Paul Finebaum on the expectations at Alabama as the first scrimmage of the 2024 edition of the Crimson Tide concludes over the weekend!
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You can hear him 2 to 6 p.m. weekdays right here on WJOX. Also see him on the SEC Network, across all the ESPN platforms. Joins us every Monday. Thanks to Crane Works. It's Paul Feinbaum. Lift it, load it, grade it, grind it, rig it, dig it. Crane Works, yeah. The big dogs got it. Paul Feinbaum on Mac and Cube in the morning is brought to you by Crane Works. Lift it, buy it, rent it. The big dogs got it. Now, Paul Feinbaum.

Paul, always great to have you in on a Monday. We've heard from some of the coaching staff at Alabama. Obviously, you have folks that you speak to about how things are going, how things have went, certain things that different guys have done. Based on what you've heard, read, seen, how have your expectations changed for this Alabama football team after one week of practice? They're still very high. I have felt, based on all the information,

Called it, this is a playoff team. One thing you never know with a new coaching staff is what gets lost in the translation, and that's the unknown of this season. But nearly eight months in on Kalen DeBoer and knowing as much as we could possibly gather, I feel very good.

What have you heard about where they are offensively? Because there seems to be a lot of positive buzz about where they're at offensively. Sometimes when you're offensively ahead of the defense after scrimmage one, though, it can be a bit of an eyebrow raiser. So I'm just curious if you've heard anything in regards to just how much their offense seems to have progressed.

The buzz is good, Greg, but one thing I'm always careful about is Alabama. There's a difference between Alabama preseason buzz and maybe anyone else's. I've heard conversations from Alabama on four and eight seasons under Mike DuBose that would have made you believe that they were going to win a national championship. So I take it all with a grain of salt, but this has been consistent. We heard it in spring when it's really not that easy to,

to discern, but I would say compared to last year, I feel a lot better. I mean, last year there. It's time for Bob's dare to compare. You get style. You get features.

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Whatever you were going for didn't land right. Who's got a shovel and some lime? Maybe you need to do that with your financial picture. I don't know. Find out more by searching the Stacking Benjamins podcast wherever you listen. I think Paul having some phone issues there. We'll try to connect him back. And you go back to those expectations last year, Greg. And I think there are parts of it that you and I were a little bit more excited about. Those didn't come around maybe until later in the season.

Defensively, I think it may have been a little bit further ahead than we thought it was going to be last year. We thought it was going to be pretty good on that side of the football, outside of some of the secondary play early, maybe against Texas. I'm trying to go back and compare where we thought this team was a year ago compared to where we think this team is heading into the season now.

And it's kind of, for me, I think it's a little up in the air because I'm looking at it and I'm assuming that the secondary is still going to be super talented, just going to be a little inexperienced. And that's okay. I mean, I would much rather have talent than inexperience. That to me is a huge, huge deal. The problem is with a...

With an inexperienced secondary, there's going to be a couple moments, whether it's a game or a month or a year, where you're like, oh boy. We're in a dogfight because our secondary has given up a couple big plays that are not normal. That's okay. That's all part of the maturation process. With all young players, there's some really high highs and there's some really low lows.

you just need to elevate that floor to get to the point where you're a super dependable player. And maybe they'll be able to do that with Zabian Brown or Jalen Mbakwe or whoever ends up taking those significant steps. Because Day-Day Jones, I think, is solid and he can help you. But right now, I know, based on what I've heard, he's running with the twos. So we'll see how it all kind of unfolds. All right, Paul, sorry, lost you there. A little bit of a phone connection issue. On the other side of the state...

How much does Hugh Freese want the expectations to rise heading into this actual season? Because the buzz around the receiving core continues to grow. There's some positive information coming out about Peyton Thorne and some of the steps he's taking. Is it beneficial for Auburn to continue to have, I guess, the expectation raised before kickoff?

The old school thought would be no, but this is a different era now where your program really lives and die on momentum and buzz because that translates to money and that also translates to ability to turn players not only in recruiting, but maybe in a couple of months on the portal. So I don't know what Hugh Freeze always comes off as sounding the same, but I don't think that's the factor. I think the buzz is good.

And right now, Auburn has tremendous buzz. I mean, this is not the old days when you could bottle that buzz and pour them out yourself for two or three years. You don't have that much time anymore. And I think especially after a season like last that went the wrong way at the end, and that's what people remember.

