Alabama Football: What Nick Saban said Wednesday and what it means

After Wednesday’s post-practice media review session, Alabama football fans will not hear from Nick Saban again until Monday. If anything, Saban will be more guarded than usual on Monday. He would probably prefer to skip the annual depth chart reveal day. Not just this year, but every year.

On Wednesday evening he shared some insights that interest Alabama fans. While responding to a quarterback question, he stressed that Monday, along with the Tide’s opening game against MTSU will not end the quarterback competition.

He added that the QB competition “is taking shape to some degree.” Alabama football fans can ponder on what that means if anything.

In response to a question about the development of the Crimson Tide defense, he offered a positive assessment, but that missed tackles and mental errors have been and will continue to be a practice focus. He said that tackling was better in the first scrimmage than it was in the recent one.

Alabama Football Player Notes

• Terrion Arnold, (based on Saban’s answer to what players were getting reps at Star) will be at cornerback, rather than at Star. The first two names Saban mentioned at Star were Malachi Moore and Jalen Key, followed by him adding Earl Little.
• Saban praised Tim Keenan for his improved play and mentioned his weight loss has helped his quickness. Saban said Keenan has been a pleasant surprise in camp and was playing like a starter on the defensive line.
• Even more lavish praise was offered by Saban to a question about Dallas Turner. Saban said Turner “has done great, he is a really good leader, set as good example … I think he has just done fantastic for us.”
• In response to a question about player exits via the Transfer Portal, Saban said “this is not for everybody” meaning the Alabama football program. He added that in last season’s transfers, he was “really only disappointed” in one guy who chose not to stay.
• From a question about freshman Kadyn Proctor at left tackle, Saban’s answer seemed to suggest the left side pairing of Proctor and Tyler Booker is pretty set for game one.

A full video of the media session can be seen below.

Al.com’s Michael Casagrande did a Twitter poll on who should start at quarterback for the Crimson Tide. With a little over 1,000 votes, Jalen Milroe was at 63.3%, Ty Simpson at 15.9%, Dylan Lonergan at 14.3% and Tyler Buchner at 6.6%.