Alabama Announces Crimson and White Rosters for A-Day Game
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The rosters have been set for Saturday's A-Day game inside of Bryant-Denny Stadium. Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young and Alabama's first-team offense will represent the Crimson Tide while reigning Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner Will Anderson Jr. and the first-team defense will lead the White team. The Crimson team will also be comprised of the second-team defense while the white team will have the second-team offense.
"The ones play against the ones, the twos play against the twos," Nick Saban said while explaining the scrimmage's traditional setup on Thursday. "I've done the A-Day game like fifteen different ways, and you get mismatches in the game that can ruin the game. So this is the best way that the good players play against the good players, the most experienced players play against the most experienced players. It's more challenging for them.
"It's better for us in terms of evaluation, and I think it's more game-like, which is really the ultimate goal of A-Day. We even have the coaching staff split up. We want to give bench organization for the game. We want players to go through what they go through in pre-game, what they go through in halftime. This is kind of an exhibition game type experience that we want to utilize the best we can so it helps our team grow and develop.
"We try to simplify things so we're not really showing anything exotic to our opponents, but it's also a better way for us to be able to evaluate all the players because hopefully the simplicity helps them know what to do so they can play fast and be physical and have fun.
Here is a look at the two A-Day game rosters. The scrimmage is set to kick off at 2 p.m. CT inside Bryant-Denny Stadium and can be streamed online via ESPN+ and SEC Network+.