Who Are the Alabama Crimson Tide’s Fabulous Freshmen?

Jan 5, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; East running back Derrick Henry (2) reacts after a touchdown run against the West during U.S. Army All-American Bowl high school football game at the Alamodome.   Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

As the season approaches, Alabama Crimson Tide fans speculate on which freshmen will make an impact during the season. While this is true of all teams, the interest is higher for a team that pulls in top-ranked classes each year.

With a team that’s loaded with blue-chip athletes every year, it seems unfathomable that an 18-year-old kid could come in and make an impact, but every year that’s exactly what happens.

In 2008, possibly the greatest freshman class of all time at Alabama, it was Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, Dont’a Hightower and junior college transfer Terrence Cody. In 2009 Trent Richardson, Nico Johnson and JUCO transfer James Carpenter. The 2010 season saw Dee Milliner, CJ Mosley and JUCO transfer DeQuan Menzie all come in and win starting jobs. In 2011 Vinnie Sunseri and JUCO transfer Jesse Williams came in right away and made an impact. Last year it was T.J. Yeldon, Amari Cooper, Geno Smith and JUCO transfer Deion Belue.

So who, if any, will be the freshmen from the class of 2013 to make their presence felt on college football? Nick Saban has mentioned several times in camp that there are freshmen on the team that could very well contribute to the team, but hasn’t named any possibilities or what roles they could have.

On offense the obvious possibilities are running back Derrick Henry, tight end/H-back O.J. Howard, and wide receiver Raheem Falkins.

Derrick Henry is walking into a loaded backfield, but after a strong spring, and before a setback with a leg injury, he seems to be full strength again and impressing onlookers.

Henry’s size is incredible for a running back. At 6-foot-3 and 243 pounds, Derrick is built more like a linebacker than a prototypical tailback. Despite his height, he is surprisingly able to get low like much smaller backs. His surprising speed combined what that size and power makes him a truly unique specimen in the backfield. During camp, Henry’s body type has been compared to a heavier Julio Jones. Think about that for a second.

O.J. Howard has been pegged as the perfect player for Alabama’s H-back role, and he’s been turning heads ever since the spring with his combination of size and speed. Howard needs to improve at blocking – which has been a focal point for him in fall camp – but Howard could develop into a weapon in the red zone unlike anyone in the country. How fast he develops will decide how quick he gets on the field, but it’s a question of when, not if.

Receiver Raheem Falkins has drawn a lot of praise in both the spring and fall camps from players and coaches alike, namely AJ McCarron. Falkins has elite size and great hands to go along with surprising quickness. The only thing standing in Falkins’ way of possibly getting on the field early is just how loaded Alabama is at receiver.

Falkins is battling with the likes of All-American Amari Cooper, Kevin Norwood, Kenny Bell, Chris Black, Christion Jones and fellow blue-chip recruit Robert Foster. Falkins’ biggest advantage over Foster will be the fact that he was able to work out with the team in the spring and during the summer, while Foster got to campus right before fall camp began.

Defensively, lack of experience at certain positions could give freshmen like nose tackle A’Shawn Robinson, linebacker/defensive end Jonathan Allen and Dee Liner getting on the field early.

Damion Square, Jesse Williams and Quinton Dial are gone from the defensive line and A’Shawn Robinson is one of several players trying to fight for playing time in the middle of the Tide defense. That sounds like a tall order, but Robinson doesn’t look like your average freshman.

Offensive guard Anthony Steen said that his father thought Robinson was “a 30-year-old” out there, because of his massive size and intensity. If he’s able to learn the defense, Robinson could see the field early, especially when Alabama uses four down linemen.

Dee Liner calls to mind Marcell Dareus in his size and the way he moves. Like Dareus, he’s expected to be used on the inside and outside of the Alabama defense. Dareus played literally every spot on the Alabama d-line, so if Liner is going to be that type of player it’s going to be primarily about learning each spot.

Jonathan Allen is listed as both a defensive end and linebacker on the Alabama roster, and he has the prototypical Jack linebacker in Alabama’s base 3-4 defense. At 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, Allen has the size to be able to bang with offensive lineman, but also the agility to drop back into coverage as a linebacker when need be. He looks the part already, and like all freshman he’s going to need to learn the defense if he’s going to live up to the Courtney Upshaw comparisons he’s already drawing.

Saturday’s scrimmage and the one, before week one of the season should give some indication of who the coaches believe can make an immediate contribution to the team. That will go a long way toward determining the stars of the 2013 freshman class.