate then.

[Conrad Van Order]

Oh, man.

[Damian Mitchell]

Good point.

[Conrad Van Order]

Injury timeouts? Yeah, there's. There's a lot. There's. Yeah, there. There are a few.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yeah. Nope. No. No question about it. This one says somebody's not happy with the Big Ten. I've. I've had about enough of the big. Big Ten Yankees blabbering their mouths about supremacy when they don't require a power 4 non conference game to be scheduled so Indiana Nebraska can play cupcake schedules. Indiana does not go undefeated with an SEC schedule last year. Oh, hold. I mean, I agree with that, but I don't think. I mean, I. I'm not saying that they wouldn't have still won a national championship, but. No, I mean, they probably. You might have dropped a game. You don't think so?

[Conrad Van Order]

Maybe a. A game?

[Damian Mitchell]

Well, it also depends, right? Did you have like the Texas schedule the last couple of years or did you have like a, like an actually difficult schedule right in the sec?

[American Express Representative]

Right.

[Conrad Van Order]

Legit. Yeah.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yeah.

[Conrad Van Order]

I mean they matched up with, I

[Damian Mitchell]

absolutely think that they, that they were still the best team in college football. But yeah, I mean, yeah, if you want to say that they wouldn't have gone undefeated last year in the sec. I don't, I'm not going to push back on that. It would have been much more difficult than what they had to go through. There's no doubt about it. Drake chimes in, he says, would you guys have had Eric Singleton first team all SEC wide receiver? I had him. I think I put him fifth. So that would have been third team because I had Cam Coleman, Mario Craver, Ryan Coleman Williams and Isaiah Satania above him.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, I think so. You're part of the Cam Coleman problem.

[Damian Mitchell]

You're me and everybody else that voted.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, you're part of this problem. Maybe your one vote would put him at second team. I wouldn't be so, you know, upset.

[Damian Mitchell]

I have a feeling that my one vote in that, that one did not matter.

[Conrad Van Order]

Okay. Huh.

[Damian Mitchell]

I think Eric Singleton has the potential

[Conrad Van Order]

and again to be one of the

[Damian Mitchell]

best receivers in the sec. It's, it's hard too because he was so good at Georgia Tech. You didn't get to see Eric Singleton be Eric Singleton last year at Auburn.

[Conrad Van Order]

And see, that's why I don't put the blame on him. Like his situation is a little bit different. Like he, if I can't, I don't want to make any excuses for him. But the consistency at quarterback does have. We can't do our jobs at receiver without quarterback. And I think in his defense he didn't know who was throwing him the ball essentially every play. But when you gave him the ball, you saw what he was able to do like it was. Which kind of goes to, in a, in a very indirect way. I can understand Cam Coleman too with some of his production. But I also think if you're, if you're, if you looked at his first team all conference, especially in the conference like the sec, like you, you are looked at as the best at your position.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yeah.

[Conrad Van Order]

And granted I think a lot of it too is just expectation of him being a five star being that do part of the freeze five like it's, it was magnified. So. And the thing is too, like we saw glimpses but they weren't consistent. Like it's, you know, I've seen a bunch of one handed catches. I've seen Some of the more miraculous plays, but there were more games where I'm like, why, if you are the number one dude at receiver, you should be almost force fed targets. Like it should be. I should know where you are at all times. And like, he is a weapon. And again, granted, we've got 85 different offensive coordinators calling plays and structure and plays, and I don't put all the blame on him, but things get crossed

[Damian Mitchell]

up a little bit.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, I just still think that it's. It's. As far as production goes, it is hard for me to sit here and say that Cam Coleman is a top wide receiver in the sec.

[Damian Mitchell]

Well, this will make Drake happy because you said it earlier this morning that

[Conrad Van Order]

you thought Eric Singleton is the. Was the better receiver. 100%.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yeah. Over Cam Coleman.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yes. And I'll stand by it. And also say what you just in complete sidebar. Eric Singleton has a catch in every single college football game he's ever played.

