re: Alabama FB -- 2018 FALL CAMP Thread -- Garbage Dump Edition

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Coach K @capstonekid · 26m
13 with a 45 to 50 yd laser to 17 for a TD. 13 has thrown 2 TDs today. 2 has thrown 1 TD.

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All offseason long, Nick Saban has said his No. 1 concern has been the lack of experience on defense, especially among Alabama’s second- and third-team defenses. Asked about the depth after Saturday’s second scrimmage of fall camp, Saban went on a mini-rant.

“I've been concerned about this all along, so I don't even know why you would ask the question,” Saban said. “You just think whatever happens, we just shite another player. Everything is going to be perfect. All of our fans think that, you think that. That's what you write about. That's the message that you send out there. Yeah, I worry about it all the time. I may be the only one, but I do worry about it. So, I'm very worried about it.”

Eight members of UA’s 2017 defense were drafted in the seven rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft, including three first-rounders, while two more defenders were signed as undrafted free agents.

The Crimson Tide returns only three defensive starters from its title-winning team in linebacker Anfernee Jennings and defensive linemen Raekwon Davis and Isaiah Buggs. The three returning starters are the fewest in the SEC and tied for the fewest among Power 5 teams, along with NC State, Penn State and Indiana. Only one FBS team returns less (UConn, 2).

There are talented players set to step into starting roles, but they leave voids in terms of the depth that will need to be filled by young players -- and in most cases, it will be up to true freshmen.

Alabama’s depth also took a hit this week when outside linebacker Christopher Allen suffered a “surgical knee injury” that will likely force the sophomore him to miss the entire 2018-19 season.

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That’s a wrap on preseason full scrimmage practice days. Going into Saturday’s second and final scrimmage of Alabama fall football camp (though with another week to go before Bama starts game preparation for Louisville), Crimson Tide Coach Nick Saban had previewed the general hopes he had for the Bryant-Denny Stadium work.

Those were it being “game-like” insofar as smooth substitution patterns and special teams work and having coaches handling communications from the press box. But he also wanted to “let the players play,” and for them to do things when the coaches weren’t right beside them telling them what to do.

And, of course, it was the last scrimmage with the season-opener against Louisville in Orlando on Sept. 1, two weeks away, and perhaps the last chance for some players to make an impression.

That’s important because, as Saban has said in the past, at some point decisions have to be made on which players will get preparation for the opening game.

Saturday’s scrimmage was a bit late starting because of a downpour, but as older Alabama fans from the Paul Bryant Era will testify, it doesn’t rain on the Crimson Tide.

As is usual, there were few specifics revealed by Saban following the scrimmage. Don’t look for statistics. (And, yes, there were plenty of unofficial reports, some verified by Bama’s head coach. Although the scrimmage, as always, was advertised as closed there were a number of followers there, including former players and Red Elephant Club members.)

Just jumping to Saban’s summation, he said, “Overall, I'm pleased with the improvement we made. I'm far from satisfied with where our team is. We've got a lot of work to do."

About as specific as it gets, he said, “The No. 1 thing, which was the focus after the last scrimmage, was to be able to make some significant improvement from week one to week two.

“I certainly saw a lot of areas where we were able to do that.

“We made a lot more explosive plays today, were a lot more consistent on offense. Took care of the ball pretty well, both quarterbacks (Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts) played well.”

On the other hand, he said, “I thought the tackling was not as crisp as it needs to be on defense, and we continue to make probably more mental errors than we're going to be able to tolerate. We're continuing to work with guys. Working together and communicating is going to be really, really important.

"We had a couple two-minute situations at the end of the game that we were successful at. I thought the specialists did fairly well today. Each of them had maybe one play they wished they had back. I was really pleased with that as well.

"I think the big message is, the things that we focused on and the things that we worked on, we made improvement on. The things that we don't pay attention to detail on, people trying to get the ball out, breaking the ball out, ball security, those types of things that we really make a great emphasis on, we need continue to create more turnovers on defense. I thought we did a pretty good job of taking care of the ball today on offense.”

That, of course, is one of the conundrums of a team working against itself. It cannot look good on offense if it turns the ball over, although that makes the defense look good. And if the offense has good ball security, the defensive side is criticized for not getting takeaways.

Saban didn’t point any fingers at individuals, but said the secondary “didn’t play well today. They gave up a lot of big plays and made a lot of mental errors. We need to do better, play better as a group.

“We have some individuals that are playing well and some guys that need to play with a lot more discipline, eye control, and understand what they do.”

Alabama lost six regulars from the secondary from last year’s national championship team, and even before the Tide started fall camp Saban had said that young players had to be counted on for depth in the defensive backfield.

“They are young players,” Saban said. “I believe in them. I have a lot of confidence that we can get them where they need to be, but they need to realize they have a lot of things to work on.

“I think sometimes when things go fast out there, it's hard for them to figure it out and then they don't play with a lot of confidence and focus. That just goes with being a young player.

“We'll keep working with those guys and go from there."

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I’m really starting to wonder about our training program.. this is getting out of hand

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