Friday practice and scrimmage

Hey guys, 1st of all on Alex Watkins some GREAT news and the media found out after I told y'all his injury looked VERY serious, but luckily it was only a severe strain and a small tear so he will sit out the rest of Spring and likely with good rehab (our team is the best in the country no doubt about it) he'll be back before the season, sadly he's gonna miss the practice time that is crucial. So now is DEFINITELY the chance for Adrian Hubbard to impress and step up, I'll tell you guys that he has impressed but now he's really got his chance.

For Friday practice we really prepped the groups, not a whole lot of news or good juicy info just walkthroughs and LOTS of schmoozing by players LoL to Duron Carter and Daddy Cris but not much to report.

Now for the scrimmage there was LOTS to report so here we go:

- OMG!! This is the best group of OL we have that I've seen at Bama and at this stage they are ridiculously scary looking NO DOUBT!! what our offense will be about and we will run at will on any opponent. Coach Stoutland has REALLY turned some of these guys into mammoth OL. DJ Fluker was the most impressive I've seen an OL look since Andre Smith, not kidding, he was a pancake machine today, got a few hoots and hollers from Coach Stout and constant praising all scrimmage from CNS. McCollough and Douglas are in a battle for LT, both were excellent today McCollough gave up 2 sacks but those were both on long pass plays. Aaron was a brick wall man he even stood Upshaw straight up on 1 play and put him on his butt, haven't seen that all Spring or anyone else do that to 41. Steen is really starting to look like a Bama OG, working under Coach Stout has helped him tremendously. Our OL was really amazing and you saw it in the rushing stats.

- Both QB's honestly did pretty well, I'm not gonna lie to y'all, after the 1st scrimmage I PERSONALLY liked Sims and McCarron was still very impressive, just got the feeling of a leader from him and under pressure he made some great reads, some dump offs and showed poise in the pocket and MAN is his release quick. I know his stat line had 1 more INT, but TRUST ME 1 was a Champ Bailey type play by my new frontrunner for most improved John Fulton (I'll tell you about him later) and he threw against him most of the scrimmage was brutal TRUST ME. McCarron held on a little long to the ball and got sacked a few times and you saw how great his arm strength is but as is the case with his gunslinger mentality he forced a little too much at times, paid for it with the int and instead of progressing through reads a few plays got cold feet and slung it deep regardless of coverage, needless to say we have lots of great film to break down on McCarron in game situations to give him feedback on, Sims as well, but he just to me really came to play Saturday and scrimmaged VERY well, several coaches were impressed and if he keeps it up he'll win the job no doubt about it.

- All the WR's looked pretty good Saturday and again I'll tell you Saban closed out the weekend with a HUGE addition that will DEFINITELY shore up the hole left by Julio in catching and blocking (he's also a phenomenal blocker as well) but all the guys looked good Saturday, we have some very fast guys at WR, Bell continued to impress as did Maze. Maze and both QBs have created a bond and he will factor in heavily into the offense in different ways as well as Blake Sims both guys had more stats than were listed by using them in different sets (1 had an impressive long run). Bowman also had a few pretty spectacular catches and was left out of the stat sheet (hush hush LoL finished with 70 or so receiving yds I think). Big Mike Williams also struggled more than we thought he would, but to his credit most of his work was blocking today in heavier sets and he did well also Fowler was put at H back a few times and had a 1 handed TD catch, he's another guy I expect to be a jack of trades player to factor in a lot of different ways into the offense. We also have a number of different threats as receivers and the CHERRY ON TOP OF THE CAKE was adding Duron Carter!! WOOOOOW I'M EXCITED!

- I told you guys the ILB group is ridiculous and we saw it big time yesterday. We are more confident that Hightower is back to his TF and before the injury form. On one of the sacks he recorded Sims had to take a moment when he said the look he saw in DH's eyes was scary. He's definitely BACK! Also Trey really stepped up and impressed today he's learning on the fly and like I said before very close to a clone of Hightower. CJ Mosley also was impressive made some great reads and really stepping up as a leader on the 2nd team group. And finally Upshaw was Upshaw fast aggressive, mean and athletic really worked on the upper body strength trying to become THE absolutely perfect Jack LB for our defense. Again ridiculous depth very impressive all around and also a good bit of tape to break down and analyze. Nico also is really pushing to get into the rotation he made a few great reads and stepped into the hole several times off a block we saw a lot of great things from him today.

- When John Fulton was 1st being recruited he had a nickname we heard about "Bam Bam, because he hits like a safety" his HS coach told us and today we saw it, his int was off an earhole shot he had on Norwood AFTER Norwood caught the curl route and jammed him and then popped him so hard he knocked the ball up and caught it, shades of the way Javy popped some WR's and he was a blanket on his WR all day really developing well and turned a corner under Saban's tutelage and man oh man did he impress his stat line was also impressive, it's great to see another CB Really stepping up

- The DL had a pretty good day, the 2 best looking guys today were D. Square and Chapman, but we got a LOT to review on tape I guess it was sort of a dominating performance by the OL's, I can tell you that both JuCo guys looked impressive but both also have a ways to go but both served the major purpose of havoc in the middle and the pass rush was something fierce thanks to both those guys which was awesome to see since we really lacked it last year. Chapman had a nice day too with 3 tackles, all TFL not sure why his stats weren't included but you know he's the leader of the group. Also 2 more sacks unaccounted for was Ed Stinson who also looked very good and also raw enough that needs more work but he's really starting to look like a lean mean DE.

- Y'all saw the rushing stats so y'all KNOW the whole group is impressive, TR didn't get much PT today. Lacy was a beast, he did what we asked and attacked the hole and really was impressive he's improved foot speed and balance and his bashing style is still there, he's grabbed onto the back-up role and is holding on tight. Also we got a lot of great reps for Dee and Goode and got to see Dee a little more in an expanded role and is still getting a crash course and today took a large step. He also showed a good bit of backfield blocking skill which is also very welcome to see for a TF.

- Special teams is still struggling a bit. Cade was the best looking kicker and Jay Williams looked pretty good at punter but it's a group of guys who are still very raw so there's a lot of work to do with them.

- Vinnie Sunseri was also left out of the stat sheet for a reason I'm assuming played S and some dollar nickel and dime DB, VERY impressive at both and he also had some pops

- GREAT 1st scrimmage lots of stuff to work on and a scary good looking team already, lots of hungry guys as well

Any questions?