re: Spring Football News & Info

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If you travel with 70, you're traveling with 10 or 15 scout teamers.

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I'm not disagreeing, just threw in what I knew about UA traveled in 2014. The biggest issue with the 70 comes down to how you travel with special team only players and that can be addressed.

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One of the lasting images from the sad final act of Alabama’s 2018 season was a botched fake field goal attempt early in the second half of the Crimson Tide’s 44-16 loss to Clemson in the national championship game.

With Alabama trailing by 15 points, holder Mac Jones was smothered well short of the line of scrimmage during a play that never had a chance of being successful. It not only was a football calamity that summed up the worst loss in Nick Saban’s Alabama tenure but a stinging indictment of a kicking game that didn’t promote any confidence last year, when the Tide missed five field goals and — almost unfathomably — nine extra points, the most in the 130-team FBS division.

Most responsible for the abject performance was Joseph Bulovas, a redshirt sophomore who has a strong leg but dodgy accuracy.

Bulovas reminded everyone of his shortcomings Saturday in Alabama’s A-Day spring game, missing two of his three field-goal attempts as he hooked one to the left and sliced the other to the right. He also saw one of his point-after attempts ricochet off the right upright before successfully going over the crossbar.

But Bulovas’ struggles were counterbalanced by one moment that offered a glimmer of hope.

It came with 1:10 left in the first quarter, when true freshman Will Reichard nailed a 43-yard field goal from the left hashmark that comfortably sailed through the uprights.

Reichard, a three-star prospect from Hoover, was ranked the No. 1 kicker in the 2019 class, and there is some optimism that he could be the antidote to Alabama’s kicking woes.

“I think the guy’s a really talented guy,” Saban said last December. “I mean, he’s a really good person, hard worker, really good specialist in all regards. He can punt. He’s a really good kicker.”

But until last Saturday, the viewing public had yet to get a glimpse of Reichard, whose work behind closed doors drew praise from Saban on March 30, when the head coach noted he performed well in the first scrimmage of the spring.

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Spring football has ended for Alabama, and Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have entered the offseason after 15 practices. But with those said practices and UA’s annual A-Day Game still fresh on our minds, we recap what happened at each position this spring, while also looking at the past and future of the groups. We continue our spring position rewinds with the running backs.

PRE-SPRING QUESTION

Damien Harris ran out of eligibility and Josh Jacobs declared for the NFL draft, so they wouldn’t be back for the spring. But everyone knew Najee Harris and Brian Robinson were the next players up at the running back position in Tuscaloosa. The only question was, at least during the spring, where the depth would come from behind them -- not only in April but for the upcoming season and at an area that was going to be one of the thinnest on the Tide’s roster for the next 15 practices.

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QUESTIONS WE STILL HAVE

Given Saban’s comments about the incoming freshmen, how quickly can they pick up the offense, as well as the responsibilities that fall on Alabama runnings backs -- pass protection, etc.?

The Tide signed the nation’s No. 1 running back in Trey Sanders, who predicted he would win the Heisman Trophy as a true freshman, as well as the No. 15 running back in Keilan Robinson. At least one of them could join the rotation in their first season of college, just like Jacobs did in 2016 behind Harris and Bo Scarbrough, so history suggests a highly-rated youngster gets a shot.

“We’ve got a couple of other guys coming in in this freshman class, so we have had a lot of diversity at running back,” Saban said. “But most of the time, there has been a young player that contributes to that, almost always a freshman. Mark Ingram was a freshman when Glen Coffee was here. Trent Richardson played some when he was a freshman and Mark was the player.”

Will Ford and Townsend be able to hold off Sanders and Robinson when they arrive this summer?

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Spring football has ended for Alabama, and Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have entered the offseason after 15 practices. But with those said practices and UA’s annual A-Day Game still fresh on our minds, we recap what happened at each position this spring, while also looking at the past and future of the groups. We continue our spring position rewinds with the wide receivers

PRE-SPRING QUESTION

Alabama’s three starting receivers -- and four if you count Jaylen Waddle -- returned for another year. But there were no questions about Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III or DeVonta Smith. Entering their junior seasons, those guys are veterans in this offense, and we know what to expect.

The wide receiver position wasn’t a concern ahead of spring practice, either. So, the question surrounding the group was can the depth at wideout take that next step during the 15 practices?

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