Alabama Gets Some New Men, Just For Kicks: The 2010 Replacement Kickers

Larry Burton (Panama City Beach, Fl) Over the last months, most all of the 2010 replacements have been dissected and debated, but one group has not. The specialists of the kicking and punt teams, Old Boomer, Johnny Iron Leg, or whatever term you like for the kickers and punters.

Alabama is losing all its starters in those positions. Leigh Tiffin was almost taken for granted as "Mr. Automatic," so who's there to step up and swing the long leg?

The top of the heap right now may be Cade Foster, from the same Texas high school that gave us Greg McElroy. Not only is the 6'1", 215 pound Texan a great kicker, but he's also a tough hitting linebacker. I don't look for Nick Saban to be letting him do much of that linebacker job though.

One thing Cade has in his favor for playing as a freshmen is his kickoff ability. With the Tide having difficulty in the last two years with kickoff return coverage, Foster's ability to kick them into the end zone can only help not just the Tide, but him see the field early.

But almost unexpectedly, Alabama became the recipient of a gift horse when Christian Kauffman decided to walk onto Alabama's team because he had a full academic scholarship.

Kaufman will be on campus by summer and could give Foster a legitimate fight for the starting job. He was almost a very highly rated kicker from Memphis, Tennessee and carries a 4.7 GPA. Many think this could be a very tight battle.

Kaufman may also cause problems for incoming scholarship punting specialist Jay Williams as Kaufman can also punt very well with good hang times. He may be in the mix for that fight as well.

Jeremy Shelley also returns this year as a field goal kicker after a less than sizzling year last year, but he does have potential. One thing to remember, however, is that Alabama's departed "Mr. Automatic," Leigh Tiffin, also had a wobbly first year at Alabama before nailing down a super solid career.

At punting, we have two new ones who will fight it out with the kicker who can also punt. Jay Williams, an Alabama stand out coming in on scholarship, won't be here until the fall, so look for Hargrave Military Academy transfer, Sam Buckingham, to get the spring A day chores dropped on him.

Having three men who can handle the job is a nice position for a coach to be in and Coach Saban has three men to cover the punting and kicking vacancies left by graduating seniors. One would think he's in reloading mode, not rebuilding mode.