Alabama Football Scrimmage: QB Undecided, RBs Need Consistency
By Chris Hale
Alabama football held their second scrimmage of the fall on Saturday after a short rain delay. Let’s check in to see what happened.
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So, what happened at the Alabama football scrimmage? We got you covered as best we can.
Before we even get started, no official stats were released by Alabama.
For this scrimmage, only Red Elephant Club members were allowed so updates were very sporadic. If you got anything, it had to come from social media or Coach Nick Saban’s press conference after the scrimmage was complete.
There’s one question that’s on everyone’s mind and that is the competition for the Alabama football starting quarterback. Jalen Hurts seemed to have more positive news from social media. From what I could tell, Blake Barnett had a few fumbles on running back exchanges as well as a few interceptions. Cooper Bateman had no trouble completing the short and intermediate passes, but still had a somewhat rough day as well.
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As you will see below, Saban said the quarterback competition was still open between the three candidates above. He did say that if a younger quarterback grasped the offense, he had no trouble starting them. That’s the million dollar question. Has one of the younger guys learned enough to take over the one with more seniority or not?
While the media was present for warm-ups, the order was Bateman, Barnett, and Hurts. As best I could tell, that was order in the scrimmage, too. It did seem that Hurts was left in a bit longer than the other two.
The offensive line was still the same according to the same report from BamaOnline that’s linked above; Cam Robinson, Lester Cotton, Ross Pierschbacher, Bradley Bozeman and Jonah Williams.
Also according to Saban, the running backs were inconsistent today. That part scares me. Bo Scarbrough got limited snaps last season after coming back from an injury and so did Damien Harris. Harris’ reason, of course, was just his age and getting used to the position.
There were many tweets about the defense. Lots of folks were noticing the speed at the linebacker position. The secondary sounded to be doing their thing for the day. Saban gave a mention to the younger guys that have stepped up with the departures of late.
A few players missed practice (listed below) with minor injuries, but Saban said everyone would be back to full strength soon.
Check out the tweets below for more from the Alabama football head coach.
Nick Saban: A lot of players made a significant amount of improvement. We're not satisfied with where we are.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) August 20, 2016
Saban: "We did make some explosive plays, just need to clean up and do things and execute with a little more discipline and focus."
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) August 20, 2016
Saban: "If you don't fix your problems, they stay with you. And most of the time you fix your problems from inside out."
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) August 20, 2016
Saban on QBs: "I think there's encouraging things. Big thing I want to (focus on) is consistency. You can't make plays that lose the game."
— Alex Byington (@_AlexByington) August 20, 2016
Saban on QBs: I can't say that one guy sticks out right now. Each has different skill sets.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) August 20, 2016
Saban said Dalvin Tomlinson (ankle), Keith Holcombe (ankle), Cam Sims (knee) did not take part in today's scrimmage.
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) August 20, 2016
Saban: No one was seriously injured today. Should be close to full strength next week.
— BamaCentral (@BamaCentral) August 20, 2016
Saban: We're still looking at consistency at the running back position.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) August 20, 2016
"I've been really encouraged by Hootie Jones and Deionte Thompson," Nick Saban says. Also impressed by Trevon Diggs playing both ways.
— TideSports.com (@TideSports) August 20, 2016
Saban on playing FR QB: I don't look at a guy to see if he's a freshman or sophomore or junior. It's about how fast he grasps his position.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) August 20, 2016
Next: The 50 Best Players in Alabama Football History
We’ve only got two weeks until the season opener. Just a little longer. It will be here before you know it.