Reggie Benson, Huntsville Times
Despite being undersized, Antonio Nelson has been a solid contributor during the last three seasons to Alabama A&M's defense. Nelson, who has never weighed more than 170 pounds since coming to A&M, knew he needed to put on some pounds if he was going to become an even more effective player.
That's exactly what he did over the last seven months.
During that time, Nelson virtually lived in A&M's weight room and when the Bulldogs reported for preseason practice last week, he checked in at 195 pounds, having put on 25 pounds since January.
"I've gotten a lot stronger and faster," said Nelson, clearly proud of his offseason accomplishments. "I worked hard in the weight room. It finally soaked in that I needed to get bigger if I wanted to compete at this level."
A&M strength coach James Hester suggested some players needed to get bigger and stronger to handle the physical play in the SWAC and Nelson took it to heart.
"Coach Hester emphasized it and I decided I wanted to be one of those persons so I could stay healthy for the season," he said.
Nelson, who has been a part-time starter during his career, is running with the first defense at will linebacker.
No backing down: Ulysses Banks ended spring practice as A&M's starting tailback. He has no intentions of giving up the job.
Banks, who led the nation in kickoff returns last season, is locked in a battle with Anthony Green and Max Martin, a transfer from Alabama, for the starting job.
New running backs coach Errol Jones was hired last month and says he will evaluate his group during the first couple of weeks of practice.
"Coach Jones is new so he can't put me in front of everybody else," Banks said. "Everybody has a chance to show that they deserve to be the first or second man. I feel good about my chances. I know most of the plays. I've got to get the more complex plays down. Once I do that, I'll be ready."
Versatile Allen: Stanley Allen is locked in a battle with Kevin Atkins for the backup quarterback job. Even if Allen doesn't win the job, don't be surprised to see him on the field this season.
A&M coach Anthony Jones said Allen is a good enough athlete that he could help the Bulldogs at a number of positions. Jones has been concerned about A&M's lack of numbers at wide receiver, particularly with the status of Anthony Mitchell still up on the air. Having Allen play some there, Jones said, is a possibility. However, he said he has no plans to pull Allen out of the quarterback race and move him just for the sake of moving him.
"That wouldn't be fair to him," Jones said. "Somehow, Stanley will be on the field this year barring injury."
Allen, a redshirt junior, played in five games on special teams two years ago and had five tackles.
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