Alabama Football: The Daily Insider – March 26

Alabama football fans have a big appetite for information and we’ll be serving up healthy portions of hot food for thought with a side of seasonal inside information every morning this Spring.

There was a time when getting to the Waysider early on a weekday morning was the best way to learn what was really going on with Alabama football.

In the compact dining area, all you had to do was listen. Most conversations included tidbits of information about the University and the football program.

These days there is more to be gleaned by surveying the digital landscape of multitudinous sources. The problem with this wondrous abundance of information is in separating the sense from the nonsense.

That’s where we come in. This column will endeavor to guide that process of discernment.

We’ll peruse message boards, podcasts, tweets, talk radio and numerous digital communication platforms. We’ll ferret out the most worthwhile information and offer our take on what it means.

Alabama football fans, check in with us here each morning and send us your comments and questions through Facebook or Twitter. We would love to hear from you.

The Daily Insider: March 26

Due to rain, Alabama football worked inside on Saturday. It was the third practice of 15 for the 2017 spring schedule.

There were no changes regarding the players recovering from injury. Bo Scarbrough and B. J. Emmons continued to participate in drills both in a black jersey.

Trevon Diggs continued to work at cornerback. Chadarius Townsend, who had originally been listed as a running back, was working with the wide receivers.

Much attention is given to the pecking order of how players line up during position group drills. It is clear this pecking order is not random. Nick Saban will occasionally waste valuable seconds in his preparation for the next championship to explain that with no depth charts, daily rep charts are used only as organizational aids.

Alabama Crimson Tide Football

As fans, we need to guard against reading too much into early rep charts. The 2017 team has not hit anyone yet, though that will change next week.

Practice observations indicate Robert Foster has an opportunity for meaningful minutes in 2017, possibly as a starter. As of today, the rep lineup routine indicates Matt Womack leads in the right tackle battle.

After the next practices on Tuesday and Thursday, we will engage in the almost totally frivolous exercise of discussing a depth chart. Some Alabama football experts started publishing their depth chart guesses last week.

I suppose it does no harm to guess, so we’ll wade in soon.

Until then we can offer two predictions and one “I would not be surprised if” possibility.

We predict Daron Payne and Da’Shawn Hand will be 2017 All-Americans – barring serious injury of course. Check out the Bama Hammer breakdown of all the 2017 D-Line.

Since the Tide’s defensive schemes feed tackles to voracious linebackers, Payne and Hand may not have mind-boggling stats, but they will play their positions as well as anyone in the nation.

The “I would not be surprised if” possibility is that Najee Harris will run the wildcat enough times to threaten other teams. Why such an extreme possibility with a roster loaded with talented runners, including Jalen Hurts?

First, Harris has the combination of speed, strength, balance and quickness to make him a natural wildcat runner. Secondly, Harris can pass. Check out an early play in the video below.

In the video, Harris throws a nice pass from the running back position. He also plays some wildcat quarterback. As much as Alabama fans are justifiably excited about QB backups, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones; another option would not be a bad idea.

Next: Is the 2017 Linebacker Group the Tide's Best-Ever?

Check back with us again tomorrow when we’ll offer more food for thought. Tweet us your comments or check in with us on Facebook. We would like to hear your thoughts on Alabama football.