Alabama Football began Fall Camp on Wednesday morning. The best news from the first practice session was that all the injured Crimson Tide players who missed spring workouts were full participants. Of course, on day one, there was no full-contact work, and Deonte Lawson wore a bulky knee brace. But Keon Sabb, Kadyn Proctor, Wilkin Formby, Jalen Hale, and probably Lawson are clearly on track to be 100% by the FSU game.
No surprise was that Ty Simpson was leading the quarterback group, followed by Austin Mack and Keelon Russell. Video snippets of the quarterbacks showed Simpson doing something not seen often enough last season: releasing passes before receivers made breaks.
Alabama Football and Day One Depth Chart Clues
First day position lines in drills do not necessarily represent a depth chart. They are clues, and while there were few surprises on Wednesday morning, there was one. The maybe, second-unit guys at tackle were two freshmen, Jackson Lloyd and Michael Carroll. At least at this point, it appears Carroll is the right tackle backup to Wilkin Formby. The surprise is not shocking, though it had been expected that Carroll would first be a guard before ever becoming a tackle. Instead of Carroll, Alabama football insiders had believed that Olaus Alinen would be Formby's backup. While Alinen will continue to be a tackle option, it now appears his primary position might be at guard. Before Wednesday, Lloyd had been the favorite to back up Proctor.
In the category of it doesn't mean much yet, the maybe, first-unit guard was Geno VanDeMark, with Kam Dewberry in the second-unit group.
Wednesday's drills mostly reinforced offseason depth chart predictions. It is unlikely that will change until after the Alabama Crimson Tide's first scrimmage of Fall Camp. Wednesday was the first of 20 preseason practices, leading up to the season. Alabama Football will return to the practice field on Thursday morning.
Note: Day one practice viewing information provided by Colin Gay and Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News.