If we based his freshman season solely on statistics, Shane Lee grades out as someone who had an incredible year.
In playing middle linebacker for Alabama, the Maryland native filled in for the injured Dylan Moses and recorded 86 tackles – which led all freshmen defenders in 2019. He also totaled 6.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, three quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and one interception.
A four-star recruit in the Crimson Tide’s 2019 signing class, Lee was selected to the Freshman All-SEC team and Freshman All-America teams for both ESPN and FWAA.
The 6-foot, 246-pounder had some great moments; however, he lacked the elite speed in marquee matchups and was picked on a lot in passing situations. With the additions of David Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea, Lee can take the next step in becoming a complete player.
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Alabama brought Ballou in as its Director of Sports Performance and Rhea as its Director of Performance Science.
The two would have the means to transform Lee into being a force on Saturdays in the fall.
For him, it is having the speed to be a coverage linebacker while possessing the power to shed offensive linemen in making plays.
In the philosophy of Ballou and Rhea, the workouts they allow are ones that translate into production on the field. Both guys are deep into analytics and they are like this, because they want to know what each player’s target goal is.
Lee is a talent player and he has potential to be great, but he needs to be fine-tuned.
Seeing how Ballou and Rhea got Moses right at IMG Academy, the tandem should be able to set Lee on a plan to dominate college football.
His freshman numbers are similar to Moses’ stats during his sophomore year. Rhea was in charge of Indiana’s speed development system.
During his two years with the program, he came up with a precise, computerized system that allowed him to apply resistance to a sprint or anything needed to improve the speed of a player. Rhea’s primary goal was the maximize speed and get the most out of every athlete.
This tool not only made him special at IMG, but it also assisted the Hoosiers to eight wins last season.
Lee needs more speed and the Tide’s latest hires will work on it.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
