Hello all,
Here are some observations from the scrimmage and from Saban's presser. There is quite a bit to go over.
What we learned from the scrimmage
— Saban wants to find out who is the number two quarterback. I’ve been saying that Taulia is pushing Mac Jones all fall camp, and I think Saban is going to let their on the field play sort this out. This is great news as competition makes the product on the field better.
— Miller Forristall is back from a foot injury. While the tight end might not seem like a major area that Alabama needs to depend on, we’re not sure about that as we are yet to actually see Sarkisian’s offense in place. Forristall is the veteran of the tight end room who can provide leadership, and he can be a playmaker when he’s healthy.
— Next man up at the defensive tackle spot with the knee injury of DJ Dale. Phidarian Mathis and Justin Egobigbe are two guys who are being looked at as contributors inside the trenches. Mathis has never looked bad, it’s just Dale has looked that good.
— Dylan Moses and Matt Womack were held out with non-disclosed injuries, does not seem serious. Big dudes hit hard...
— Josh McMillon out with an injury. Saban said the medical staff will have to look at the injury and figure out how bad it is. That is concerning obviously.
Who’s injured
Trey Sanders - Foot (Will require surgery/Out indefinitely)
Josh McMillon - Knee (TBA) (Saban seemed concerned)
LaBrayn Ray - Foot (not serious)
DJ Dale - knee (not serious)
Nigel Nott - Undisclosed
Who after McMillon?
With McMillon injured today, you're likely looking at Markail Benton, Shane Lee, and Jaylen Moody and maybe even Ale Kaho getting more reps. Benton is likely the starter at the position if Josh cannot go during week one alongside Dylan Moses.
Trey Sanders out
What terrible news to unfold during fall camp around. Losing Trey Sanders might not serve as a crucial blow to the offense overall, but it is a loss in terms of losing a very talented freshman that would add another element to the run and passing game under Sarkisian.
“Trey Sanders did not scrimmage today because he has a foot injury,” Saban confirmed. “That will require surgery, so he will be out indefinitely.”
Would Sanders have really seen time on the field this year? That’s a hypothetical question that we’ll never know, but based off the talent he displayed in early fall camp, we have a feeling he would have earned plenty of opportunities to see the field.
So what now at running back?
For starters, Sanders was never a starter at Alabama this season and with Najee Harris and Brian Robinson healthy, Alabama has more than enough talent to run the football to open up the passing game as Sarkisian wants. Jerome Ford who is a redshirt freshman had a great spring and from what we’ve heard he can make plays when called on. Also, Alabama has freshman Keilan Robinson, but from the looks of it, Robinson seems a little undersized to get on the field this year. That is only the opinion of me, not from Saban.
“They both did a good job today. I think Jerome Ford was probably the leading rusher out there, but he probably ran the ball more than anybody else. And I think Keilan had some explosive runs and played fast and probably gives us something that some of our guys don’t have when it comes to just being quick, fast and elusive.”
Will Alabama move back Chadarius Townsend to the running back room? Saban experimented with moving Townsend to running back during the springtime just in case of an emergency, so the question is: Is this an emergency situation at running back?
Observations from Saban’s presser
His main message
Saban talked about the fact that everyone needs to focus and ask themselves, “Where I am at as a player?” Good question to ask yourself during the first week of fall camp IMO. Saban also talked about mental errors and how many mental errors are caused by a lack of discipline.
On the back up quarterbacks
“Mac played well today. Mac had a really good day today. He had a high completion percentage, threw for some big plays, really did a good job. Some of it against the first defense. I thought he did a nice job. I thought he did a really good job of trying to lead the team when he was in there and did a good job.”
This means to me that he has faith in Mac Jones. I know I’ve been on the Taulia gravy train, but Saban is obviously smarter than me, so this is great news in terms of knowing that Alabama can count the number two quarterback when needed.
On special teams
“They did really well today. I don’t know exactly what the stats were, but both punters -- Will (Reichard) and Skyler (DeLong) -- both punted the ball really well. Will was really good on field goals. I think Joe (Bulovas) was pretty good on field goals. There’s a lot of competition there, but it was really encouraging.”
When was the last time that Alabama had a kid that was the starter at both kicker and at punter? Sounds like Reichard could be that guy for Alabama.
Saban Presser
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