Dein erstes Forum » changed.Now, when Saban wants to cover the field with

SAN DIEGO -- Colin Kaepernick began the game by taking a knee during the national anthem. The veteran quarterback ended it with reason to hope hell have more games with the San Francisco 49ers.Kaepernick passed for 103 yards after kneeling in protest alongside teammate Eric Reid during the national anthem in the Niners 31-21 preseason victory over the San Diego Chargers on Thursday night.Kaepernick and Reid, a starting safety who wasnt playing, declined to stand for the anthem before a preseason game dedicated to military appreciation by the Chargers. Kaepernick has decided not to stand this season to draw attention to American racial injustice, minority oppression and a litany of additional concerns ranging from police brutality to military veterans rights.The message is that we have a lot of issues in this country that we need to deal with, Kaepernick said. We have a lot of people that are oppressed. We have a lot of people that arent treated equally, that arent given equal opportunities.Kaepernick then played a solid first half in his competition for the 49ers starting job, going 11 for 18. The veteran didnt have an interception or a touchdown pass, missing on two potential scoring throws in the waning seconds of the half. He also rushed four times for 38 yards.Less than four years after leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl, Kaepernick is in competition for the starting job with Blaine Gabbert, who didnt play in San Diego after getting extensive playing time in the first three preseason games for the Niners (2-2).Kaepernick hopes to be the 49ers starter, but he is likely also in competition for a roster spot after a disappointing 2015 season during which he lost his starting job and had extensive injury problems. Although Kaepernick realizes he still could be released, hes hopeful of a future with the Niners.This is a phenomenal organization, and Ive had great conversations here, Kaepernick said. Ive had great memories here, and this team has given me the opportunity to become the man I am today. Im grateful for that. Im thankful for that, and San Francisco has become my home.Niners coach Chip Kelly wouldnt say whether Kaepernicks play had improved his chances to win the starting job -- or to avoid being cut.Well make those decisions when we watch the film, Kelly said. That goes for everybody on the football team, not just Colin.Kaepernick didnt play in the current preseason until last week against Green Bay, when his refusal to stand for the anthem first gained attention.Kaepernick got only scattered boos before the game and during the anthem, but Chargers fans serenaded him while he led a 16-play, 85-yard scoring drive to open the game capped by DuJuan Harris 1-yard TD run.Christian Ponder passed for 101 yards and rushed for the go-ahead touchdown for San Francisco with 3:08 to play, improving his own chances for a prominent job in the Niners fluid quarterback picture.Marcus Rush got his fifth and sixth sacks of the preseason in the second half of a standout performance by the San Francisco linebacker. After Rush forced a fumble that led to Ponders TD run, he intercepted a deflected pass.Kelvin Taylor sealed the Niners win with a 10-yard TD run with 1:55 left.Kenneth Farrow rushed for 63 yards and a third-quarter touchdown for the Chargers (1-3), who rested their stars. Isaiah Burse caught a 17-yard TD pass from Mike Bercovici in the third quarter during strong performances by both roster hopefuls.Chargers fullback Chris Swain, a rookie from Navy, also scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter.Farrow excelled in his competition for the third-string running back job, breaking off a 44-yard run on a third-quarter drive. He is hoping to secure a role after Branden Oliver was lost for the season with an Achilles tendon injury.I definitely had to step up tonight, being that there is a hole in the room, Farrow said. I feel like I did a good job, and well see what happens.ROOKIE WATCH49ers: QB Jeff Driskel threw interceptions on his first two passes of the third quarter, certainly damaging his hopes of winning a job from Ponder or Kaepernick.Chargers: DE Joey Bosa was on the sideline, but didnt play. The first-round pick staged a 31-day holdout before signing Monday. ... Bercovici passed for 75 yards with two interceptions.POSITION BATTLES49ers: CB Will Redmond appeared to have an inconsistent game in his attempt to earn a larger role. The rookie was playing in just his second preseason game after a knee ligament injury.Chargers: Burse looked sharp in his attempt to earn a job, catching five passes for 63 yards and returning kicks.INJURY UPDATE49ers: No apparent injuries.Chargers: LB Nick Dzubnar left the field slowly in the third quarter with medical personnel accompanying him. He returned to the game later.