re: Spring Football News & Info

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Alabama: Antonio Alfano, SDE Even the best players that come to Alabama normally have to wait for their turn in the spotlight, but Alfano may be too good to ignore. If any true freshman can push to earn some meaningful snaps on Nick Saban’s defense, it’s him. The 6-foot-4 and 285-pound defensive end is a physical freak of nature with impressive athleticism for someone his size. Keep an eye on him in Tuscaloosa this spring.

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Alabama held its first of 15 spring practices Friday, and reporters were allowed to watch two of the Crimson Tide’s periods of on-field drills. Here are a few takeaways from the inaugural spring practice. . .

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3. Alabama rebuilding: Those words have never been written in the Nick Saban era -- until now. The Crimson Tide are picking up the pieces after their worst loss under Saban. Fourteen starters return from a group that lost by four touchdowns to Clemson and looked bad doing it. When Tua Tagovailoa is one of those starters and when he is throwing to the deepest set of wide receivers in the country, something tells me the Tide will have a chance.

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Still to be settled over the next five months include:
Fixing an interior linebacking corps that has been uncharacteristically soft and mistake-prone the last two seasons.
Finding a replacement for Deionte Thompson. The loss of Minkah Fitzpatrick was mitigated somewhat last year by the certain knowledge that DT14 was another superstar-in-waiting at safety.
The defensive line must fill the void left by the best player in the nation last season, Quinnen Williams. Big 92 disguised a lot of sins behind him. And the ever-steady Isaiah Buggs leaves a hole on the strongside that has been filled competently the last two seasons.
The offensive line will have to replace three starters, one crucial backup, and two players who either transferred or were dismissed. There is abundant incoming talent, and last year’s remaining starters will be collecting paychecks on Sunday soon. But, after a few seasons of relative certainty, the big uglies have several question marks and jobs up for grabs.
What to do with special teams? Last year some aspects of the ‘Bama kicking game were abysmal: Alabama returned and fielded kicks/punts very well. It was when they were tasked to score that the special teams issues arose: Austin Jones, brought in as a safety net, hit just one of three field goal attempts. He also missed three-of-eleven extra point tries. He wasn’t alone by any stretch. After being redshirted over his 2017 Fall Camp performance, R-FR Joseph Bulovas came in and was generally a very steady placekicker (78%.) But, even he caught a case of #CollegeKickers and missed six extra point attempts. Punting, long a strength of the program was frankly abysmal in 2018. The nation’s No. 1 punting prospect, Skyler DeLong was called on just 16 times, but he only averaged 34.4 wobbly, shanked yards-per-attempt. Walk-on Mike Bernier proved to be a bit more certain. But, he’s a hang-time punter without a big leg. What the Tide gained in downfield coverage was negated by his 38 yards-per-attempt.
Finally, anyone that watched the CFP Championship game has to be least marginally concerned with how Tua Tagovailoa bounces back from his worst performance in a Crimson jersey. While he was a sophomore last season, Tua entered 2018 with only 77 passes under his belt, and Clemson marked just his 15th start. Unfortunately, it was also that game where he played like it; cocksure-but-error-filled. It is fair to say, on a night where many individual efforts disappointed, that Tua’s was one of the worst. How does he respond? Leaders lead, and how he overcomes that game and learns from adversity will say a great deal about him, affect his pro fortunes, and guide the success of the 2019 season.

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