The picture Barrett Jones tweeted of himself after being drafted by the St. Louis Rams. (Photo from @BarrettAJones)

Here we go:

– The more feedback I receive via Twitter and more I see elsewhere, the more I think I may be the only one on the planet not surprised by Eddie Lacy and his fall into the Green Bay Packers organization at Pick No. 61. Lacy’s medical history is not very good (and even worse, it’s all in his legs) and in today’s NFL, where the runningback-by-committee approach is spreading like wildfire due to daily wear-and-tear, the thought of going from three backs to two is scary. That may have driven a team or two away from Lacy.

That being said, Lacy’s value to the Packers will be great. The Packers will likely only need 10 or so carries a game out of Lacy, and he can surely give that. His stats after a few years may be lower than some of the three backs drafted ahead of him – Giovani Bernard (North Carolina), Le’Veon Bell (Michigan State) and Montee Ball (Wisconsin) – but his situation suits him greatly and he is immediately in contention for a Super Bowl title.

– Maybe the Chiefs have caught on to the whole dynasty thing going on in Tuscaloosa: their selection of Nico Johnson early in the fourth round makes for three Nick Saban era Alabama defensive players to be drafted by the Chiefs, joining defensive backs Javier Arenas and DeQuan Menzie. Their presence in Kansas City should work wonders for Johnson, as long as he can do what he needs to do to work on his weaknesses: first step on the run, quickness in getting back on playaction, etc.

– I have yet to have a negative thought on the Rams picking up Barrett Jones in the fourth round. Ever since the Rams took quarterback Sam Bradford with the first pick a few years ago, they have been trying to find him some pieces to make his job easier on offense. Surely some security up front would be welcomed by Bradford. Where Jones will play is a decision that has yet to be made, but I think we all know he can play anywhere if necessary.

– Maybe it’s just me, but I think the Seahawks nabbing Jesse Williams in the beginning of the 5th round was one of the biggest, if not the, steals of the draft. Williams’ 4.9 40-yard dash and impressive showing in agility drills paired with his ridiculous strength makes him a once-in-a-generation physical specimen. Admittedly, we have not seen as much of his playmaking abilities as we would like, since the nosetackle in Saban’s 3-4 scheme is more of a space-eater than a TFL guy, but we have seen him get those tackles for a loss through a double team. Bold prediction: he’s going to be a top 5 pick-up for the Seahawks in the Russell Wilson era, which makes the Seahawks look like soon-to-be contenders in the NFC.

– Nothing new here, just the San Fransisco adding nice pieces to its rotation it late rounds again, like it did with Quinton Dial. Dial will most likely never be a star in the league: no Pro-Bowls, no All-Decade teams, etc. But he will prove to be a nice breather guy: someone who can take a few snaps at defensive end and continue to apply pressure while the starters rest up. Those guys are almost as important as the starters: on those 11 or more play drives, a glaring weakness in a back-up can turn a momentum-swinging stop into a game-clinching touchdown.

– In the final round of the draft, the Detroit Lions selected another piece for Matthew Stafford to throw to, tight end Michael Williams. Williams told the Detroit media that he wants to bring balance to the tight end position in Detroit, both as a blocker and a dumpoff option. Williams showed the tools to do just that with the Tide and if he is given an opportunity to show that in Detroit, he will certainly earn playing time before long.

I just signed a free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars!!! To God be the glory!!

— Carson Tinker (@carsontink) April 27, 2013

Former Alabama long snapper Carson Tinker has signed a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars and will try to win the starting long snapper job. The Jags had seven-year veteran Jeremy Cain as the long snapper last season. Tinker is currently the only former Alabama player on the Jaguars roster.

Lets do it panthers!!!!!

— Robert Lester (@RobertLester_37) April 27, 2013

Thanks so much Panther world for this opportunity I promise you wnt regret it!!! #NFLBound!!!

— Robert Lester (@RobertLester_37) April 28, 2013

Lester is the second former Alabama player out of Foley, Alabama, to be signed to the NFL in the days of and surrounding the 2013 NFL Draft, joining offensive lineman D.J. Fluker in the NFL after signing with the Carolina Panthers. Lester is currently the only former member of the Alabama Crimson Tide signed by the Panthers.

Lester ended his senior season with four interceptions, second on the team, returned for 41 yards. Lester also recorded 48 tackles, 3.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks.

