TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama was gifted with less humidity for its fourth preseason practice Sunday morning. Crimson Tide players spent their second day in shoulder pads working under sunny 85-degree weather. Here are some notes from the media’s viewing period.
— Alabama’s prodigal son is back at left tackle. After spending the first three practices with the second team, Kadyn Proctor resumed is first-team role on Sunday. The five-star lineman was lined up at left tackle for the first-team unit, while Tyler Booker, Parker Brailsford, Jaeden Roberts and Wilkin Formby filled out the starting line from left to right.
Since boomeranging from Alabama to Iowa and back this offseason, Proctor has been the model teammate during camp. He never pouted while working with the second-team unit and has done well to catch up on the Tide’s new offense. Now he appears to be getting rewarded for his hard work.
“I think he’s been great,” Alabama offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic said on Saturday. “Work ethic has been off the charts. Open to coaching, learning. He’s working on his own. He lives with Wilkin, so they’re watching extra film, they’re quizzing. They’re doing all the things that you want them to do. So I’ve been really pleasantly surprised at just how eager he has been to learn and jump in. It’s been great.”
— It’s notable that Formby kept his spot at right tackle during Sunday’s practice. The redshirt freshman will likely now battle with redshirt sophomore Elijah Pritchett, who had been serving as the first-team left tackle this offseason.
— Pritchett worked as Alabama’s second-team left tackle on Sunday, with Olaus Alinen, Geno VanDeMark, Roq Montgomery and Miles McVay to his right. Texas A&M transfer Naquil Betrand also took second-team reps at right tackle.
— During one rep, Tyler Booker blew up walk-on JD Martin. To be fair, Martin is a 6-foot-2, 240-pound freshman. Still, it’s nice to see Alabama’s starters giving full effort during the early days of camp.
— Sunday marked the second straight day VanDeMark served as the backup center. The Michigan State transfer worked under Kapilovic the past three seasons and is capable of playing all three interior positions.
— Que Robinson (he’s now going by Que instead of Quandarrius) was back leading the Wolf position after participating in his graduation commencement on Saturday. Along with heading up the unit during drills, the redshirt senior also helped outside linebacker coach Christian Robinson by providing some one-on-one instruction to his freshmen teammates.
— Que Robinson and Keanu Koht served as the first duo during sled drills. They were followed by Yhonzae Pierre and Noah Carter. Qua Russaw and JayShawn Ross were part of the third and fourth pairings respectively.
— I got a close-up look at Alabama’s cornerback position. One thing that stands out is Zavier Mincey’s size. The freshman is listed at 6-foot-3, 180 pounds but looks a bit heavier than that. I wouldn’t be surprised if he transitions to safely later on in his career.
— Cornerbacks coach Maurice Linguist spent some extended time working with Mincey on his footwork while I was watching. It took a couple reps, but the freshman eventually sorted things out.
— Zabien Brown appeared to have a cast on his hand. He was still participating in drills, except the ones that required him to punch the pads.
— Linguist got animated at the cornerbacks for wasting his freaking time, except he didn’t say freaking. At the time, the unit was taking too time to get ready for drills. Players responded well to the outburst and quickly snapped back into the swing of things.
— Alabama’s prodigal son is back at left tackle. After spending the first three practices with the second team, Kadyn Proctor resumed is first-team role on Sunday. The five-star lineman was lined up at left tackle for the first-team unit, while Tyler Booker, Parker Brailsford, Jaeden Roberts and Wilkin Formby filled out the starting line from left to right.
Since boomeranging from Alabama to Iowa and back this offseason, Proctor has been the model teammate during camp. He never pouted while working with the second-team unit and has done well to catch up on the Tide’s new offense. Now he appears to be getting rewarded for his hard work.
“I think he’s been great,” Alabama offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic said on Saturday. “Work ethic has been off the charts. Open to coaching, learning. He’s working on his own. He lives with Wilkin, so they’re watching extra film, they’re quizzing. They’re doing all the things that you want them to do. So I’ve been really pleasantly surprised at just how eager he has been to learn and jump in. It’s been great.”
— It’s notable that Formby kept his spot at right tackle during Sunday’s practice. The redshirt freshman will likely now battle with redshirt sophomore Elijah Pritchett, who had been serving as the first-team left tackle this offseason.
— Pritchett worked as Alabama’s second-team left tackle on Sunday, with Olaus Alinen, Geno VanDeMark, Roq Montgomery and Miles McVay to his right. Texas A&M transfer Naquil Betrand also took second-team reps at right tackle.
— During one rep, Tyler Booker blew up walk-on JD Martin. To be fair, Martin is a 6-foot-2, 240-pound freshman. Still, it’s nice to see Alabama’s starters giving full effort during the early days of camp.
— Sunday marked the second straight day VanDeMark served as the backup center. The Michigan State transfer worked under Kapilovic the past three seasons and is capable of playing all three interior positions.
— Que Robinson (he’s now going by Que instead of Quandarrius) was back leading the Wolf position after participating in his graduation commencement on Saturday. Along with heading up the unit during drills, the redshirt senior also helped outside linebacker coach Christian Robinson by providing some one-on-one instruction to his freshmen teammates.
— Que Robinson and Keanu Koht served as the first duo during sled drills. They were followed by Yhonzae Pierre and Noah Carter. Qua Russaw and JayShawn Ross were part of the third and fourth pairings respectively.
— I got a close-up look at Alabama’s cornerback position. One thing that stands out is Zavier Mincey’s size. The freshman is listed at 6-foot-3, 180 pounds but looks a bit heavier than that. I wouldn’t be surprised if he transitions to safely later on in his career.
— Cornerbacks coach Maurice Linguist spent some extended time working with Mincey on his footwork while I was watching. It took a couple reps, but the freshman eventually sorted things out.
— Zabien Brown appeared to have a cast on his hand. He was still participating in drills, except the ones that required him to punch the pads.
— Linguist got animated at the cornerbacks for wasting his freaking time, except he didn’t say freaking. At the time, the unit was taking too time to get ready for drills. Players responded well to the outburst and quickly snapped back into the swing of things.
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