Little did we know after the SEC’s top outgoing left tackle, Laremy Tunsil, was shone in an unflattering light, just weeks later the SEC’s top left tackle this season would stand in the same spot.
Alabama’s Cam Robinson, projected by many to be a top 10 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, was arrested in his hometown of Monroe, La., early Tuesday morning.
A couple of charges, possession of a controlled substance and illegal possession of a firearm, are misdemeanors. The other is much more serious: Possession of a stolen gun is a felony.
Details were released by police Tuesday per AL.com that revealed the stolen gun, a Glock .45 caliber pistol, came out of a vehicle in Baldwin County in April 2015. There are no suspects for that crime.
Rewind a little less than 14 months ago to the situation with Jonathan Taylor.
The defensive tackle out of Millen, Ga., was given a second chance by head coach Nick Saban after Georgia dismissed him following an arrest for felony aggravated assault and family violence.
Just two months after his January 2015 enrollment in Tuscaloosa, he was arrested again on a domestic violence charge. Alabama let him go the next day.
At the time, Saban spoke with reporters and said he was “not sorry for giving (Taylor) an opportunity. I’m sorry for the way things worked out.”
“We’re going to continue to create opportunities for people in the future,” Saban went on to say. “And we’ll very, very closely evaluate anyone’s character that we allow in the program.”
Taylor came to Tuscaloosa rated as the No. 4 JUCO DT out of Copiah-Lincoln CC.
Robinson is in a different class. He was the No. 1 OT in the Class of 2014. He has started every game (29 of them) since his freshman year.
His star status puts Saban’s decision to discipline under the microscope.
Saban said Tuesday he was disappointed but still gathering facts.
“We all have a responsibility and obligation to represent the university, ourselves and our family in a first-class way,” Saban said on Sports Drive with Randy Kennedy and Creg Stephenson, according to AL.com. “Obviously, we’re a little disappointed that better choices and decisions weren’t made here, but until we get the facts, we don’t really have much else to say about it.”
The mammoth 6-foot-6, 327-pounder put the country on notice with his performances in last year’s College Football Playoff.
He had a career-high six knockdown blocks in the semifinal against Michigan State, earning Offensive Player of the Week honors from the coaching staff.
He added two more in the national title game against Clemson. The First-Team All-SEC selection didn’t allow a sack in either game. He just simply moved bodies.
Some of them violently.
https://twitter.com/pcausey3/status/686736409223389184
Others forcefully.
Can Robinson playing his best game of the season. BIG movement in short yardage by the Alabama left tackle! #SEC pic.twitter.com/GNmfLJpv9b
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) January 12, 2016
Taylor’s dismissal from Alabama came in March of 2015, about five months before the Crimson Tide fielded the deepest, most dominant defensive front seven in the country.
The same can’t be said about Alabama’s offensive front, where Robinson is looked at as the linchpin of the offensive line.
He’s one of three returning starters along with Alphonse Taylor and Ross Pierschbacher, who moved from left guard to center to replace Ryan Kelly.
SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum has said that he talked with someone from the Alabama staff who told him, “I’m very concerned about the offense, but at least we have Cam Robinson.”
The team might not be able to say that now, assuming there will at least be some type of suspension, and that doesn’t bode well for the Tide’s quest to repeat as national champs.
Alabama has two tough games in the first three weeks. It opens against USC in Arlington, Texas, and then gets a Week 3 matchup against Ole Miss in Oxford, where the Tide will try to prevent the first three-game losing streak versus any opponent under Saban.
Week 2 (vs. Western Kentucky), Week 4 (vs. Kent State) and Week 5 (vs. Kentucky) aren’t as daunting before Alabama visits Arkansas in Week 6, its sixth game in as many weeks. (The team will actually go eight weeks without its bye for a second straight season).
Robinson’s defense attorney Cameron Murray spoke with the TimesDaily/Decatur Daily on Tuesday, and he likes his client’s chances of having his charges reduced or even tossed.
“The district attorney office (in West Monroe, La.) is very good about trying to keep somebody from having a felony on their record, so it’s imminently possible this could be worked out to either a misdemeanor or possibly a dismissal depending on the circumstances of each case,” Murray said. “Even a firearms case, as long as it doesn’t involve a violent act, generally this district attorney wants to protect the futures of our youth, and two young men like this with a bright future who made one mistake, the district attorney here generally tries to help those people either through rehabilitation or some good decision-making classes.”
He seemed to believe the prosecution would have a tough time proving that Robinson knew the gun under his driver’s seat was stolen.
“There are a lot of defenses to all of this,” Murray added to the TimesDaily/Decatur Daily. “The government does still have the burden to prove that they (Robinson and reserve DB Laurence “Hootie” Jones) knew it was stolen, or should have known. But if they can prove they didn’t know, then that’s an affirmative defense.”
That defense will have a huge impact on Alabama’s fall, even though we’re not even done with spring.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