[Damian Mitchell]

That's pretty good.

[Conrad Van Order]

At least one. I mean, that's.

[Damian Mitchell]

I mean, you're a factor, right?

[Hayley Carania]

Right.

[Damian Mitchell]

To some degree.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah. But like, every single game he's played in a college uniform, he has a catch in.

[Damian Mitchell]

Well, hopefully he has a lot of those for the Gators this year. That'll make Drake very, very happy. All right, a couple more of your texts before we move on. This one says, I just thought of 30 Alabama fans that I personally know that are also huge Braves fans. I bet that's closer than y' all think. As far as Alabama and Auburn fans who pull for the Braves. Look, I'm not doubting. I wasn't doubting that there's a lot of Alabama fans that are Braves. I just feel like you. There's a lot of.

[Conrad Van Order]

There's more.

[Damian Mitchell]

There's a lot of Auburn fans that are Braves fans, and there's some correlations there in those fandoms that. That's kind of more so what we were. What we were talking about. But you can, you know, you can figure that. That out on your own, perhaps, but. Yeah, no, I mean, I. Look, I know I have a lot of friends that are. That are big Braves fans that are also Alabama fans. I know it goes both ways there. Darren from Tennessee, he says people are sleeping on Bama, maybe the best or one of the best defenses in all of the sec. If the offense comes around, just watch out. I, Yeah, I agree with that. But a lot of questions. Right. And rightfully so, to be had on the offensive side of the ball like Mickey from Hueytown. Can you Tell us about Alabama's running game, please. Well, that's a perfect segue for us because we will dive in to the Alabama running game. But not only the running game. What is, let's say the running game does come together for Alabama. How good could they be this upcoming season? And then on the other side, what if the running game is just as bad as last year in the then how far could Alabama fall on the totem pole? When all is said and done, we'll dive into that. The Crimson Tide next here on Jocks. Welcome back into McElroy and Kublick in the morning. Conrad Van Order and Damian Mitchell here with you until 10 o'. Clock. Appreciate you coming along for the ride with us this Monday. Colby back on Wednesday, Greg back next week. So appreciate them letting us fill in and have some fun here this morning as we continue to talk college football and some of you asking about the Alabama Crimson Tide and what do we think of the running game and, you know, kind of the expectations for them going into this year. A lot of people saying they think Alabama's maybe not getting the credit they deserve and that they could surprise some people this upcoming season. And maybe they will, but time will only tell once the season actually starts. And somebody asked about the running game. We'll talk about that in a minute. But this text came in during the break and this was a point that I wanted to get into and maybe this is a hot take or something that's kind of crazy. And Damian, please let me know if you think I'm being stupid when I say this, but John, he texted and he said, how much better do we think the perception of Alabama would be if Ty Simpson was back this year? The same. Better, Worse. I think right now, having a known commodity at quarterback and as good as we saw Ty B. Before he was banged up, I think the perception would be a little bit higher. With that being said, though, and I'm not saying that this means that Keelin or Austin is going to be better than Ty Simpson last year. I feel this is my personal opinion trying to go back and teleport myself back a year in time before we knew how good Ty Simpson was going to be. If y' all remember, we spent a lot of time on these airwaves having people consistently not impressed with Ty Simpson. Oh, he couldn't beat out Jayla Milro. Oh, he's been there so long and he hasn't gotten an opportunity. How good can he actually be? Like the general sentiment I would say from Alabama fans this time last Year was there was not a lot of belief in that Ty Simpson was going to be anything more than an, excuse me, than an average quarterback in the sec. And we had the conversations of, well, what if he is better? And we saw that, right? He was better than that at one point. You know, you could have made the argument he was maybe the best quarterback in college football up through, what, mid October of last season. Obviously didn't finish the season as good as he started it, but that propelled Alabama to a college Football playoff appearance and a win over Oklahoma. And yada, yada, yada, we know the rest of the story there. For me personally, though, right now, I would say I feel better about Alabama's quarterback situation right now going into this year than I did at the same time last year going into last season. And you, you had two, no unknown commodities right? This year, it's Keelan and Austin. Last year was Ty