Yes I am. The best pure 3-4 NT I have seen the colleges produce in a long long time. I think that when healthy he is a better NT as a college player than Wilfork is as a pro. I think he has his weight down to about 375-380 range. I know Saban got after him a bit already, so I am hoping he can lose another 10 to 15 pounds of flab by the start of the season.
Another Alabama player to keep an eye on is ILB MCClain (6'4" and 255lbs). He does it all. Sacks, TFL and picked three balls last season. A perfect fit for the Pats. We'll be drafting #32 this year, so if we can sneak him by Pittsburgh, The sophomore ILB that plays on the side of McClain, Hightower (6'4" and 240 lbs.) has a chance to develop into a special player himself.
Another LB I will be paying attention to is Diperseria (spelling) of Rutgers. Depending how he runs, he could excel in our system as well.
I have my eye on OT Ulatoski of Texas. He is 6'8" and a very powerful flat back blocker. Needs to work on the feet a bit. However not hard to imagine Vollmer at LOT and him at ROT.
And yet anothe Alabama kid to watch is OG Johnson (6'6" about 315 lbs.). He is a decent run blocker and pass protector.
An offensive line of Vollmer (6'8") and Ulatoski (6'8") at the tackles and Johnson (6'6") and Mankins (6'3") at OG is quite an impressive start to having a huge wall of protection in front of Brady.
