🏈 An in-depth look at practice- 8/6 morning and evening sessions

[TerryP]

From the guys at Bama Sports Report.

The Alabama football team hit the field for practice number two of the first day of fall camp tonight, and many of us got a first look at most of the guys who made up the #1 recruiting class in the nation in February. It wasn’t all newcomers tonight, as there were a few veterans sprinkled in with the guys who redshirted last year and most of the walk-ons. As with the morning practice, the guys were in shorts and shoulder pads.


Here’s what you need to know:


The injury situation looks good. There were a lot of people concerned over some injuries that might be lingering for guys like Kendall Kelly, Rod Woodson, Eddie Lacy, and D.J. Fluker, but all of them practiced tonight.


There was one unfortunate absence from tonight’s practice, as the word came down mid-day that Kerry Murphy’s older brother has apparently been murdered. You would feel bad for any person having to go through such a tragedy, but it makes it sting a little worse that it is Murphy involved. After taking three seasons to finally make it to Alabama, he ends up having to miss his first fall practice… and it would be understandable if he missed most of the next week.


There was one number change to report, as transfer Phelon Jones has apparently changed from #26 to #9. He still won’t play this season as he sits out a year because of his transfer from LSU.


Before getting to the new guys, I’ll address some things I noticed about some of the returning players who were at tonight’s practice:


B.J. Scott was one of the few sophomores working tonight, but he looked very solid. It could be that his leadership skills are the reason he was placed in the night time session, or it could mean that he’s simply behind Marquis Johnson and Chris Rogers at this time. Last season we saw Justin Woodall work in the first night time session, so this isn’t a guarantee of anything.


Two guys who worked at defensive end in the spring are now working at outside linebacker – presumably the jack – Glenn Harbin and Milton Talbert. Harbin spent most of last fall working with the jacks, but this move for Talbert comes after three full seasons working as an end.


Undra Billingsley made the move to tight end in the spring, but looks much more the part now – having slimmed down some 20 pounds. He looks similar to Travis McCall in his build, and could be the blocking tight end of the future for the Tide.

 

[TerryP]

Moving on now to the new guys… you’ll hear this from anyone who has a chance to see them, but these guys just do not look like freshmen. Much like the incoming guys last year, it’ll be tough to pick out the true freshmen when the full squad is working together. They’ve all got to grasp things mentally, but the size and athleticism is already there for most of them.


Jonathan Atchison – I was expecting to see him working with the middle linebackers, but instead saw him with the outsde guys. It looks like he’ll get a first look at the sam spot.


Kenny Bell – He received rave reviews during the summer voluntary drills, and we got a glimpse as to why today. This kid can flat out run. At 160 pounds he’s got some bulk that he needs to add, and the real test for him will come when the team is in pads and he has to fight to get off of the line of scrimmage.


Chris Bonds – after missing most of his senior season with an injury, he looks to be in great shape. Playing time at the defensive end spot is going to be almost impossible to find for a freshman, but he has a great frame that should see him easily add to his 280 lb. weight.


Michael Bowman – he is flat out huge. The media relations folks have him listed at 6′4, but he’s at least an inch taller than the other guys listed at his height. He’s also very fluid for a guy his size. It will be interesting to see how his speed compares to some of the older guys once the pads are on, but he certainly passes the “eye test.”


D.J. Fluker – if Bowman is huge, then there just isn’t a word to describe how big this kid is. He made everyone in the offensive line drills look small, and several of those guys are big kids. The shocking thing is how quick he is, though. In most of the drills he was the first guy to make contact with the blocking sled. He looks like the real deal.


Nico Johnson – the same fluidity of motion that had me raving about Julio Jones and Mark Ingram last year at this time is evident with Nico. It just looks like the athletic side of things comes very easy to him. He’s got two enormously talented guys in front of him (McClain & Hightower), but he physically looks ready to play.