Philly it is #rolltide #flyinghigh

— Damion Square (@Squareboy92) April 27, 2013

Thank u Philadelphia eagles for this opportunity. Proud to be an Eagle now. Lets get it

— Damion Square (@Squareboy92) April 28, 2013

Defensive lineman Damion Square was the third and final former player to sign with a team out of free agency, striking a deal with the Eagles.

The Eagles have two former Crimson Tide players on the roster: offensive lineman Evan Mathis and linebacker DeMeco Ryans.

Square recorded 33 tackles as a senior, four for a loss, with 3.5 sacks. Square also tallied nine quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.

In the last five years, the Tide has lost all eight games it has played in Baton Rouge. This was Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy’s first trip to Baton Rouge since his decision to leave the Tide for the LSU head coaching job after the 2011 season and changing his mind a day later.

Alabama tallied eight hits in the Sunday loss and only scored three runs compared to LSU’s four runs on six hits.

Jackie Traina pitched two of the three games, throwing 11.2 innings and giving up 11 hits and eight runs, seven earned. Leslie Jury pitched the Saturday game, giving up six hits and two runs, both earned.

Alabama dropped the first game of the series in extra-innings as televised by ESPN2. Click here for more from that game.

Georgie Salem comes down with a fly ball in the Saturday win over Texas A&M (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Through two innings of baseball, it was living up to the billing: the Aggies scored a hit in the top of the first and that was it.

Youthful exuberance took over, as freshman shortstop Mikey White belted a stand-up double to start the bottom of the third and fellow freshman Kyle Overstreet followed suit with a hit to open the bottom of the fourth, propelling the offense to a 3-2 win over the Aggies.

“Mikey’s hit was really big because we hadn’t really had too many good swings to that point, and then he splits the gap and really puts us in a spot to score a run,” Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “(Third baseman) Kenny (Roberts) gets the big two-out hit there to get us on the board, and really from there we started putting better swings on pitches.”

Right fielder Ben Moore added, “You’re always waiting on that first hit, and when you get it, it’s like the floodgates are open. It definitely makes it easier to hit after that first one.”

Even on a day where it looked impossible.

“It was one of those bad days to hit with the wind blowing in,” Gaspard said. “Kenny hits one on the nose, Ben, (center fielder Georgie Salem), there were a lot of guys that hit balls hard and didn’t get anything to show for it.”

The Aggies had similar struggles as Kamplain pitched a career-best start in many accords. Kamplain pitched a career-high 7.1 innings and 112 pitches and a season-best walks and hits per inning of 0.845 against the Aggies.

“Kamplain gave us a really good start,” Gaspard said. “He was locating his fastball and everything was in the bottom of the strike zone. I thought there were three to four innings where he was throwing that slider in a good spot, backdoor. He was shoving that fastball in, so really it was command on both sides of the plate.”

Kamplain added, “I had a little bit of everything going today. I was able, towards, the end of the game, to get that feel for the changeup. This week, we worked on a new pitch, my cutter, and showing the right-handed hitters something in. Everything was going today.”

And the numbers could be more gaudy had he not tried to start the top of the eighth. Kamplain had a three-hit shutout before his high pitch count, crossing over into triple digits, slowed him down in the eighth.

“We liked the match-up with the pinch hitter,” Gaspard said. “In hindsight, we probably should’ve (taken him out) a hitter or two earlier because of his pitch count, but Haack comes in and bails us out and gets a hold in the eighth.”

After winning its fourth game in-a-row, including the first two of this weekend series to secure the series win for the first time in the last four series, the Tide may not need ot be bailed out like that much longer. The team confidence is rising with the level of play and the win margin could come along with it.

“The more you can win those close ballgames like that, the more that confidence starts to elevate,” Gaspard said. “I think some guys are getting started and starting to understand what that is to let that barrell fly a little bit and get it out there.

“We’ve probably squared the ball up more in the last three games. You haven’t seen as many flares or where the ball is beating the bat up as much. I think we’re on the right path right now.”

Williams proved to be a valuable part of the Tide’s run blocking success in addition to catching 24 passes for 183 yards and four touchdowns.

“In today’s game, a lot of people get caught up with tight ends doing more of the receiving part of it,” Williams told Detroit media in a conference call according to DetroitLions.com. “Sometimes they forget about the blocking end of it. I’m looking to try and bring that back.”

The Lions are excited about their new H-Back.

“He has a extremely high football IQ,” said Lions tight ends coach Bobby Johnson. “The kid started four years at Alabama and they could not replace him. If you talk to the coaches at Alabama, they say the hardest guy to replace in their offense is Michael Williams.”

