Bama had there 1st scrimmage yesterday and the insider info is below:
Alabama held its first of three scrimmages on Friday afternoon -- a two-hour, game-like practice at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Here are nuggets from the Crimson Tide’s scrimmage:
-- It sounds like the first-team defense, especially the defensive front, had a strong showing on Friday. Outside linebackers Christopher Allen and Will Anderson applied consistent pressure on second-team quarterback Paul Tyson. They bookended a defensive front that featured a D-line with a combination of Justin Eboigbe, Byron Young, DJ Dale and LaBryan Ray. Rounding out the defense at inside ‘backer were Christian Harris and Jaylen Moody, while the secondary was comprised of Josh Jobe and Jalyn Armour-Davis at cornerback, Jordan Battle and DeMarcco Hellams at safety and Brian Branch at Star. Hellams scored via a pick-six.
-- Tyson primarily faced the first-team offense and while faced with plenty of pressure, threw a lot of quick passes. Second-year quarterback Bryce Young ran the first-team offense and, for the most part, competed against the second-team defense where he had a successful day. In his post-scrimmage press conference, head coach Nick Saban applauded Young.
“I thought Bryce did a pretty good job of managing the game and was accurate with the ball and did a nice job,”
Saban said of the sophomore. “Made a few explosive plays. But I thought really did a good job of managing the whole situation on offense when he was in there.”
As things stand at the midway point of the spring, Young is the No. 1 quarterback, Tyson is the No. 2 signal-caller and true freshman Jalen Milroe is third in Alabama’s quarterback race.
-- Even though Young was solid in his first-ever spring scrimmage, he still faced pressure from the Tide’s second-team defense. The second unit of Tim Smith, Jah Marien-Latham and Jamil Burroughs played well and showcased the depth of Alabama’s defensive line position.
-- The quarterbacks targeted the tight ends quite a bit Friday afternoon, and Cameron Latu and Jahleel Billingsley benefited from it. Latu was a name that popped up last preseason as a player that performed well in practice, and that seems to have started up again this spring. At wide receiver, Slade Bolden is the most experienced player with John Metchie sidelined, so some of the young players need to step up. It sounds like Javon Baker had a good day.
-- With the defensive front being the standout of the scrimmage, the offensive line consequently did not. But that’s to be somewhat expected given the number of players out with injuries. As for the running game, Brian Robinson, Jase McClellan and Keilan Robinson continue to be the top three backs, and all three had at least one impressive run Friday.
-- Closing things out with special teams, Charlie Scott is still with the team and was the punter with the ones during the first scrimmage. He also held for placekicker Will Reichard. Ty Perine was the second-team punter and looked good when he got a chance to kick the ball.
-- A bit of housekeeping: the team will have the next two days off for Easter before returning to practice on Monday. It will practice three times before another scrimmage Saturday, April 10.