ESPNMAG.com - The Blitz: Alabama getaway

Don't expect blue-chipper Mac Tyler to make it to Alabama. The 6'6", 340-pound DT, who didn't qualify in 2000 and ended up at Milford (Conn.) Academy, had his latest ACT challenged by the Crimson Tide because his score jumped unusually high. Tyler (13 sacks in 2000) asked to be released from his commitment to Bama, but he won't get it till September, meaning he'll play again for Milford this fall. Michigan State, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are in hot pursuit.

Tyler is a load. Milford coach Bill Chaplick, a former Boston College O-lineman, says the big man has as much potential as any player who has played at the school, including NFL DT Jason Peter. The key word, though is potential. Says one Ivy League assistant, who saw Tyler last season, "he does have the tools, but I don't know if he has the heart. Another year might do him some good."

After a wretched off-season at Temple (the Owls got booted out of the Big East), there is now reason to smile for Bobby Wallace's team: Dan Klecko appears healthy again. The junior DT, who battled through ankle and leg injuries all season, is moving well and reportedly looks ready to return to his 1999 form -- back then, he was one of the top young D-linemen in the country. "He's as good as anybody," says Owls DC Ray Monica. "He's got a great motor, great instincts and his fundamentals are so far ahead of other college linemen it's not even close."

Another DT to keep an eye on is FSU's Darnell Dockett, the Noles next great lineman. Coming off an outstanding freshman season, where he had 7 sacks and a team-leading 19 tackles for losses, the cat-quick Dockett has bulked up 20 pounds to 280 and should emerge as the top DT in the ACC.

Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com.