Click here for a full report from DetroitLions.com, including video of Johnson on Williams.

Normally I would put a tweet of the player celebrating his being drafted here, but this is the only thing Williams has tweeted since.

Just had to show that highlight huh?

— Michael Williams (@Mike_Will89) April 26, 2013

Before you ask, no, I have no idea what he’s talking about.

Jesse Williams’ football career has moved him from Australia, to Arizona, to Tuscaloosa, to Seattle. (AP photo)

The Seahawks have one former Alabama player on the roster: offensive lineman James Carpenter, who was the franchise’s first round pick a few years ago.

With #Pick137 the Seattle Seahawks select DT Jesse Williams (@thamonstar) from Alabama (@alabamaftbl). #NFLDraft

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) April 27, 2013

Like that pick…can’t have enough winners! And Williams is an athlete. #hawks

— Malcolm Smith (@MalcSmitty) April 27, 2013

Williams: “(re: #YOLO tattoo) You only live once. It’s been a tough road but I’ll try to be the best person that I can.” #Pick137 #NFLDraft

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) April 27, 2013

AUDIO 5th round choice @thamonstar speaks with the media following his selection in the #NFLDraft snpy.tv/10jVpVL #Pick137

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) April 27, 2013

***

Make it two former Alabama defensive ends that have been taken in the 5th Round, as Quinton Dial is taken with the 24th pick of the round, pick No. 157 overall.

Four of San Fransisco’s seven picks thus far have come from the SEC: Eric Reid of LSU in the first round, Corey Lemonier of Auburn in the third, Marcus Lattimore of South Carolina in the fourth and now Dial.

Dial is currently the only former member of the Crimson Tide on the 49ers roster, assuming he is able to sign a deal.

Dial: “I think I’m a versatile defensive lineman that can play multiple positions.” #draft49

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) April 27, 2013

Nico Johnson is a now a Kansas City Chief. (AP photo)

The USA Today had the following analysis of the Johnson pick.

If there’s any program that produces players virtually ready to step into an NFL lineup, it’s Nick Saban’s. Johnson is already experienced in the 3-4 defense — Alabama has helped popularize the scheme at the Division I level — and could very easily step into a starting job next to Chiefs ILB Derrick Johnson if he can beat out journeymen Zac Diles and Akeem Jordan.

The Chiefs are no stranger to drafting former Alabama players, drafting two defensive backs from the Tide in the last five years that still remain with the team: Javier Arenas and DeQuan Menzie.

The Chiefs have shown interest in Johnson throughout the process, starting with this interview while Johnson was preparing for the Senior Bowl.

***

With pick No. 113 (No. 16 in the 4th round), former Alabama offensive lineman Barrett Jones was picked up by the St. Louis Rams as a piece to help protect quarterback Sam Bradford.

USA Today put forth some analysis of this pickup, as well.

Jones is one of the most decorated linemen in college football history, earning three rings and multiple All-American accolades with the Tide. He’s played all five spots on the O-line — well — but left guard in St. Louis could be his ticket. Jones has played through a myriad of injuries and gutted out Alabama’s 2012 title march with a Lisfranc (foot) injury, which says a lot about his toughness.

“I am very committed. You’re going to get the hardest working guy in the building. I’m prepared.” – Barrett Jones #RamsDraft

— St. Louis Rams (@STLouisRams) April 27, 2013

“I do have to be honest, I have a lot of trophies. But I don’t really celebrate trophies.” – Barrett Jones #RamsDraft

— St. Louis Rams (@STLouisRams) April 27, 2013

Excited to be a Ram! twitter.com/BarrettAJones/…

— Barrett Jones (@BarrettAJones) April 27, 2013

————

It was a normal Wednesday: I woke up that morning just as I normally do, walking around piles of dirty clothes on the floor, getting ready for my classes for that day. Wednesdays that semester were not fun for me. I had five classes stretching from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. But, I just went through it all like always, class to class to class, only focused on class (and maybe the next home baseball game). I knew that there were some pretty bad storms heading our way, but I didn’t think much of it. One of my professors even took time out of his lecture (a rarity for this man, as he values every second of allotted class time as if his life depends on it) and told us that these storms were very serious and that we needed to be extremely careful that night.