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFLDavid Price Red Sox Jersey . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Brandon Workman Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. https://www.cheapredsox.com/1541z-rich-gedman-jersey-red-sox.html . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. Luis Tiant Jersey . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Bill Lee Red Sox Jersey . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing.Its November 2012. Alabama is undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country when Johnny Manziel storms into Tuscaloosa. Its early in the first quarter, and Texas A&Ms sprightly freshman quarterback bounces around in a collapsing pocket. Hes toying with a lumbering pass rush, it seems, as he veers left into the open field. Six seconds is too long to cover anyone, and Manziel finds a wide open Ryan Swope in the end zone to go ahead 14-0, stunning the crowd.A year later, the Kick Six is right around the corner. But instead of one second left on the clock, go back to when there was less than a minute remaining and Alabama led Auburn 28-21. Auburn has the ball around midfield, and Nick Marshall keeps on the zone-read. Xzavier Dickson flinches on the run fake, then gives chase. The 265-pound linebacker dives and comes away with nothing but grass. Marshall pulls up right as he sees the secondary abandon Sammie Cotes and throws for the game-tying score.Five weeks pass, and its on to the Sugar Bowl, where Oklahoma freshman Trevor Knight has the cleanest pocket youll ever see on his first of three touchdown passes. In the fourth quarter, he rolls out to his right, beginning a comical race. Brandon Ivory, Alabamas 300-pound nose guard, is huffing and puffing and giving it all hes got. Then theres Knight, who doesnt seem bothered at all. He just shuffles his feet, buying time. Again, six seconds is enough. The secondary breaks, and Knight connects with Sterling Shepherd in the end zone for the final nail in the Tides coffin.Three games over the span of two seasons. Three newfangled spread offenses. Three mobile quarterbacks.Three losses for Alabama that forever altered Nick Sabans outlook on defense.If Saban had plans to add to his two championships at Alabama, he knew then that he had to change. His defense couldnt continue to be a step slow.According to Tyler Siskey, who was Sabans director of player personnel at the time, those discussions were picking up steam around the recruiting office. The old ground-and-pound SEC was giving way to a preponderance of spread offenses, and it was understood that the big, bad Bama defense of old had to reinvent itself. There were phenomenal players on the roster who had become outdated, Siskey said, useful only against the likes of LSU or Arkansas.In the background, they were already working on something different.By signing day 2014 - a month after the loss to Oklahoma - many of the pieces were in place. Ryan Anderson, an athletic outside linebacker from South Alabama, had just finished a redshirt freshman season in which he played primarily on special teams. Tim Williams, a lanky defensive end from Louisiana, was showing some promise as a true freshman as a pure speed-rusher. Meanwhile, a four-star prospect named Jonathan Allen was getting ready to sign his letter of intent. Together, theyd form the nucleus of the lightning-quick pass-rush we know today.Against Tennessee last weekend, the pair of seniors were part of a defense that sacked quarterback Joshua Dobbs on three consecutive third downs at the start of ?the game. Williams got it started by dropping Dobbs for a 17-yard loss, followed by Allens stop which came in at minus-10 yards. Then, on a third-and-19 later in the first quarter, it was Anderson who applied the pressure and hurried Dobbs into an errant screen pass that resulted in a pick-six by safety Ronnie Harrison.Were faster at every position, Saban said.No, it wasnt by mistake.Its been a couple of years in the making, he said.Its fun to call Alabama an assembly line of talent. Its also a useful tool to describe the way Saban wants to recruit.Everyone looks the same because thats exactly how its set up to be. Theres an ideal size and weight for every position --?parameters, as Siskey calls them.Take middle linebacker, for instance. C.J. Mosley is the exception to the rule, of course, but if you look at his predecessor, Nico Johnson, and his successor, Reggie Ragland, they look almost identical. They all basically look like Sabans first great middle linebacker at Alabama, Rolando McClain: roughly 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds.Its pretty black and white, cut and dry, Siskey said. Thats what hes looking for, and its our job to go find them.ddddddddddddThe same could have been said for defensive linemen. From Marcell Dareus to Quinton Dial to Jesse Williams, they were all space-eaters with varying degrees of quickness. Like the hulking nose guard Terrence Cody, they were all great against the run.Then the game changed.When it became clear that hurry-up offenses werent going anywhere, Saban stopped asking, Is this what we want football to be? and started getting with the program. He adapted his parameters in recruiting, according to Siskey, and the two positions that were most affected were linebacker and defensive line.Speed was put at a premium. In 2014, Alabama signed blue-chip defensive end Jonathan Allen, who began his high school career at receiver. The next year, slightly undersized outside linebackers Rashaan Evans and Christian Miller signed on.During the offseason, freshman linebacker Mack Wilson tweeted a picture of the max velocity of the running backs, tight ends, linebackers and quarterbacks on the team. Half the top 10 were linebackers, including Wilson at No. 6. The fastest of the group: Evans, who clocked in at 20.52 miles per hour.But the best example of Alabamas newfound speed on defense might be Tim Williams. For the longest time, it didnt appear that Williams would ever find his niche. He simply wasnt big enough. He was supposed to be a Jack linebacker, yet at roughly 230 pounds, he was a far cry from the 260-pound prototype of Courtney Upshaw, who dominated at the position during Alabamas championship season in 2011-12.It took two years for Saban to carve out a suitable role for Williams on defense, but when he did, the effect was immediate. Williams job was simple: rush the passer. He didnt start a single game and rarely saw the field unless it was third down. Still, he managed 11.5 sacks as a junior and entered this season as a potential top-five pick in next years NFL draft.Through seven games, he leads the team in quarterback hurries and is tied with Ryan Anderson for second, with 4.5 sacks.Hes one of the fastest guys in the NCAA right now, especially his first step, Evans said. Hes always creating a mismatch any time hes going against any tackle.South Carolina coach Will Muschamp, who cut his teeth under Saban as an assistant at LSU, said he isnt sure whether his old boss would have even bothered recruiting someone like Williams 10 years ago.But hes adapted and changed, he said. Hes evolved.Its too late to say what this Alabama defense would do to Johnny Manziel or Nick Marshall.But theres always Trevor Knight.On Saturday, Alabamas defensive evolution will come full circle when it welcomes to Tuscaloosa No. 8 Texas A&M and its transfer quarterback, Knight. The team Knight helped beat while at Oklahoma is simply not the same team anymore. Sure, Alabamas defense is still plenty big and strong. But now its athletic too.Most of the defensive linemen actually shed weight during the offseason. Ask around, and theyll tell you they feel theyre even faster than they were last season, when they led the country in sacks. The numbers back that up: With 27 sacks through seven games, Alabama is slightly ahead of last seasons averages.Go back to the 2013 season and the game against Knights Sooners, and Alabama had 22 sacks all season. That feels like forever ago. Now, Siskey said, were seeing the full effect of Sabans decision to shift priorities in recruiting.One of the most ingenious things Saban has done, and I think the college football world has seen it come to fruition this year, as these players are playing now, is how hes adapted his parameters, he said. Hes adapted as the game has changed.Now, when Saban wants to cover the field with speed, he has options. He can call for the nickel rabbits package and shift Tim Williams and Ryan Anderson from outside linebacker to defensive end to go with an additional five defensive backs and two linebackers.When that happens, theres nowhere to run.From big and bulky to speedy and sleek, Alabamas no longer a step slow. If anything, Saban has made his defense a step ahead of the game. ' ' '