What We're Looking to Learn from Alabama's Second Spring Scrimmage

The Crimson Tide will hold its second of three spring scrimmages Saturday inside of Bryant-Denny Stadium.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Last week, Alabama players looked to make a good first impression during their opening spring scrimmage. The focus for this weekend’s return trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium centers around maintaining momentum.

“I think the big thing is we focus on improvement,” Nick Saban said Wednesday of the difference between Alabama’s first and second scrimmages. “That’s what we talked about after the last scrimmage. That’s what we’ve talked about for two practices in a row, making sure you know what you have to do to, wherever you are, to continue to make progress and I think we want to evaluate how that goes. 

"I also think that you start to see guys gain confidence in other guys that they play with because they are responsible and accountable and they can do their job and communicate and I think that goes a long way to impacting and affecting team dynamics. Those are some of the things that we want to continue to progress and build on and we’ll kind of go from there.”

Alabama will hold a practice Friday afternoon before wrapping up the week with its second spring scrimmage on Saturday. From there, the Crimson Tide will work out on Tuesday and Thursday next week before concluding spring camp with the annual A-Day game on April 16.

Here are five things we’ll be looking to learn from this weekend’s scrimmage.

Alabama Athletics

Which WR will step up this time?

One of the biggest storylines from last weekend was “little Aaron Anderson.” Following Alabama’s first scrimmage, Saban signaled out the 5-foot-9, 184-pound freshman receiver, stating he “took a 5-yard play and ran for 35, 40 yards against the first-team defense.”

Anderson’s standout performance last week came after fellow early enrollee receiver Kendrick Law drew praise from Saban earlier in camp. The head coach has also spoken highly of Georgia transfer Jermaine Burton as well as returning receivers Traeshon Holden, Thaiu Jones-Bell, JoJo Earle and Christian Leary this offseason.

Alabama lost its top three wide receivers from last year in Jameson Williams, John Metchie III and Slade Bolden – a trio that recorded 3,122 yards and 26 touchdowns on 217 receptions last season. This spring, the Crimson Tide is also without rising sophomore Ja’Corey Brooks, who is sitting out the spring with an undisclosed injury.

When asked about his wide receiving corps Wednesday, Saban said there was still plenty of talent in the unit while challenging his active wideouts to continue to establish consistency at the position.

“I think they got to play hard and fast and, you know, you got to do things a certain way when you play receiver,” Saban said. ‘You can't ad lib because the quarterback he's got to make quick decisions and timing is involved. So the precision that you need and the discipline you need to have the precision so that we can develop chemistry in the passing game is critical, you know, to being successful in that part of the game. And I think some of the young guys, they got to continue to develop and grow and understand the importance of that.”

Alabama Athletics

More shifting on the OL

Don’t expect Alabama’s shuffling on the offensive line to cease anytime soon. Last month, Saban mentioned Javion Cohen, Damieon George Jr. and J.C. Latham among the offensive linemen who would be working at both the guard and tackle positions this spring. While the head coach has had 10 practices to evaluate the unit, he made it clear Wednesday that positions were still far from settled moving forward.

“We don’t have enough offensive linemen that everybody doesn’t have to sort of rotate around and do different things,” Saban said. “So we’ll continue to evaluate. Guys are making progress. But it hasn’t settled down because we have a lot of guys – we only have 10, 11 guys that are able to practice on the offensive line. We’re trying to practice three or four teams a guy, so guys have to mix and match. We have seven guys per group and they have to rotate around.”

Alabama lost both of its starting tackles from last season in Evan Neal and Chris Owens. The Crimson Tide is also without starting center Darrian Dalcourt, who was ruled out for the spring with an injury. Meanwhile, starting guard Emil Ekiyor Jr. isn’t participating in contact drills as he recovers from a separated shoulder he suffered during the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31. Earlier in camp, Saban also said the team is without an additional lineman due to injury.

According to sources at last week’s scrimmage, Alabama’s most common first-team grouping involved Amari Kight, Cohen, Seth McLaughlin, George and Latham from left to right. While that front five might provide some hints as to where the unit stands at the moment, it’s bound to see a shakeup this fall when Ekiyor and Dalcourt return to full strength. Alabama is also waiting to hear back from Vanderbilt transfer Tyler Steen, who would be a favorite to take on one of the tackle positions if he commits to the Crimson Tide.

