fatback said:
Found out today John Parker Wilson will be starting instead of Brodie Croyle.
California was by biggest play------Now it's TT
:mj14: :weed: :weed: :mj14:
From Tuesday's Mobile Register:
Coming soon: Wilson at QB
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
By THOMAS MURPHY
Sports Reporter
TUSCALOOSA -- The University of Alabama will undergo major overhauls in starting personnel at linebacker and defensive back in 2006, but John Parker Wilson's expected ascension to the starting quarterback job will likely get more headlines than those other positions.
When you're the starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide, the attention is automatic -- and ever-present.
Wilson already got a sniff of that this season, when his arrest on a charge of driving under the influence drew statewide attention. The case was adjudicated out of court as Wilson was a minor, but it taught the 20-year-old from Hoover a lesson.
"I think I've grown up a lot," Wilson said. "I'm a lot different than I was. I've made some bad decisions, but I think I've turned it around."
Alabama coach Mike Shula, himself a Tide quarterback in the Tuscaloosa fish bowl two decades ago, has explained to Wilson the microscope quarterbacks are under. Shula also made certain Wilson knew that quarterbacks at Alabama are held to an even higher standard of conduct.
"The way you're treated around here, you've got to know that," Wilson said. "We try to handle it well. You have to show maturity."
Wilson did not arrive on campus with the same degree of hype that accompanied his immediate predecessors -- Brodie Croyle, Tyler Watts and Andrew Zow -- even with a state championship in Alabama's highest classification. Perhaps that was due to a grayshirt season in 2004 and his status as a high-level baseball prospect.
No matter the expectations, the freshman has shown in limited duty this season that he won't be overwhelmed by facing some of the nation's best defenses.
Wilson posted a 198.47 passer rating on 7-of-11 passing for 98 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions while playing in five games.
After Croyle was battered by 11 sacks in the season finale at Auburn, Wilson came in, moved effectively around the pocket, completed a long-distance heave to DJ Hall and finished the drive with the first rushing touchdown of his career.
Wilson threw touchdown strikes to Keith Brown at South Carolina and Glen Coffee against Utah State and basically comported himself with the assurance of a veteran.
"We feel good going into (the Cotton Bowl against Texas Tech) that he could come in and help us win the football game," Shula said. "When you think about how far he's come in the last year ... he's gotten a lot of good reps.
"What he has is a good feel in the pocket, moving around. He's done it a little in the games we've played. As we know, that will be very useful."
Wilson will offer a significant contrast to Croyle. The 6-foot-2, 207-pounder doesn't have the strong arm Croyle possesses, nor the total grasp of the Shula offensive system, but he does have an above-average arm, better mobility and a rugged physical presence.
His knowledge of the Alabama offense, helped by the grayshirt season, his intensive work as the only healthy scholarship quarterback last spring and his role as the top backup this year, is on the rise.
"The obvious things to me are his ability to read defenses, reading fronts, watching the safeties move," Alabama offensive coordinator David Rader said. "He knows our protections better."
Croyle has also helped Wilson's development. The senior has helped tutor his understudy not only in football, but the college life.
"He's kind of taken me under his wing," Wilson said. "Not only about football and going through practice and how to handle the team, but also off the field.
"He's helped me out a lot. He's done so much for me on the field and off the field."
Wilson anticipates exerting more of a leadership role in the coming months, but as of now he's still in the understudy mode.
"We've got one more game and all these seniors are still here and they're still leading," Wilson said. "After the season, when we start our winter workouts, that's the time I really need to step up."
Wilson could have been challenged in the preseason by standout prep quarterback Tim Tebow, who ended up choosing Florida over Alabama. But Wilson knows he'll have to prove himself each year.
"You've got to recruit the best players to build a powerhouse," he said.
Wilson's offseason plans speak of a devotion to football.
"Definitely, I'll be here the whole summer," he said. "All through spring and summer, we'll be out here as much as we can getting our timing down with the receivers for next year."
