5 on 5: What We're Hearing About Alabama Football's Second Spring Scrimmage

The latest on the Crimson Tide's final tuneup heading into the final week of spring practices, which will wrap up with A-Day on Saturday.

Normally our 5 on 5 segments will appear on Fridays, but the Alabama Crimson Tide held its second spring scrimmage on Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Like usual, it was closed to the media. However, we talked to some people who were in attendance and have continued to keep our ear to the ground.  

All of this is TIFWIW (take it for what it's worth), but here's five things that we heard and initially posted on the BamaCentral forums: 

1) Alabama has a very strong backfield 

Freshman Justice Haynes was as good as advertised, maybe better, and sophomore Jam Miller is also having quite a spring. Roydell Williams looks to be the short-yardage back, especially when the Crimson Tide gets near the end zone. 

Remember, top-rated prospect Richard Young isn't due to arrive until this summer. 

2) The quarterback competition continues 

The guess here is that for A-Day the coaching staff will initially split the quarterbacks like every other unit and then mix them up as the exhibition game develops. So it'll initially be redshirt sophomore Jalen Milroe leading the first-team unit and redshirt freshman Ty Simpson guiding the second-team offense, with freshmen Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan backing them up. At some point, Milroe and Simpson will switch. 

Why expect Milroe to get the initial look with the first team? He's older and has more experience. 

We're hearing that Milroe had the better overall day in the scrimmage, but if so not by a whole lot. His afternoon was highlighted by a long touchdown to wide receiver Kendrick law for about 75 yards, but both quarterbacks turned the ball over. 

Also, yes, junior-college transfer Malik Benson more than passes the eye test at wide receiver. 

3) The offensive line

Offensive line coach Eric Wolford rotated a lot of players, but most of the time the first-team unit was from left to right: Elijah Pritchett, Darrian Dalcourt, Seth McLaughlin, Tyler Booker and JC Latham. When Dalcourt moved over to center, Terrence Ferguson came in at guard. 

We're hearing that freshman Kayden Proctor is already making a push at left tackle. Keep an eye out for No. 74 during A-Day. 

4) The defensive front seven 

Jaheim Oatis is a monster. He may be the frontrunner among breakout candidates, especially on the defensive side. Finally cleared to play again, defensive end Justin Eboigbe is rounding into playing shape.

At linebacker, Chris Braswell, Deontae Lawson and Dallas Turner have all been out, but Georgia transfer Trezmen Marshall, Jihaad Campbell and Shawn Murphy all looked good, and Kendrick Blackshire also played well in the scrimmage.

Alabama appears to be developing some nice depth. 

5) The secondary 

Freshman Caleb Downs has been the talk of camp as he continues to get reps with the first-team defense and is making it tough on coaches not to keep him on the field. He's not shy in run support and also played well in coverage. 

Downs was paired with Malachi Moore at safety (which may be more of a natural position for the senior than at star), with Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold the corners. 

When extra defensive backs were utilized, redshirt freshman Earl Little II was at star, and senior Kristian Story was the dime (and on one play put quite a lick on Miller). Among the reserves, Jahquez Robinson had a pickoff. 

Finally, Downs looked to be McKinstry's backup on punt returns, or at least the coaches wanted to see how he handled it. Law and Jermaine Burton were paired together on kick returns. We're hearing that punter James Burnip has taken another leap forward in his development. 

Win.
The.
Day. pic.twitter.com/Tdut9PG2oZ

— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) April 16, 2023

See Also:

What Nick Saban Said After Alabama's Second Spring Scrimmage

What Nick Saban Saw From Quarterbacks in Second Scrimmage