Alabama Football: Day 3 of camp with encouraging signs

Alabama football worked in sweltering Tuscaloosa heat on day 3 of fall camp. Early camp news is very encouraging on the defensive side of the ball.

Alabama football has another 17 sessions before the end of fall camp transitions to Louisville game week. There will continue to be player development and competition at positions as players work from the organizational chart to a later depth chart.

Most preseason worries among Alabama football fans concerns the defensive line depth, backup inside linebackers and the inexperienced secondary. We should say, most concern having nothing to do with a starting quarterback.

Select players will speak to the media on Tuesday. Nick Saban’s next scheduled media activity is Wednesday.

Positive news about the secondary

Less sensational but more substantive is an early perspective the defensive reload is not a rebuild. Junior cornerback, Shyheim Carter was the defensive star of Saturday’s open practice. His strong performance continued on Monday. Going into fall camp, Carter was known to be important to the 2018 defense. His contribution was expected to be at Star in the nickel set.

Unless it is a short-term experiment, Carter now looks like a starting cornerback. On multiple occasions, Nick Saban had praised Shyheim’s leadership. Saban does not do casual praise, particularly about leadership. In contrast, neither Saban or Tosh Lupoi are yet to praise Mack Wilson’s leadership. It is said Mack will assume a play-calling role and he is being developed as a leader. There is no praise yet for Wilson being a leader.

Trevon Diggs appears to lead for the other corner slot. JUCO transfer, Saivion Smith has received solid practice reviews going back to the CFB Playoff practices. Smith’s corner role may be in the nickel rather than the base defense. In nickel, Carter would move to Star. The Tide uses the Nickel more often than its base defense.

The confidence in Carter indicates there are already two solid members of the 2018 Alabama football secondary, Carter and safety Deionte Thompson. Diggs and Smith are believed to be close behind. There is also enthusiasm for Xavier McKinney at the other safety spot. If none of this changes over the next week, five of the six secondary positions have clear leaders.

Patrick Surtain Jr. might solidify the sixth position. He is already working at cornerback and star. It is less clear who will earn the hybrid defensive back-linebacker role. Until his injury, Hootie Jones played that ‘Money’ position. Minkah and Ronnie Harrison also played at Money.

Before camp started, Jared Mayden or Kyriq McDonald were thought to have the best chance at Money. If one of them or Daniel Wright gain the money role, also using Surtain Jr. in the top six might bump McKinney or Smith out of the first-team dime unit.

Cross-training at linebacker

As we have discussed before, the Alabama football staff are optimistic about the Crimson Tide futures of redshirt freshman and true freshman, Jalen Moody. Less clear is when either of the pair could fill in for an injured Mack Wilson or Dylan Moses. The other option mentioned in advance by Saban and Lupoi is using Christian Miller and Chris Allen at inside linebacker. One reason Chris Allen might be good inside linebacker option is Eyabi Anoma.

If the freshman phenom, Anoma can be more than a speed rusher this season, Allen will not be needed as much at outside linebacker. With all the concern about inside linebacker depth, it is good to remember the Tide has 14 scholarship linebackers on the roster.

Eye-tests are unreliable, but …

Depth on the defensive line has also caused concern for Alabama football fans. Much less can be learned about the big guys until the hitting begins. As we discussed a few days ago, defensive line depth is not all about the numbers.

Enough bodies are needed for a rotation keeping D-line players fresh. Alabama football has the advantage of so many d-linemen being able to play on the interior and on the outside. Davis, Buggs, Williams, Ray and Johnny Dwight can play inside or outside. New players Stephon Wynn (90) and Christian Barmore (58) appear to have bodies to do both. That is considerable flexibility for seven of the nine scholarship defensive linemen.

Take a look at the video below, compliments of 247Sports. The remaining two guys, Phidarian Mathis (48) and Tevita Musika (91) may only be interior guys but they look agile, with some quickness for their size. The 2018 D-line may not the problem we fans once feared.

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