Simpson. But from everything that I've heard, and you know, not to put these, these are unfair expectations to put anybody, I'm assuming Keelan Russell is going to ultimately win the job. The feeling that I get about this kid from everybody that I've talked to that knows the program inside and out, it is the most like the hype behind Bryce Young when he was going into his second year at Alabama and we got to see him a little bit filling for Mac Jones and you were like, ah, you know, he's still not quite there yet. And then, boom, he came in, he won the Heisman Trophy, you know, arguably the greatest quarterback in program history. That's a lot of pressure to put on Keelan Russell, but that's the way that he is talked about within that program. And you never had that with Ty Simpson. So I'm not saying that whoever ultimately wins the job this year is going to be better than Ty was last year, but trying to go back in time and remember what we thought of Ty before we actually saw him as the starter. I would say I have more confidence in the quarterback situation right now. Like, I'm not worried about that going into the season. I'm worried about the offensive line. I'm worried about the running back room. I have some questions about the linebacker core. I'm not worried about the quarterback situation. Whoever it is, I have the utmost faith. And you can say all the criticisms you want about Kaylin DeBoer and some of them are justified. That is the one area, though, where I feel like he has proven time and time again, whether you look at, in his time at Indiana, his time at Fresno State, his time at Washington and now his time at Alabama. He has always been able to get the most out of whatever quarterback situation he had in front of him and I have no reason to expect anything different than that. So I don't know if that's crazy or not, but that's just where I am at. Personally I feel really good about the quarterback situation going into this year, but I do also understand if you had Ty coming back from a national perspective, people would be probably a little higher on, on Bama.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah, I, I agree with you that if Ty Simpson were to be, if he were in the quarterback room right now, you would feel confident because he showed you in 2025 that amongst all the chaos that was going on with the offense, he was pretty much consistent. Like you kind of knew what you were getting. Yeah, you have a couple, a couple ducks here and there but for the most part he was in control of the offense. I'm with you in your line of thinking of you the pieces, the pieces around the quarterback position. Now outside of the question marks that you have for offensive line, I'm leaning on the side of optimism with Ryan Coleman Williams, what we got from Lotzier Brooks. I think going back to last season he felt like he was the guy that Caitlin Dwar would always talk about in that receiver room of hey, like this young guy, he's getting it. Once he gets it, we know what he can do. He's shown up and I think you know Sedarian Morgan, who again a highly touted freshman coming in, that you know the pieces around the quarterback could be beneficial. I, I think that I understand your line of thinking. It's, it's. Caleb DeBoer has shown me at least enough now that whenever the quarterback is decided it's going to be right. Like it's going to work out in the end. It may take a little bit but I'm with you that you know what we've seen from Austin Mack in a few spurts, he seems solid, got the size he went in against Indiana. I mean couldn't have looked any, any worse than what you had seen already. He was kind of just going out there and just pretty much slinging it because he had no other other reason not to. And Keelan Russell, the juice is there. Like, like you've seen him in a lot of mop up duties but it's man, something about him looks a little different. Like it just feels, it feels a bit different so. And everything that we heard from SEC media days from the coaches, even the players that both of these are going about it in a very professional manner. Nobody's saying that oh it's Austin team. Oh, it's Keelan's team. It's both these guys are going about their business how they need to. So you feel like, okay, whichever one does take that leg up and becomes QB1, 100% confidence, let's roll with it. And you got a capable backup in case it does go wrong. Like, oh man, like it's not going to be that big of a drop off between either one. I think they're more. I'm with you. There are other issues that I am worried about or have question marks about besides the quarterback position because yeah, you. It would, it would call. It would give us ease if we knew who the quarterback was. But I don't think that either one of them are going to be looking over their shoulder thinking like oh man, like I can't go out here and screw up. Like, no, it's go out there, play ball and let the chips fall where they may and you're going to feel confident whichever one it is.

