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Lane Kiffin looking for Alabama’s next Lebron James

Kevin Duffey

By Kevin Duffey

Published:

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Alabama’s offense lost its ‘Lebron James’ after last season.

Amari Cooper, the Crimson Tide’s go-to player, will play on Sundays, and Lane Kiffin and Nick Saban are trying to identify their top go-to receivers during fall camp.

While meeting with the media Sunday, Kiffin referenced Lebron James while talking about the Crimson Tide’s offense. The original question asked Kiffin about tight end O.J. Howard’s involvement — or lack thereof — in the offense, according to AL.com.

“We’re going to find our players and get them the ball the best way we can,” Kiffin said. “It’s not Little League where everyone gets the same amount of touches. You saw it last year with Amari and everything being so lopsided. It came down to OK, if he’s your best player, give him the ball. It’s a basketball mentality.

“If LeBron’s got 30 at half, you’re not going to stop passing it to him. I think Amari had 47 catches in the first quarter of games alone. Now he’s gone. So where are those catches going to go?”

Kiffin’s been known to find a playmaker and stick with him. That was his reputation at USC with Marqise Lee and Robert Woods, and he obviously fed Cooper the ball during 2014. Kiffin called ArDarius Stewart the most talented receiver on the roster, and we know the talent that running back/receiver Kenyan Drake has, assuming he’s 100 percent healthy.

But the curious case of O.J. Howard remains. Howard is a freak athlete who caught just 17 passes for 260 yards last season. The 6-6, 240-pound hybrid tight end is looking to be a force in Kiffin’s offense.

You can read everything else Kiffin talked about during his press conference here.

Kevin Duffey

A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.

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