re: Spring Football News & Info

LINK ]More experienced secondary gives Alabama options this spring BamaOnLine - By Charlie Potter

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama is in an entirely different situation secondary-wise this offseason.
Last year, the Crimson Tide was tasked with replacing all six defensive back starters in its dime defense. But this year, only two starters have to be replaced -- and really one with Trevon Diggs back on the practice field after missing the final nine games of 2018 because of a foot injury.
With Diggs now healthy and senior Shyheim Carter (sports hernia) limited, Nick Saban and company have been able to move some of its veteran players around this spring to weigh all of its options.

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“Shyheim is still limited, still in a black shirt, trying to do some things, but it’s not full speed, so it gives us an opportunity to get Trevon a lot of experience there,” Saban said. “Last year, he wasn’t confident in everything he’s supposed to do, but I think he’s getting more and more confident and I think he’ll help add depth and give us more diversity in terms of who we can play where.”
Along with Diggs and Carter, starters Xavier McKinney, Jared Mayden and Patrick Surtain II are also back. One of the leaders of the group, McKinney played safety in base and nickel and Money in dime in 2018 while Mayden coming on as a safety in dime.
Surtain replaced Saivion Smith at cornerback in the Ole Miss game and started the rest of the season as a true freshman. Carter typically plays Star in nickel and dime and has practiced with the safeties through six days of spring practice, although limited. As Saban said, other players have played in the slot because of Carter recovering, including Diggs and Surtain -- the Tide’s top two cornerbacks. “Those guys are both good players,” Saban said. “I think they played well last year when they played. I think they can improve, and that’s what we’re focused on and working on. We’re moving Trevon around a little bit, he’s playing some Star. We’ve done that with Patrick some in the past -- maybe we’ll do it again. But I think those guys, paying attention to detail, using the knowledge and experience of some of the things they can learn from a year ago can really help them.

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“And I think the fact that we have really good receivers out there that require you to do things the right way is going to help those guys because they’re going to get challenged every day, and I think that will be helpful to them, as well.”
With Diggs playing inside, his cornerback position with the first-team defense has been vacant. But a young player Saban trusted enough to throw into the national championship game after Smith went down has been manning the spot opposite Surtain -- sophomore Josh Jobe.
A promising player as a freshman last year, Jobe has impressed in the early portions of spring ball. The 13th-year head coach said the Jobe’s progress doesn’t have any bearing on working the older Diggs at Star, but he is pleased by the strides the second-year corner has made. “We’ve got confidence in Josh Jobe,” Saban said Tuesday. “He’s made a lot of improvement. We think he’s had a good spring so far. We thought he made a lot of progress last year. I think he’s much more confident even this year. He’s played pretty well so far this spring.”
The reserves right now, though things can change, are Nigel Knott, Jalyn Armour-Davis and early enrollee Jeffery Carter at corner and Daniel Wright and Eddie Smith at safety. UA signed five defensive backs in the 2019 cycle, but four of them won’t enroll until the summer.

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I'm 40 and I watched Captain Kangaroo. Can I be part of the Old Miser Squad?

I watched a bunch of Sky King and Fury... never was much of a Cap'n & GreenJeans fan..but did watch some.
I am pretty much the King of the Old Arse's club here.. I welcome anyone not expecting a participation ribbon for their comments and can take a snide remark without looking for a safe place, a blanket, and a puppy

Henry Ruggs III on his 4.25 40: 'I feel like I can do better' BamaOnLine By Charlie Potter

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- It’s been well-documented up to this point that Henry Ruggs III is fast. Alabama’s junior wide receiver reportedly ran in the 4.25 range in the 40-yard dash earlier this month at the Crimson Tide’s junior pro day.
For comparison, Cincinnati Bengal wideout John Ross holds the NFL Scouting Combine record after clocking a 4.22-second 40 in 2017. But even that impressive time wasn’t enough for the speedy Ruggs.

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“I didn’t really look for attention, it was just -- they told us to come up here and do that stuff and I just did what I had to do, and it just so happened I came out with those numbers,” Ruggs said Friday. “I actually was kind of upset after I ran because I didn’t feel like I had a good start, but after they told me the numbers I was like ... I still feel like I can do better.”
This is coming from a player that ran faster than 23 miles per hour, thanks to the catapult system, during 83-yard touchdown that wasn’t in Alabama’s home game against Missouri a season ago.
So, what would have happened if he had a good start on March 6? “We’ll have to wait and see,” Ruggs said, “but I feel like I have a faster 40.”

