Alabama Football: Tide's Passing Attack Most Balanced Since Nick Saban Arrived

When Nick Saban became Alabama's newest head coach in 2007, the Tide had a stud, go-to receiver named D.J. Hall.  Since 2008, in the wake of Hall, 'Bama always had someone special to throw to.

D.J. Hall posted back-to-back 1,000 yards-receiving years and set some single-game records against Tennessee in 2007, with 13 catches for 185 yards.  

A few short years later, a young man named Julio Jones broke that record—also against Tennessee—with 12 catches for 221 yards in a blowout win.  

Julio Jones posted a 1,000-yard season his junior year, after experiencing nagging injuries throughout the Tide's 2009 championship run.  

Julio became a Crimson Tide legend, regardless.  

After Julio forsook his senior year to enter the 2011 NFL draft, he was selected sixth overall by the Atlanta Falcons.  

The Falcons made it clear how important Julio was to them by trading away half their franchise: to the Cleveland Browns, they traded their 27th, 59th and 124th picks in the 2011 draft, and the first- and fourth-round picks in 2012.  He was that big, it seemed.  

The 2011 season is the first year that Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide has not at a lead, go-to receiver that stands around 6'4".  This year, they have Marquis Maze, who is quite generously listed at 5'10", though he seems a lot closer to 5'8".  

Maze is a sure-handed deep-threat, but his physical limitations keep him from being the same danger that Julio Jones and D.J. Hall were.  

This season, A.J. McCarron and the Tide have had to cope without having a skilled, experienced, tall receiver, and they have adjusted perfectly.

Only eight games into the season, McCarron has connected with a whopping nine receivers, eight or more times a piece.  This includes passes to running backs Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy, and both starting tight ends, Michael Williams and Brad Smelley.

Richardson is tied with Darius Hanks for second on the team in receptions (18), most of those dump-off passes just past the line of scrimmage, and Lacy had eight.  

Brad Smelley is fourth on the team with 16, and Michael Williams has 10.  

Marquis Maze leads the pack with 39 receptions, with solid contributions from wide receivers Darius hanks, young guys DeAndrew White and Kenny Bell, and senior Brandon Gibson.

Receiver Kevin Norwood is still showing promise, and currently has four receptions.  He could be expected to finish the year with around 10.  

In 2010, only seven receivers tallied eight or more catches in a total of 13 games, where Julio Jones led the pack, as he did in 2009 and 2008.  

In their three-loss 2010 season, quarterback Greg McElroy threw for nearly 3,000 yards, but only connected with three true wide receivers (Jones, Marquis Maze and Darius Hanks) more than eight times.  

The 2009 championship season saw Greg McElroy connect with eight receivers, eight times or more.  The running back trio of Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson and Roy Upchurch combined for a whopping 60 receptions. 

Upchurch's most notable catch was a game-winning touchdown to edge out Auburn to remain undefeated, keeping their championship hopes alive. 

In 2008, in 14 games, quarterback John Parker Wilson connected with only seven receivers more than eight times each.  He relied heavily on then-true freshman Julio Jones and senior tight end, Nick Walker.

2007 was along the same lines, with Wilson hitting eight receivers more than eight times each.  Most of his passes were spread among four true wide receivers: D.J. Hall, Matt Caddell, Keith Brown and Mike McCoy.  

So far in 2011, A.J. McCarron clearly favors Marquis Maze, but he has spread the ball around more in just eight games than Nick Saban's other quarterbacks did in full seasons.  

At his current rate, A.J. just might complete passes to nine total receivers for more than 15 times each.

The four looking to make at least 15 catches are Michael Williams (10 catches), DeAndrew White (11), Brandon Gibson (eight) and Eddie Lacy (eight).  Lacy may or may not get enough playing time to haul in more passes, as his turf-toe doesn't seem to be going away.  

McCarron is hitting wideouts, running backs and tight ends for big yardage, and other teams now know that everyone but the offensive line is a true danger to catch for the first down.  

Again, Nick Saban, A.J. McCarron and the Crimson Tide didn't begin the season with a scary, prototypical receiver ready to burn defenders, but so far they haven't needed one.  

A.J. McCarron is just spreading the ball around and keeping the other team guessing.  

This is a good thing, because on November 5th, LSU's star turnover-machine cornerback, Tyrann Mathieu, can't be everywhere at once.