Tag Archives: Leon Brown

Countdown to Spring Football: Offensive Line Breakdown

Posted on March 11, 2013 by | Comments Off

Barrett Jones has moved on from the Crimson Tide to pursue an NFL career, seen here at the NFL Scouting Combine. (AP photo)

Barrett Jones has moved on from the Crimson Tide to pursue an NFL career, seen here at the NFL Scouting Combine. (AP photo)

Daily Bama Blog correspondent Brett Hudson, like he did for the BCS National Championship Game against Notre Dame, will count you down to the beginning of spring practice with another series. Each day, Brett will break down a different position group going into spring practice until the beginning of practice on March 16. Here is the schedule.
Thursday: Quarterbacks (click here to read it)
Friday: Running backs (click here to read it)
Saturday: Wide receivers (click here to read it)
Yesterday: Tight ends/H-Backs (click here to read it)
Today: Offensive Line
Tomorrow: Defensive Line
Wednesday: Linebackers/Pro Day
March 14: Cornerbacks
March 15: Safeties
March 16: Opening day of spring practice

This may be the hot-button issue of spring training: the boys in the trenches that so ritually decide the outcome of games. The drama surrounding this group are the three starters from the prevous two national championship teams that must be replaced before the journey for a three-peat can begin.

It all starts at the anchor, where Barrett Jones leaves a large void in both talent, football IQ and leadership. Alabama seems to favor Ryan Kelly to replace him. Kelly, from West Chester, Ohio, will enter the 2013 season as a redshirt sophomore after playing off the bench in nine games in 2012 and being named to the SEC-All Freshman Team.

At guard, Anthony Steen is sure to keep his spot as a starter, and Alabama has options to replace Warmack. Chad Lindsey and Leon Brown could both step in guards, plus guard Arie Kouandjio. If the name Kouandjio looks familiar, that’s because his younger brother, Cyrus, has quite the lock on his starting tackle position from last season.

Just like the guard position that needs to be filled, Alabama has options to replace D.J. Fluker. Both Brown and Lindsey could fit in as a tackle, as could Brandon Green, Brandon Hill, Alphonse Taylor and incoming freshman Grant Hill.

Breakdown: One senior (Steen), five juniors (Brown, C. Kouandjio, A. Kouandjio, Lindsey, Shepherd), two sophomores (Kelly, Hill), two redshirt freshmen (Taylor, Greene), one freshman (Hill).

Prediction: The obvious starters will hold their spots, being Kouandjio and Steen, and Kelly should establish a firm hold on the center spot. But the others need to buckle up: they’re in a battle that could easily last throughout the spring up until the first week of the regular season.

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Tide signs junior college player out of New York (two videos)

Posted on December 19, 2012 by | Comments Off

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — Alabama has signed junior college offensive lineman Leon Brown, who will enroll in time to begin classes in January.

Brown, who is 6-foot-6 and 308 pounds, will participate in offseason conditioning and spring practice.

Brown is from Riverdale, Md., but played the last two years at ASA College in New York City. The Avengers went 9-0 in the regular season before losing 47-21 to Snow College in the Carrier Dome Bowl. Brown was a second-team All-Northeast Football Conference selection in 2012 at tackle.

Scout.com, ESPNU and 247sports.com rated him as a four-star prospect. He played for Parkdale High School in Riverdale where he as a first-team All-County selection in 2010. Brown chose the Crimson Tide over Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Rutgers and Tennessee.

We have video of Nick Saban commenting about ASA College a week ago while visiting the school. Below that is a video we found of Brown doing an interview with Brooklyn Independent Television a couple of months ago. He talks a little bit about Alabama at about the two-minute mark.

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Commit update: Derrick Henry, ArDarius Stewart, Leon Brown

Posted on November 2, 2012 by | Comments Off

Alabama commitment Derrick Henry was off Friday night, as Yulee (Fla.) High had a bye week as he chases the national career rushing yards record. Henry needs 512 yards to take over as the country’s top all-time rusher.

