Alabama Football: Let Ed Put the QBs To Bed, Ed Stinson That Is

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Marcell Dareus may have had a hard time registering quarterback sacks this past season and the other ends were not that great with sacks either and all were inconsistent with the running game.

With Dareus now gone, that leaves a lot a question marks as to who will be the starters, but the depth at the position is phenomenal. The defensive end position has 12 solid scholarship players who were heavily recruited and could have gone to almost any school.

This is the year when Saban’s first killer recruiting class is getting more playing time and the depth behind them ensures solid back ups.

Last season Stinson was just supposed to do his part in learning the defense and getting ready for the future, but he had so much raw talent that coaches kept sneaking him into playing time to help with his learning curve.

As the season went on, Stinson became more of a threat to offenses, starting picking up the nuances of the defense and he added some much needed weight and muscle mass.

Because the depth at linebacker is even deeper than at defensive end, that allowed coaches to move Stinson back to defense end, a position he will now end his career with.

Stinson was part of the killer 2008 class that Saban brought in. He spent 2009 as a redshirt defensive end and last year doing fill in work at jack linebacker and a little at defensive end.

He is 6’4’’ and has now bulked to around 280 pounds. That is way up from his weight of around 256 when last season started. That added bulk did not reduce his speed and makes him a more powerful run stopper than last year.

The Miami, Florida native has explosiveness off the line and now the added weight and muscle to shrug blockers on the way to the quarterback.

Yes, Ed will put a few quarterbacks to bed this season and all without reading them a bed time story first.

The staff is now looking at him more as a defensive end than a linebacker and he will compete with Damion Square, a junior and Darrington Sentimore, a sophomore for playing time.

Early indications are that Quinton Dial may anchor the other end, but that’s not for certain either at this point.

Then there are the youngsters who are looking to make a name for themselves that may not emerge until next year. These are players like Anthony Orr, who took a delayed entry to help the team make the 85 man roster his freshman year and Jeoffrey Pagan who was a late addition to this year's roster.

And you shouldn't forget about D.J. Pettway and LaMichael Fanning who are stars of the future as well.

Kirby Smart is all smiles when thinking how much more effective the pass rush could be this year.