[Damian Mitchell]

No, that's. Yeah, I agree with you completely. See, someone just timed and they said, well, Conrad, you also thought DJ Lagway and John Matier were going to light it up last year. Yeah, I did say I did.

[Conrad Van Order]

I was.

[Damian Mitchell]

At least I'm not the only one that thought that. But yeah, no, I was. I was rocking with material on both of those.

[Conrad Van Order]

Like, okay, like wait and see, but a tear. Yeah, I'll eat that one.

[Damian Mitchell]

The Lagway one was much more surprising to me than the jama tier one.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Damian Mitchell]

But I mean who knows man? Maybe, maybe Baylor will be. You know.

[Conrad Van Order]

Can I go ahead.

[Hayley Carania]

Yeah.

[Conrad Van Order]

Can I go ahead and say I think Auburn Beasta breaks out of Baylor in Atlanta.

[Damian Mitchell]

Like I, I would agree with that.

[Conrad Van Order]

I have a feeling that game is going to get like it did last year where Baylor's not going to be able to stop him. And Alex Go is just unlike Hugh Freeze like he ain't gonna bang his head on the wall. It's. Oh, if we can gas him for 400 yards of Russian.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yeah.

[Conrad Van Order]

With Byron Brown back there. Yeah. Receivers maybe next week but this week we just gonna, we're gonna lay the hammer on.

[Damian Mitchell]

Yeah, I like Auburn Biggin in that one as well. I feel. Yeah, I feel pretty confident about that. Well, I mean their defense is not very good and even if Lagway is great, I still.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yeah.

[Damian Mitchell]

I'll take the totality of, of what Auburn brings to the table. Over, over that. But we'll just have to wait and see. But yeah, right now I feel pretty good about Auburn's chances in that one. All right. As far as the running game though, I know some people having their questions. They want to know, you know, our kind of breakdown, our thoughts on, on where that stands for Alabama. Because while there are reasons for optimism, there are obviously some massive reasons for concern as well. Just based on what you saw last year. But you brought in a whole new offensive line. You brought in a new offensive line coach. You've got EJ Cruel in the backfield now, even though he's a true freshman, a lot of hype around him. So we'll dive into that next. The our thoughts on the Alabama run game. How much better can it possibly be and if it is, what does that mean for Alabama in 2026? That's next year. On Jockey final few minutes of the 8 o' clock hour here on McElroy and Kublick in the morning. Conrad and Damian here with you talking some Alabama football. We'll talk Auburn next hour, get into some of our thoughts on position groups and kind of what our expectations are for the ceiling and the floor for Auburn in 2026. But we've had a lot of text on Alabama this morning and so we've been talking about that and Mikey, like he's the one that texted and asked, can you talk about Alabama's running game, please? And so I kind of laid it out before we went to break, right? You brought in pretty much a whole new offensive line. Michael Carroll, really the only returner that had any sort of significant impact on that front. Last year you brought in a new offensive line coach in Adrian Clem, who's known for a more physical style of play. You brought back a lot of the running back room, right? You've got Daniel Hill, you've got Kevin riley, you've got AK deer. But you also brought in E.J. crowell, the true freshman from here in the state of Alabama that everybody is very, very hyped about. But he's somebody that was banged up in spring camp. He is a true freshman. And it's a lot, I mean it's a lot to put on an 18 year old kid to come in and solve all of your problems. And I think a lot of it too. Look, I think Alabama has a pretty solid stable of running backs.

[Conrad Van Order]

Now.