Yulee (6-3) will complete its regular season Friday at Hamilton County. After that, Yulee will participate in the Class 4A state playoffs in Florida’s eight-classification system.

Henry, who is 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, has 2,855 yards this season in nine games. Different people are giving different figures, but we’ve tried to go with figures published by the Florida Times-Union, which is based in Jacksonville, Fla., and is Yulee’s hometown newspaper.

Rival Kevin Taylor of Glades Day High of Belle Glade, Fla., had 201 yards Monday night in his most recent game. Glades Day also was off this week but will play again Friday night at home against South Fork.

The all-time list
1, Ken Hall, Sugar Land (Texas), 1950-53, 11,232
2, Mike Hart, Onondaga (Nedrow, N.Y.), 2000-03, 11,045
3, Kevin Parks Jr., West Roan (Mt. Ulla, N.C.), 2006-09, 10,895
4, Johnathan Gray, Aledo (Texas), 2008-11, 10,889
5, Derrick Henry, Yulee (Fla.), 2009-12, 10,721
6, Traylon Shead, Cayuga (Texas), 2006-09, 10,298
7, Toney Baker, Ragsdale (Jamestown, N.C.), 2001-04, 10,241
8, Kevin Taylor, Glades Day (Belle Glade, Fla.), 2009-12, 9,874
9, Terrance Wilkes, Wadley (Ala.), 2003-06, 9,668
10, Toby Gerhart, Norco (Calif.), 2002-05, 9,662

The national record book counts only the ninth through 12th grades, so Taylor has more overall yards than Henry because he played varsity as an eighth grader. Taylor has 11,418, including his eighth-grade numbers.

Some other bits and pieces about Tide recruits:

–Offensive tackle Leon Brown has helped Asa Community College of Brooklyn, N.Y., post an 8-0 record. The Avengers have scored at least 61 points in five games. They were to play Saturday at Louisburg (N.C.), but the game was canceled because of the effects of Hurricane Sandy. They’ll complete their regular season at home Nov. 10 against Nassau Community College.

–Fultondale beat Parrish as athlete Ardarius Stewart had 123 rushing yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns. He also completed 4 of 6 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. The previous week, he rushed for five touchdowns and returned a kickoff 80 yards for a sixth. For his career, he has 128 touchdowns. According to AHSAA.com, that would rank third in the state’s history, behind Wilkes (160) and Alexandria’s Mac Campbell (153 in 1993-97).

–Altee Tenpenny had 160 rushing yards on 20 carries with a touchdown as North Little Rock beat Little Rock Central 42-14 on Thursday night. For entertainment value, here is a short video of an incomplete pass in the end zone that was ruled a touchdown for Little Rock Central — and we’re not talking about a pass that was bobbled slightly or caught just barely out of bounds. This officiating call is just plain bad.

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Tide offensive tackle recruit helping JC team enjoy big season

Posted on September 29, 2012 by | Comments Off

If Alabama offensive tackle D.J. Fluker heads to the NFL in the spring, his replacement could be someone who is playing in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the moment.

Asa College’s Leon Brown is 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds and is helping the Avengers to the best season in school history. Asa College is ranked No. 11 in the most recent NJCAA poll, which is the best ever for the program. Arizona Western, Jesse Williams’ alma mater, is second to Iowa Western.

The Avengers have won all four of their games by scores of 61-0, 40-0, 71-0 and 72-21.

Leon Brown wears No. 72 and is from Riverdale, Md. He is on JCGridiron.com’s offensive tackle watch list. Rivals.com rates him only as a three-star prospect. Then again, Alabama’s Chance Warmack was given three stars by Rivals out of high school, and he might be the best guard in the country now.

Asa College doesn’t have its own field, so it plays at Old Boys High School’s stadium. Even so, Asa’s media guide claims to have 32 former players playing at some level of NCAA football now, including two from today’s opponent, Ole Miss. Noseguard Gilbert Pena and defensive back Ivan Nicholas graduated from Asa in 2010. Southern Mississippi offensive lineman Vincent Brown played at Asa, too.

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