While the spring is ideally a time where the offensive line can begin to gel together through continuity, that luxury isn’t available for Alabama this spring. That being said, Saban doesn’t sound too concerned with the unit’s fluid nature at the moment.

“I think the diversity that we gain from the experience that guys get at various positions is probably more important right now than worrying about what you’re worried about,” Saban said. “But we do have some guys that are making progress at tackle, and hopefully, they’ll continue to improve throughout the spring."

Alabama Athletics

Can Sanders continue his consistency?

There were moments last year that made Trey Sanders briefly forget about his back-to-back season-ending injuries the two years prior. The five-star back ran for a 20-yard touchdown during the opener against Miami, hurdled a defender in the Iron Bowl and recorded a season-high 67 yards on the ground in the Cotton Bowl. Each one of those achievements left him feeling on top of the world. Unfortunately, workouts the following days after often brought his recovering body back down to earth.

“I felt like as soon as I made one play or I scored a touchdown, I felt like I’m automatically back,” Sanders said. “But that wasn’t always the case. It’s always just a step forward. So I have a touchdown or I make a good play and I come back to practice and I may not be able to make moves how I was last year just because my body’s sore. It’s just steps every day and just getting better. That’s my main focus right now.”

Sanders missed the entire 2019 season with a broken foot before a car accident cut his 2020 season short after four games. During his first full year on the field last season, he finished second on the team with 314 yards and two touchdowns on 72 carries over 13 appearances.

Fortunately for Alabama, Sanders seems to be returning to his five-star form this spring. Following last week’s scrimmage, Saban revealed that the rising redshirt junior led the team with 73 rushing yards. This week should provide a good indication of whether or not Sanders can maintain that type of production on a weekly basis.

Alabama Athletics

Will Alabama find more inside pressure?

Saban didn’t seem overly pleased with his inside pass-rushing options following last week’s scrimmage. While the head coach said the team has young players “who could really make a difference,” he tempered that statement by noting that none of them have maintained enough consistency to have their names mentioned at the moment.

“That's an area we've got to work on,” Saban said. “I think we've got guys that can do it, but I think them doing it correctly so that they learn how to push the pocket, especially when you've got good edge rushers, is really important.”

One source at last week’s scrimmage mentioned juniors Tim Smith and Jamil Burroughs as well as redshirt freshman Tim Keenan III as defensive linemen who have stood out this spring. Another name to watch is SI99 member Jahiem Oatis. Listed at 6-foot-5, 370 pounds, the early enrollee posted on Twitter that he had lost 46 pounds since joining the Crimson Tide in January. Wednesday, Saban spoke on that transition, praising Oatis for his hard work this offseason while stating that his transformation is still “a work in progress.”

“He's a much better player where he is right now than he was the other way, when he's a little heavier,” Saban said. “He's making progress, but like a lot of young guys you know, for them to play fast, they have to have confidence and knowledge of knowing what to do, how to do it, why it's important to do it that way so they can play fast.

“And I think a lot of young players go through that sometimes, but he has lots of ability, is hard to block and we're excited about having the opportunity to continue to work with them.”

Alabama Athletics

Will Alabama unleash its Terminator?

Following last weekend’s scrimmage, Saban revealed that Alabama elected to hold out Will Anderson Jr. “by design.” The head coach didn’t indicate whether or not the decision was made due to the star edge rusher picking up a small knock or if it was just a tactical decision as the rising junior has little to prove following his standout sophomore season. Perhaps Alabama elected to rest Anderson as a sign of mercy to its developing offensive line.

According to sources in attendance last weekend, Anderson was on the sideline during the scrimmage and was fully dressed out in a crimson jersey, indicating he isn’t dealing with a significant injury. Assuming that’s the case, the reigning Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner might return to action this week.

While that might be bad news for the Crimson Tide’s offense, it will be interesting to see how much havoc the defender will cause whenever he returns to the field in a game-like setting.