[Damian Mitchell]

Is anyone going to be the home run hitter? I don't know the area last year and the reason that Jam Miller got so much run was he was really good at all of the other things in terms of pass protection, you know, sneaking out of the backfield and being able to be used as a receiver. And that was an area that a lot of the young guys last year, like akd, I think, is a great example. Right. That's maybe the guy you look at as the biggest home run threat. But when you can't do the little things right, it really limits what you're able to do. Oh, AKD in the backfield. Well, let me guess. They're running the football because we know he can't pass pro to save his life yet, so probably not going to put him in a situation to where, you know, Ty Simpson is going to get, you know, the hammer laid on him because AK can't pick up a block. So if you're able to get those areas improved, Right. I think that can add a little less predictability maybe to the offense for what Alabama and what they're running, depending on who's out there, but so much of it, and this is why it's my biggest concern and I think most people's biggest question mark about the team is just what are you going to get on the offensive line? Because, like, I'm good. Michael Carroll, I'm good. I have a lot of faith in him that he's going to be a very nice piece on the offensive line, but there's so many other questions with it, like racing Delgadi coming over from Cal Poly. That's a big step up to the sec and he's undersized. I know Brailsford was also undersized, but, like, are you getting Parker Brailles for 2.0? If you are, great. If you're not, that could be a problem. You brought in a guy from the SEC and Javen James at right tackle. That's a guy that, from what I understand, they still need to see some more of there before they're ready to stick him there and feel great about, you know, him being a starter and a solid piece on that offensive line. You know, you brought in a lot of guys in the portal. You brought in, you know, a Nick Brooks from Texas and Ethan Fields from Ole Miss, you know, the Strayhorn and Haywood from Michigan. Like, these are all guys that you believe you can develop into nice pieces, but. But they need to be ready to go in five weeks, correct? Right. Like, they need to be ready to hit the ground running, and you can't have that. That learning curve, so to speak. Maybe you can get away with it in week one against East Carolina, but I mean, you go into Kentucky week two, like, you need to be ready to go against SEC competition early on and you know, there's just a lot of question marks. William Sanders, he's been hurt during his time there, but you know, they like what he's brought. Jackson, Lloyd's another one they're really high on and that's great. But like, you need to see it now because you've had an offensive line that's led you down a couple of years in a row now. You know, I don't care how high of a draft pick Caden Proctor was and you know, Brailsford was great, but for whatever reason, they just have never come together as a group the way they've needed to in a few years now. And that's a lot of pressure to put on them. But if you don't have a good offensive line, I'm bullish on how good the running game can be. And it's going to be a lot harder for whoever the starting quarterback is because they're going to be running for their lives and you don't want a situation where, wow, look how great that quarterback is. He's carrying you to victories. And then late in the season, like Ty, they've been so beat up that you know eventually the body's going to wear out on you.

[Conrad Van Order]

Yep, I agree with you 100%. Like, I think when you look at just the run game in general for Alabama, you've got to be able to commit to it. Like, there's got to be, there's going to be situations where you're going to need to close games out by running the football. And to your point too, there's got to be, there's gotta be consistency. There gotta be cohesiveness from the offensive line to the running backs. And again, no shot at Jam Miller. But he was not looked at in the same light as, you know, the Derrick Henry's or the Mark Ingrams and things like that. Like, it's, it's tough when you don't have that home run hitting guy, but you got a guy that can get 2, 3 yards, 4 yards in a cloud of dust. But also Alabama's got to commit to it. Not just the RPOs, but straight up run it, call it. Let's go out here and get what we can get. So there's a lot of caveats and to your point, it's a lot to put on a freshman in E.J. crowell. Maybe he does do what he did at Jackson High School. If he does oh, this the run game is going to be taken care of, but we'll continue the conversation on the other side. Also, take a look at Auburn side of things as well as our number three of Mac and Cube in the morning. Coming at you next, the United States

[Damian Mitchell]

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Love seeing you all in the chat before the show. I tried to jump in just a few minutes before to say hello. I love the chat interaction. Thank you for helping but I do it to get all of the videos and all of the content that you won't find anywhere else. Scrolling with Haley Just search that up and I will be there. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.