With spring’s spotlight centered mainly on the quarterback competition, the only other unit on Alabama’s roster that has experienced as much turnover across the board is special teams, specifically at punter and kicker.
Four-year starting punter Cody Mandell left after earning the job as a walk-on freshman, and kicker Cade Foster is gone after a somewhat tepid career. The presumed starter at placekicker is Adam Griffith, who was the collateral damage at last year’s Iron Bowl finish.
Griffith’s kick, which was a few ball rotations short of a 57-yard try, is not representative of his composite career, or his potential as the former No. 1 kicker in the class of 2012. Griffith’s only made field goal was a 20-yard chip shot in garbage time against Tennessee last season, so in-game experience will not be in abundance. He still is, however, a notch above other kickers.
“We really only have one kicker here,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said, referring to Griffith. “Adam Griffith is doing really well.”
Saban remarked after last year’s Iron Bowl that Griffith routinely drilled field goals from 60 yards and farther.
“He’s done a great job of kicking off,” Saban said after the first spring scrimmage. “I think he kicked nine balls today on kickoffs, and probably five of them were out of the end zone.”
As far as punters go, the Crimson Tide currently has one on roster – Adrian Lamothe from Monterrey, Mexico. Alabama recruited one of the top punters in the 2014 class, JK Scott from Denver, who could make a serious push for the starting job.
“We have a few walk-on punters that we’re working,” Saban said of the competition. “We’ve actually even worked Alec Morris a little bit as a punter, who was a high school punter.”
JK Morris is currently embroiled in the quarterback competition.
One of the walk-ons is Tuck Borie, a preferred walk-on from nearby Hoover High School in Hoover, Ala. Borie earned All-State honors punting for the 6A state champions and joins former teammate Marlon Humphrey this fall in Tuscaloosa.
Returners are always in flux, especially in kickoffs, but rising senior Christion Jones will be the de facto starter at punt returner after he caught lightning during last year’s season opener against Virginia Tech. Jones returned both a kickoff and a punt for scores in that game and added a punt-return touchdown against Chattanooga.
Many of last year’s special teams stars are either moving on to starting roles or competing for starting roles, including safety Landon Collins and linebacker Dillon Lee. Breakthrough players on special teams often have inside tracks to early starting positions, as Vinnie Sunseri remarked at his recent pro day.
“Obviously it’s a big contributing factor to be able play on special teams,” Sunseri said. “I was personal protector on punts; I was on kickoff; I was on punt; I was on kickoff return,;and I even held on field goals whenever they needed me to.”
With McCarron and Sunseri departing, Alabama will need to find a new holder for field goals.
Griffith will likely look to become more accurate and consistent as a placekicker going into the fall. His distance is already solid, but not much is known about Griffith’s game, even to some of the coaching staff.
“I’ve been really pleased with Adam Griffith,” Saban said. “He’s done a really good job, but we just don’t have a lot to evaluate there right now.”
