Alabama's QB competition was not sorted after the first scrimmage, at least according to Kalen DeBoer's public comments. The consensus among those who were there was that, just like the A-Day scrimmage back in April, Keelon Russell was the more impressive quarterback. DeBoer's non-answer may actually be a pretty good clue to that.
But there were other position battles that might have been solved after the first scrimmage. It's possible that they were before the scrimmage even started on Thursday, but the performances in the scrimmage may have solidified what the coaching staff already thought.
There's still competition ongoing at several spots and across the two-deep as players jockey for position between now and the season-opener against East Carolina, but DeBoer's post-scrimmage press conference may have given a hint to the outcome of three position battles outside of QB.
Alabama may have found its starters at LG, RT, and LB during first scrimmage of fall camp
We'll start with the offensive line. Alabama has entrenched starters at LT (Jackson Lloyd), C (Racin Delgatty), and RG (Michael Carroll). The Crimson Tide has had position battles at LG and RT, but it appears those battles may be effectively over.
Mal Waldrep and Jayvin James were up first at LG and RT, respectively, during the scrimmage as they have been throughout fall camp so far. DeBoer had specific words toward the end of his press conference that made it seem it could stay that way:
"There’s been a lot of consistency with who’s in the rotation, especially with the ones, and that’s been important for our progress," DeBoer said.
DeBoer believes the offensive line is making progress, and that progress has a lot to do with the fact that they've had the same five in there with the ones consistently. Ryan Grubb already said during camp that Alabama was looking to find the best five and stick with them. The line may have a ways to go to get to the level it needs to be at, but the starting five may have already been established.
Will Sanders will keep pushing at LG, and Texas transfer Nick Brooks will try to push James at RT. But it seems likely that Alabama's offensive line for the opener against East Carolina will be the one we've seen consistently throughout camp so far.
Virginia Tech transfer Caleb Woodson has been locked in as the starter at the Mike LB position since spring, but the Crimson Tide has had a pretty open competition at the Stinger position next to him. Junior QB Reese has been viewed as the favorite, but it seems like he's been overtaken.
Sophomore Luke Metz has been a standout in fall camp, earning praise from Kane Wommack earlier this week and then receiving more praise from DeBoer after Thursday's scrimmage. When asked about the linebacker play, Metz was the first name DeBoer mentioned:
"Luke Metz is a guy I’d make a note of," DeBoer said. "The way he plays every snap as a young guy, he’s getting better and better, as you’d expect.
Based on intel from people who were there, Metz was running first-team at Stinger next to Woodson throughout the scrimmage. Reese is still likely to have a role, as is sophomore Abduall Sanders, but the top two at linebacker appear to be Woodson and Metz at this point, just three weeks from the first game.
Alabama has one more scrimmage in camp next Thursday before preparation begins for Week 1, but Thursday brought quite a bit of clarity already.
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