***

Fast forwarding to the chaos, I was in my final class of the day, an American history class taught by Chuck Clark, who to this day is one of my favorite professors here at the University. Everyone in the class was watching the weather. Everyone had a laptop or a smart phone out, constantly checking it. Before class started, the professor reminded us that the building we were in, ten Hoor, was built as the campus bomb shelter and that if anything were to happen, we would be safe here. But when the campus-wide email saying that classes were cancelled for the day and the tornado sirens started going off, I decided to just make the quick walk back to my dorm.

I did just that, getting back and seeing my roommate Charley a little out of it. He was telling me, “Dude, this is bad.” Charley lived in north Alabama for a very long time and knew what kind of damage tornadoes could do. But it wasn’t confirmed that this storm was producing tornadoes, so I still wasn’t too worried. I even went with a friend from down the hall to get dinner to-go at the closest dining hall, then returned. While in the dining hall, it started raining. Badly. Being from Gulf Shores, Alabama, a beach town prone to hurricanes, I was used to seeing hard rains in hurricanes. And let me say this, that rain rivaled hurricanes.

I was a little more cautious of the storms after that, but I didn’t begin to really worry until I was in that same friend’s room after dinner. This shows you how worried I was, because everyone else was in the hallway for safety. I was looking out the window while the others were watching TV, and in the distance I could see an Alabama flag on the top of a construction crane. It was whipping around in circles. Fast. That was my sign. I told everyone in the room to get into the hallway and that was where we stayed for a while.

There were some of our dormmates that were brave enough to look out the door every now and then. They would report back, “It’s raining hard out there,” or, “It’s really windy,” for a while. They did this several times, almost like clock work. I grew to be mundane, almost boring.

Then it turned on a dime. “Oh my God! That thing is huge! Holy s!!!” That ‘thing’ was the tornado that would soon destroy so much of Tuscaloosa.

***

The aftermath was just as bad as every photo and flyover video you have ever seen, and maybe worse. The week that followed was rough, at the very least. I saw my friends go back to their respective hometowns in such a rushed and unceremonious manner. I was seeing grown men and women with full families eating at the on-campus dining halls, nothing more than a glorified cafeteria, because that was the only place they could get a decent meal.

I left Tuscaloosa for the weekend in search of power, running water and stability in general for a day or two and found that refuge in a tiny town in Georgia. When I returned, the scene was very much the same one that I left. Walking down the streets of Tuscaloosa was made difficult both by debris and personal items – Alabama Crimson Tide momentos, family pictures, sporting equipment – in the way of every footpath.

My dad took the time off work to come to Tuscaloosa and help me move out of my freshman dorm room to my first summer internship for The Decatur Daily just a few hours north of Tuscaloosa. He came from Gulf Shores to Tuscaloosa the way he alwys has – I-65 North to Montgomery and then take Highway 82 into Tuscaloosa until it turns into McFarland Boulevard, the center of Tuscaloosa.

He had no idea what he was getting into.

He made an observation that most of us made: you could see so much more of Tuscaloosa from McFarland than before, such as the DCH Hospital and Bryant-Denny Stadium. Why? “There used to be houses and stuff there,” Dad said.

And he’s right. Krispy Kreme, Full Moon BBQ, a car repair shop, Hokkaido (a popular Japanese grill), and countless houses: all gone. He said it looked as if a 5- or more-mile wide plow just drove through and took with it this large section of Tuscaloosa. And he’s right again.

He was the only thing that was right. The world had been shattered for us.

***

“That’s the worst thing I’ve ever had to do,” I told my mom as I drove away from the scene. The scene is 31 Beverly Street in Tuscaloosa, a small house in a decent neighborhood about a block away from the DCH Hospital and another three or four from the heart of UA’s campus.

On that day, April 27th, 2012, I went to 31 Beverly Street for The Decatur Daily to cover a ceremony, initiated and held nearly entirely by three sets of parents that lost their children at 31 Beverly Street one year ago on that day, all three college students in Tuscaloosa. And all three from north Alabama.

Ardmore High School head football coach Shannon Brown was there with his wife to remember their daughter, Loryn. Loryn was living with Danielle Downs and Will Stevens, both from nearby Priceville, Ala.

I’m dreading this day from weeks away. I don’t want to go through the vivid memories of this day: the children’s rooms being reduced to shambles, those that were now homeless aimlessly wandering around looking for nothing, the tears hitting the ground as quickly as the rain did. And I didn’t lose anyone in the tornado, especially my own child.

I drive up to the house and I know it’s the right place immediately: houndstooth ribbons are everywhere around a house, as are nicely-dressed people and a set-up for a microphone.

