View full sizeAlabama safety Robert Lester, right, talks to defensive coordinator Kirby Smart during a 42-14 victory on Nov. 26 at Auburn. (The Birmingham News/Mark Almond)TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Several Alabama players with eligibility remaining are expected to skip their senior seasons in 2012, but none has come out yet and proclaimed he will go pro.
Running back Trent Richardson, cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and linebacker Don't'a Hightower are the juniors mentioned most often as 2012 NFL draft prospects.
Robert Lester, a fourth-year junior safety, isn't talked about in the same breath, but he acknowledged Tuesday that he is weighing his options.
"I haven't really started looking into that," Lester said. "I feel like I've got another chance to go out and prove myself in the national championship, and depending on that game is what I'll depend on whether I come back or not."
As a third-year sophomore, Lester led the Southeastern Conference with eight interceptions. That ranked second nationally and tied Harry Gilmer (1946) for the second most in a single season in school history.
This season, Lester only has two interceptions. Sophomore cornerbacker Dee Milliner leads the team with three. Alabama had 22 interceptions last season. It has 12 this season.
Lester was one of 11 current players who graduated Saturday. He majored in human environmental science.
"I'd like to help other athletes along the way, so if football doesn't work out, that's what I want to do," he said.
In its second practice of the postseason, second-ranked Alabama (11-1) practiced in full pads for the first time. It worked indoors for the second consecutive day as it continued to prepare for the Jan. 9 BCS Championship Game against top-ranked LSU (13-0) in New Orleans.
The Crimson Tide will practice through Friday and then will take a four-day Christmas break.
How many times since Nov. 5 has Lester watched film of a 9-6 overtime loss to LSU?
"I've watched it twice," he said of the 9-6 overtime loss to the top-ranked Tigers. "I think that's the biggest part to help us actually fix our mistakes in this next game. ...
"You just look and see the mistakes that you made, what they like to do, what they think works against us and go out there and play against them and stop it."
He was asked what is hard about watching that film.
"Just watching the mistakes that you make and just knowing that if I had another chance, I could have done this different," Lester said. "Just not being able to do it at that time, that's hard."
It haunts him even though the Crimson Tide didn't allow a touchdown in more than 60 minutes?
"It haunts you whenever you get a loss," Lester said. "It's just something we've just got to go back and look at and fix it."
View full sizeAlabama tight end Brad Smelley catches a first-quarter touchdown pass against Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. (The Birmingham News/Mark Almond)Senior tight end Brad Smelley finished his final regular season with a flourish, catching 10 of his 27 passes in the final two games. He had four catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns against Georgia Southern and six catches for 86 yards and a touchdown at Auburn.
"I was happy to play well in the game, especially my last Iron Bowl," Smelley said. "It was a good game, and I'll remember that for a long time."
He chuckled when asked if he was disappointed that Heisman Trophy voters didn't take notice.
"Come on!" he said.
How did Smelley explain his late-season connection with redshirt sophomore quarterback AJ McCarron?
"We just keep executing and do our stuff," Smelley said. "At the end of the season, we just found some holes in the defense, and AJ was hitting me and we were making plays. It's really been there all year. We were just fortunate to make some plays in the last couple of games."
Smelly acknowledged that it was safe to say that he and McCarron grew comfortable with each other as the season went on.
"He knows when I'm going to break out or sit the route," Smelley said. "It just comes from reps after reps after reps."
Smelley caught only one pass for 8 yards on Nov. 5 against LSU.