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Last season, Ruggs stepped into the starting lineup one year after seeing plenty of the field as a freshman. The Montgomery, Ala., native was one of three sophomore starters along with Jerry Jeudy and DeVonta Smith, and Ruggs finished second on the team in receptions and touchdowns.
The 6-foot, 183-pound wide receiver hauled in 46 catches for 741 yards and 11 scores, and his 11 touchdown receptions tied for second in the Southeastern Conference. He also ranked in the top 15 of the league in nearly every receiving category and tallied 20-plus yard gains on 13 of his catches in 2018. Thirty-four of his 46 receptions went for a first down or a touchdown.
He was one of six Alabama players that traveled to Indianapolis during the NFL Combine for the third-annual NCAA Elite Football Symposium, so a career on the gridiron awaits the rising junior. Obviously fast and already successful in a hand-timed 40-yard dash, was sure to keep up with his teammates and other receivers as they participated in the 40 and other drills at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“I just kind of look at it and try to compare myself to guys and just look at this guy this way and looking at things that he’s done,” Ruggs said. “So, I just try to compare myself to that so I can do better.”
As expected, though, Ruggs isn’t worrying about his future right now. His focus lies on spring practice and Saturday’s first scrimmage, which will take place at Bryant-Denny Stadium after noon CT.
“We always want to compete, and seeing as how practice isn’t a scrimmage, you don’t really have live periods moving the ball and things like that,” Ruggs said. “But once you have that scrimmage then you actually see where the team is and what kind of competitors we have.”

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Ruggs video

BOZ!!! Will you have any tidbits from Practice on Saturday? Asking for a friend!

Calling all CrimsonBoz 's

Alabama Crimson Tide on AL.com YouTube Channel

Thank you. As my wife says, I am going to mine the interwebs looking for all of this stuff anyway, so why not share it with those who are maybe not as obsessive or don't have as much time at their disposal as I might. I have used this site for information mining for years and now I'm just trying to pay it forward.

LINK ]Miller Forristall Won’t Try To Be Hale Hentges Or Irv Smith
BamaOnLine-By Kirk McNair

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Although there are key elements returning on the offensive side of the ball for Alabama for the 2019 season — quarterback Tua Tagovailoa; wide receivers Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, and DeVonta Smith; experienced running back in Najee Harris; and a handful of offensive linemen — there are also areas where there will be changes.
That’s particularly true at tight end, and Bama historically uses two of them. The two from last year — Hale Hentges at Y (the traditional on-the-line) and Irv Smith at H (usually in the slot) — are both gone.
Among he top candidates for one of those jobs is fourth-year junior Miller Forristall.

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Forristall is not going to try to be like either one of them, but hopes to take elements of the things that Hentges and Smith did well to help him become a better tight end.

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Forristall, 6-5, 240, has been a tight end since his senior year at Cartersville, Ga., High School. Before that he had played quarterback. The move didn’t adversely affect his high school team since a sophomore in he wings, Trevor Lawrence, took over at QB. Lawrence, of course, is now the quarterback at Clemson, as Bama knows all too well.
As to whether he would be more like a Hentges or more like a Smith, Forristall said, “I’m Miller.
“Nothing against them, but I’m not going to be Irv Smith or Hale Hentges. I play a very different game than both of them. They are both fantastic, and you see where it got them, but I’m not going to try to model my game after them.

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“Now, I may try to take specific things they do. Hale was fantastic at line. Great blocker. I want to take from Hale’s game. Irv was great how he pulled, how aggressive he pulled, the routes he ran, his attention to detail. I’m going to steal that from Irv.
“I’ve played with them, I’ve watched the films, and what I can take from them to better myself. It’s not like I can be like Hale or be like Irv, but I’m going to take what they do well and I’m going to try to do it well.
“I think I can play the H and I can play the Y, and hopefully I can do what I can for the team to try to do both. So I’m going to try to take what both do well and what others do around college and mold my game after a little and steal the good stuff they do. I can try to do both.”
Last year Smith expanded the role of the tight end in the offense with 44 pass receptions for 710 yards and 7 touchdowns. Forristall sees that as inducement for tight ends and for Alabama prospects.
“Recruits say, ‘Man, I see this guy catching the ball. I want to go there.’ Or we see it and say, ‘Hey, that could be me. I get to catch a couple of balls.’ So it’s super exciting.”
Thus far, Forristall has not been a pass-catching tight end. As a freshman he was a surprise starter in Alabama’s opening game against Southern Cal (and also started in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game against Florida) and played in all 15 games, but his reception production was 5 catches for 73 yards. As a sophomore in 2017 he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third game (a redshirt year). That injury came at the end of his only reception of the season.