I park nearby the house, and step up to the ceremony. A nice lady sees me coming up and asks who I am, and when she finds I’m with the newspaper, she hugs me and invites me to a little breakfast spread. I look over and see minis from Chic-Fil-A and some mini-muffins, so I decide to be nice and take my portion.

Those 30 seconds turned into a minute, then two, then five. I was standing motionless at the spread. And not eating: I couldn’t eat anymore, as I noticed something. This wasn’t a table. It had a knob.

“That’s the door to the old house,” a family member of Loryn’s walks up and tells me. She explains one of the mothers of the three children couldn’t get herself to throw it away and decided to use it at the ceremony.

Now I live about a mile down the street from that house, in an apartment complex that is close to Baumhower’s Wings restaurant and the Alabama softball field. Every time I go home, from campus, from work, whatever, I look down that street as I pass by and reflect. Remember. And never forget.

***

Two years later, things still don’t feel right. The shopping complex that used to be filled with a Hobby Lobby and Chuck-E-Cheese’s is just now being replaced, by what looks to be an impressive apartment complex for students. The replacement Full Moon BBQ is across McFarland from the original location

I still wear my t-shirt. My dad and I stopped at the local Chic-Fil-A for some food before we left Tuscaloosa for my summer internship, and there were some young ladies selling T-Town Never Down t-shirts. The best $15 I’ve ever spent.

My Facebook page and high school diploma may say Gulf Shores, Ala., but Tuscaloosa is my home. The people of the city and the city itself have proven that the great town that was here before the storm is coming back better after it.

T-Town, Never Down.

Freshman closer Ray Castillo getting his 7th save of the year in the series-opener against Texas A&M (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

New week, new Moore. Moore blasted a two-run home run in the first inning of the Friday night series-opener against Texas A&M and kickstarted Alabama to a 3-2 win over the Aggies.

“It’s back-to-back games where he’s found the barrel a little bit,” Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “He squared up a couple of balls at Southern Miss and really found his swing. Obviously when you run one off the scoreboard in the first it’s going to get your weekend off to a good start. As I said before, when he hits, he’s the guy in the middle that I think all of us are counting on.

“That’s the difference. When you play good defense, you’re always going to be in games.”

Moore had to clear his mind to get out of his slump, as he put, take some deep breaths and do not make so much of every at-bat.

“I’ve just been pressing all year,” Moore said. “When you’re struggling, you start thinking, and when you’re not struggling you’re just swinging.

“No more thinkin’.”

Moore’s comeback was aided a little by Texas A&M starting pitcher Daniel Mengden, whose stellar play throughout the 2013 season was absent in the first two innings.

“He was up in the zone early, and you could tell he was going to settle down eventually,” Gaspard said. “And when he settled, the velocity was good, his secondary pitch got good. That’s always the plan on Friday – to attack early, to try to hit the early mistakes and tonight we were able to do it.

Moore’s homer in the first was paired with a shot from catcher Brett Booth in the bottom of the second to make for all three of the Tide’s runs in the win over the Aggies. Starting pitcher Charley Sullivan held up his end of the low-scoring affair, holding Texas A&M to six hits and two earned runs in seven innings of work.

“I thought Charley Sullivan went out and did exactly what we needed: gave us seven solid innings,” Gaspard said. “He’s been in a little bit of a tough spot the last few weeks having to face three different first-rounders.”

Sullivan’s job on the mound was made much easier with the early run support.

“Getting those early runs, I try not to change my mindset a whole lot,” Sullivan said. “I try to pitch like the score is 0-0, but I like going in there knowing that I can throw that first pitch for a strike and let our defense play. It makes it easier to pitch earlier in counts.”

Re: Tread on the tires. Eddie Lacy has 316 fewer career carries than Le’Veon Bell (671) and 68 fewer than Giovani Bernard (423).

— Alex Scarborough (@AlexS_ESPN) April 26, 2013

It just occurred to me that Manti Te’o has been drafted before Eddie Lacy.So much for the BCS title game.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 26, 2013

My goodness, somebody is going to make off like a bandit with Eddie Lacy.

— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) April 26, 2013

Lacy, who was in New York City for the first round but left the city after going undrafted in the first round, was taken with the 61st pick overall, the 29th of the second round, by the Green Bay Packers. Lacy will join a running back corps that includes Cedric Benson and Ryan Grant.

Lacy finished last season with 1,360 yards and 17 touchdowns, 321 of those yards and three of the touchdowns coming in the final two games of the year against Georgia and Notre Dame.