The biggest question on every Alabama fan’s mind is who will be the next starting quarterback for the Tide.
AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims are the two players competing for the position. Alabama head coach Nick Saban that neither player has separated himself from the other.
“Both guys get equal reps every day in practice,” Saban said. “They are both doing a good job and making a lot of good throws. They are having some learning opportunities, and they are having some things come up in practice that they probably weren’t ready for. I am very pleased with the progress that both guys have made. We are looking for them to show leadership and how they affect other people. We will also evaluate them on how they affect the unit that they are with.”
Saban also said that anything is possible, even a two-quarterback system.
“We have two good quarterbacks and we feel that they both could win for us at that position,” Saban said. “It’s not out the question that two different guys could have roles at that position. We went through that a little bit at LSU. I’m not ready to say that we are heading down that road, but anything is a possibility.”
Secondary gaining chemistry despite injuries
After a year full of growing pains last season, Alabama’s secondary will look to be one of the defense’s strongest units this season.
“We are a lot more comfortable with the defense and playing with each other,” junior safety Robert Lester said. “We are building a lot more chemistry this season and we are trying to cut out all of the mental errors.”
Along with creating chemistry, Alabama’s secondary has been banged up all spring with injuries to three key players – Mark Barron, Jarrick Williams and Nick Perry. Lester said things are still the same at practice, even with the guys wearing black jerseys.
“I don’t see much of a difference because they are still doing what they need to do,” Lester said. “They aren’t injured to the point where they can’t practice. They are still out there making calls and getting into position. The only thing that they aren’t doing is tackling guys.”
Tide set to scrimmage Saturday
The Alabama football team will have its first organized scrimmage of the spring season this Saturday. Saban said it will be a great learning tool for the team.
“The most important thing we want to see on Saturday is how the guys compete when there is no coach standing right there,” Saban said. “We want to see how they act when there is no coach there encouraging them, telling them what to do or making a call for them. The next step is taking it to the field and going out there on your own and applying the knowledge that you have to make plays and execute while doing your job.”
Players are also looking forward to the upcoming scrimmage and are embracing the opportunity for live game action.
“I didn’t get to scrimmage last year because I was hurt,” linebacker Nico Johnson said. “It’s going to be exciting to me, and I’m ready to have fun because that’s what it comes down to. We’re not going to have many calls besides the basic stuff, so it’s going to be fun.”