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Last year he played in every game but the only place to find him statistically was in taking two short kickoffs back for five yards.
In addition to the changes in the lineup for this year at tight end and other positions, Forristall expects the Tide offense to be different in some respects.
There’s a new offensive coordinator and play-caller in Steve Sarkisian, who will be calling Bama plays for the first time since he took over as offensive coordinator the week of the 2016 national championship game.
“This really is a new team,” Forristall said. “New dynamic. Guys are a year older. I’m a lot different than I was last year. Tua’s a lot different than he was last year. So it’s going to be a new offense, but you can only run so many plays. And the “new offense” theme is tempered, Forristall said, because “There are only so many changes around here. The Process is still the Process, practice is still run the same way.”
He does think there has been a change in focus, “like, ‘Hey, we’re back to the basics and do things like we used to do things.’ That’s really been this spring and even in the Fourth Quarter (off-season conditioning). We’re going to get back to what we’re good at.
“There only are so many changes around here. The Process is still The Process, practice is still run the same way. I think we’re trying to refocus. Not that we weren’t focused last year, but there has been a new call, like, ‘Hey, we’re back to the basics and do things like we used to do things.’ That’s really been this spring and even in the Fourth Quarter. We’re going to get back to what we’re good at.”
Forristall is a believer in Sarkisian as offensive coordinator. “Fantastic,” he said. “We’re going in the right direction.”
Forristall predicts new plays could come from Sarkisian’s time as head coach at Southern Cal or from his time as offensive coordinator with the Atlanta Falcons or even from “random teams. ‘Hey, we like this play. We’re going to do like this.’ Of old stuff we’ve done here.”
And, he said, “You have Tua at quarterback and the receivers you have, you just get the ball to them however you can.

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“I don’t think you have to be a West Coast guy to figure that out. You get it to them down the field, you get it to them quick. It will be all over the place I would guess.”

One thing that pleases Forristall is that the one position coach on the offensive side that didn’t change between the end of last season and the start of spring practice is Jeff Banks, who coaches tight ends and is special teams coordinator.

Forristall said, “When I saw all these coaches leaving, I was like, ‘Please, Lord, please can we keep Coach Banks.’ He is unreal, a fantastic tight ends coach. He’s a rock in the tight ends room.”

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Charlie Potter just posted a "pre-Scrimmage" observations post on BamaOnLine. So I would assume the actual Scrimmage would be taking place around 1:00 CDT. Will post the Potter article in just a sec and then follow up with any observations I can find

wife is taking me to lunch...so will be out of pocket for a bit... more later this afternoon (did get the Potter article posted..)
Potter also posted a Paid Article "Six on the Clock today" Mac Jones, Miller Forristall, Chris Owens, Josh McMillon, Jared Mayden and Skyler DeLong all I can say is hmmmm?

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Alabama visited Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time this year as the Crimson Tide held its first scrimmage of the spring Saturday.

It was 75 degrees outside and the team began warming up shortly after noon.

Here are some observations gleaned from the limited access period provided to the media before team drills took place:

— Alabama’s first-team offensive line consisted of Alex Leatherwood at left tackle, Evan Neal at left guard, Chris Owens at center, Emil Ekiyor at right guard and Jedrick Wills Jr. at right tackle. The second-team unit went as follows: Scott Lashlee at left tackle, Kendall Randolph at left guard, Hunter Brannon at center, Deonte Brown at right guard and Tommy Brown at right tackle.

— Receiver Henry Ruggs III, who was attending a funeral, was not present.

— Outside linebackers Ben Davis (shin splints) and Terrell Lewis (knee) as well as tight end Kedrick James were seen on stationary bikes.

— Anfernee Jennings and Chris Allen led the outside linebacker group. Eyabi Anoma and Kevin Harris II were the next pairing.

— Shyheim Carter continued to wear a black, no-contact jersey as he continues to recover offseason surgery that came in the wake of a sports hernia.

— Cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis wore a brace on his right knee. On the very same field where he was Saturday, he tore a ligament in his right knee on Sept. 8 before Alabama’s victory over Arkansas State. Armour-Davis has been working his way back into the mix ever since.

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AL.com