Alabama Football: 3 Players Who Must Perform Well in 2012

Alabama brought home another national title in 2011 with a rematch victory over the LSU Tigers in their own backyard.  

As good as last season's squad was, there's really no reason to believe that the 2012 edition of the Crimson Tide won't be an even better, and more balanced, football team.  

Running the table, especially in what is possibly college football's toughest division, is no easy task, even with an excellent roster and solid coaching. The good news is the Tide have both of those ingredients, and with several key players returning, the upcoming season could be one of Alabama's best ever.  

With a solid roster all around, let's look at a three players who absolutely must perform well in 2012 for another championship run.  

Jeremy Shelley

There's little doubt that the Crimson Tide defense will be very good in 2012, and the offense should certainly be able to score enough points to win every game, but problems on special teams last season almost cost Alabama a title-game bid.  

Though a new shiny crystal football helped keep Alabama kickers out of the dog house in the end, poor performances all around in clutch situations left Tide fans speechless at times.  

Jeremy Shelley will be wrapping up his career in Tuscaloosa this season, and with some talent at the kicking position waiting in the wings, he needs a solid year to keep his spot at the top and end his tenure on a high note.  

If Nick Saban's squad wants to run the table, it will need a solid year out of the Tide special teams, and Shelley needs to be the clutch kicker he knows he can be to help make that happen.  

The senior kicker should be able to keep his job and increase his field goal percentage this season, but if the offense does its job, it shouldn't come down to the kicking game. 

2011 Stats: 

21-of-27 field goals (77.8 percent), 52-of-54 extra points, 115 total points

Eddie Lacy

When Nick Saban loses one Heisman-caliber running back, he doesn't worry. Like rounds in a magazine, they just keep on firing one after another.  

With Eddie Lacy missing all of spring practice with a turf toe injury, Saban will be able to survey the lower end of his depth chart in the run game, but there's little doubt that the junior tailback will be the top dog come kickoff for the 2012 season.  

Last season, Lacy racked up almost 700 yards as a backup to a Heisman finalist and rarely missed a beat while filling the gaps during another championship season in Tuscaloosa.  

With a conservative air attack, Alabama has come to rely on the ground attack, and just like in 2009, the run game can dominate the clock and help eek out those nailbiters. If this turns out to be one of the finest Crimson Tide teams in history, it will get there on the back of Eddie Lacy.  

2011 Stats: 

95 attempts, 674 yds, 7 TDs

AJ McCarron

The fact that all three players on this short list are point scorers is a tribute to the Alabama defense.

There's no doubt that the Tide will be tough to score points against, but games aren't allowed to end 0-0 like the old days. There has to be a winner, and for that, a team needs points.  

Alabama returns a junior quarterback in AJ McCarron who already has a fat ring on his finger from last season. He wasn't on any Heisman lists, but most truly great-and-balanced football teams in college football history have flashy quarterbacks.  

It'd be nice to have the back-to-back national championship stat by your name, and a 3,000-yard season to go with it is always nice, but neither of those will be possible without solid, fundamentally sound play and near-perfect decision making.  

Sixteen touchdowns with only five picks shows that McCarron has what it takes to be a great quarterback, but he'll need to be as good or better to bring home the goods in consecutive seasons.  

2011 Stats: 

219-of-328 completions (66.8 percent), 2,634 yds, 16 TD's, 5 interceptions