As preseason camp rolls along, Alabama football will hold its first scrimmage on Saturday, behind closed doors at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It’s an early chance for new head coach Kalen DeBoer to assess where the team is, as the Crimson Tide prepares for its season-opener on Aug. 31 against Western Kentucky.
Speaking Wednesday, offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan explained what he was expecting to see in the scrimmage.
“I think simple execution,” Sheridan said. “Taking care of the football, communication, alignment, assignment. Those are the things you’re looking for in the first scrimmages.”
DeBoer will address reporters after the scrimmage ends. Before that, here’s three questions for the Crimson Tide to answer in Saturday’s practice.
Entering camp, it seemed to be a three-man race for two tackle spots on the Alabama offensive line. Logically, once Kadyn Proctor returned from his brief Iowa sojourn, it was fairly obvious he’d slot back into the left side, where he started every game as a freshman last season.
Proctor has recently moved into the first team at left tackle during media practice observation periods. That leaves the right side, with Wilkin Formby and Elijah Pritchett battling it out.
Formby appeared to be going with the first team during the most recent open practice periods on Wednesday. However, Offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said the battle is ongoing, and the scrimmage would be telling.
“I think that competition is still going and I think it’s early in camp, you know?” Sheridan said Wednesday. ” I think when you get past the first scrimmage, you kind of have a better sense of where that’s at. (offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic) has been rotating those guys, that’s been by design, and we try to cross train the linemen anyways whether it’s tackles playing both sides or guards playing center, etc., but that’s ongoing.”
During the Crimson Tide’s A-Day game, the defense had trouble putting any pressure on Alabama’s quarterbacks. Chris Braswell and Dallas Turner are both off to the NFL, meaning UA was going to need to find replacements anyway.
Couple that with a brand new defensive scheme, plus an improved offensive line, and the Tide was bound to struggle in that area at least a little. Still, it’s an issue that will need to be fixed before the season starts.
Since camp started, DeBoer has said he feels good about the Tide’s group at edge rusher.
“They’ve shown the ability to consistently pass rush off the edge,” DeBoer said. “We have strength in numbers. You have to have your highlighted guys, and I think as time goes on and they continue to develop, we’ll have some of those that really become more of the stars.”
No time like the present to demonstrate the ability to rush the passer.
It’s Alabama’s biggest question entering the 2024 season. Even Nick Saban brought it up during his coverage of SEC Media Days as part of his new job with ESPN.
Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold are off to the NFL. Caleb Downs led a parade of younger players into the transfer portal, and now Kane Wommack and company have to pick up the pieces.
There’s still some experience around, with Malachi Moore returning at safety, plus the portal additions of Domani Jackson, Keon Sabb and DaShawn Jones. However, the coaches have sounded the most optimistic about some talented freshmen, including Zabien Brown, Zavier Mincey and Jaylen Mbakwe.
Brown especially caught DeBoer’s eye..“He just doesn’t feel like a freshman out there,” DeBoer said. “He does not. We felt that way this spring, and he just followed that up with another big jump like you really would expect. He’s just out there, and I don’t think of him as young or anything like that. I think of him as a guy that’s just fitting into the defense, and I’m proud of the way he approaches it.”
Saturday’s scrimmage is an opportunity for the young DBs to get valuable reps. It’s also an early test as to whether the concerns are valid for the secondary.