Hugh Freeze needs to get things rolling. He needs heavy buy-in. He needs maybe a better-than-expected season on the field, which wouldn't be that difficult. And I think that's what he's getting right now. And whether he wants to pour them out there or embrace it, the most important thing is that people are talking about Auburn.

But how much progress would be considered significant? Because I get the sense that if he doesn't win eight, people are going to lose hope. And I'm like, hang on. I think he can get there for sure. But is there a minimum number that he has to hit to feel good about what's been going on before alignment starts to become a question?

Greg, I think you've raised a good point. And I think eight is probably the minimum number because you turn in a seven and five record, which, you know, that then can go sideways with a bowl loss or even a win doesn't really help you. Eight and five doesn't sound great. I think he needs it. I think he really needs to get to hit that number because, you know,

That's a number that years ago would have gotten Gus Malzahn fired, but today means progress. And I think that's where Hugh Freeze's program is. I've always argued, contrary to what many believe, that Auburn really was in a better spot these last seven or eight years with Nick Saban than maybe people thought because Auburn

It was just the factor in effect was there where you weren't expected to really compete with Saban. That's not the case anymore. You've got an opportunity now to grab some, not that recruiting is all about in-state anymore because it's not, but maybe even turn players in-state which you have.

And to show possible weakness at the other end. And I think it's incumbent upon Hugh Freeze. I mean, he's got a much bigger reputation around the SEC than Kalen DeBoer has. I mean, Kalen DeBoer has flown in here with a national championship game in his back pocket and a lot of gaudy numbers. But Hugh Freeze has done it in this league, and he needs to do it again.

Paul Feinbaum joining us on the Buyer's Right Hotline. He's with us each and every Monday, thanks to Crane Works. That being said, a couple big injuries around the league thus far. C.J. Baxter out of Texas. We're going to talk a little bit about Reuben Owens, Texas A&M running back, who's most likely going to miss the season a little bit later. Any of those significantly shift maybe your expectations for those teams?

I think they're both significant. In Baxter's case, that's something you don't want. That guy was a workhorse last year, even in a less than heralded role. I think especially when you think about that second game of the season for Texas, which will still be against a shorthanded Michigan team from a year ago, but still a very

tough team defensively. So, I mean, I look at that. I'm not mitigating the situation at A&M. The first game is critical for them because they don't want that error to start off on a bad note. But still, I don't expect as much from A&M as I do the Longhorns. If, for whatever reason, Mike Elko...

doesn't have the season we all expect. I mean, I don't think it's likely, but let's say they get beat convincingly in week one, national audience, massive stage. I know there's patience and other support that's to be expected, but how much is he really operating under the microscope right now? Because so many people have assumed he's just going to come right in, just clean everything up and they're going to be super competitive.

Yeah, I don't know why people are thinking that, but, Greg, Aggie fans are never short on confidence. And they're also never short on losing patience either, as we have seen really for the last 11 or 12 years in the SEC. So, I mean, I think Elko just needs to survive the season.

You know, the bookend games are brutal. But he has such a great home schedule. I think he needs to win one of these home games. I think he needs to show the Aggies that he is for real. Because he is really being graded on a very stilted curve. He gets credit for the good things that happen

to Jimbo Fisher early on. And Jimbo Fisher gets blamed for everything that happened after Mike Elko. And that's going to even out here very quickly. There will be a correction if he loses that first game and if things don't progress. And A&M is a really interesting team, especially should they lose that first game. Then they go to Florida in week three. And suddenly that, I mean, everything's a must win for Billy Napier. But it's also a must win for

for Elko in the sense that you just don't want to start the season too down with everything left to be played. So I think he needs to show the home, especially with that Texas game at the end. I think so much of the season is going to be measured in how that game plays out. Paul, always appreciate the time. Always enjoy having you on. Look forward to catching up again next week.

Thank you, Cole. There you go. Paul Feinbaum, he joins us each and every Monday. Thanks to our friends at Crane Works. And he joins us on the Buyer's Right Hotline. For all your insurance, financial, and HR needs, it's Buyer's Right Insurance, a Higginbotham partner. When you have sports mixed with your pop culture, along with humor and celebrity interviews, your earbuds are enjoying the Rich Eisen Show. Good to see you, Bruce Feldman. The Big 12 landscape. I just know how Dion is, where he's coming from. His wins are measured differently.

The question is, as you said, it's got to go from four to eight. I think they can do that. It would be hard not to get better considering how bad they were on the offensive line last year. Now, their schedule actually feels harder this year than it was last year. Search for The Rich Eisen Show on YouTube or wherever you listen.