Kendall Kelly – the biggest deal here is that he looked to be running freely, without any lingering affects from his hip injury. It should be interesting to see how his body responds in tomorrow’s practice, but the fact that he didn’t defer enrollment mostly tells me everything I need to know about his health.


Dre Kirkpatrick – he spent almost all of his one-on-one time working with Phelon Jones, and most people would have likely guessed that Dre is the one with SEC game experience. The thing that truly jumps out at you is how big he is as a corner. He’s every bit of the 6′3 he’s listed at, and corners don’t come around at that size often.


Eddie Lacy – it’s big news that he is actually here and practicing, considering he was cleared by the NCAA yesterday, and only arrived in town last night. He wasn’t able to work in the summer drills, so he’s likely behind the other guys at the moment, but he looks like he is physically ready to compete. His knees were a bit of a problem at the end of his senior season, but he looks healthy now.


Mike Marrow – one look at him and it’s easy to see why the coaching staff was okay with moving Baron Huber to tight end. I’m guessing we’ll still see Baron or Preston Dial get most of the goal line snaps at full back, but this kid looks the 240 pounds that he is listed at, and there’s not a lot of fat. He should be Bama’s most athletic true fullback in quite some time (Le’Ron McClain was a tailback playing fullback).


A.J. McCarron – there’s not much to tell in skeleton drills, especially when the QBs aren’t even wearing shoulder pads. One of the genius things about the way that Coach Saban breaks up his early two-a-days practices is that a guy like McCarron got 1/2 of all QB repetitions tonight (Morgan Ogilvie was the other QB). He’ll need all the reps that he can get if he hopes to win the #2 spot behind Greg McElroy, and he’ll also need to quickly put on some pounds – though the lack of shoulder pads will make anyone seem small when everyone else is wearing them. He has a quick release, and has good zip on the ball. Now he has to learn the offense.


William Ming – the biggest positive for Ming in his recruiting evaluations was his motor, and that just simply can’t be displayed in individual drills. What is interesting to note is that when you look at him standing still, he just doesn’t look very athletic. However, once he starts moving, there is an ease with which he moves that belies his 260 pounds. He needs to get a lot bigger if he wants to crack the two-deep, but he should have the time to do that this season.


Brandon Moore – I was fully expecting him to come out in a white jersey and work with the offensive tackles… I was also dead wrong. Instead he came out in crimson and working with the defensive linemen. It’s unclear right now whether he’ll be an end or tackle, but he has a huge frame that could easily carry more weight. When you consider that he’s already at 305 pounds, it’s really kind of scary.


Kevin Norwood – he looked good catching the ball, but as is the case with Bell, it will be really interesting to see how he does trying to fight off a guy being physical at the line of scrimmage. There have been lots of 6′2 receivers that played well at 180 pounds, but it does make things more difficult. He’ll definetly be one to watch how he adjusts to being with the full squad.


Tana Patrick – he was the biggest surprise of the bunch for me. That was partially because I was expecting him to start out at the sam position, and he was working with the middle guys. But mostly it is because he is a lot bigger than a thought. He and Nico Johnson are both listed at 6′3 225, and that should have been my first clue, but he just looks a lot bigget than I anticipated. I’m not sure if he’s working at will or mike, but the limited numbers in the middle could see him make a quick jump into the two-deep.


Trent Richardson – It is fun to watch this guy, even when the workout is just a skeleton workout. He’s big, he’s quick, and he’s fast. When you consider that his strength as a player is his strength and ability to absorb contact and keep moving, and you consider that there was no real contact tonight, it’s shocking. He still has to grasp the non-rushing side of the position, but he just moves with such ease that you have to think he’ll jump into the mix for carries quickly. All eyes were clearly on him every time his turn came up for the ball to be in his hands. This kid is going to be very, very good.


Darrington Sentimore – much as with the case with Lacy, him being here is the big victory. He also arrived in Tuscaloosa yesterday after being cleared by the NCAA late. It doesn’t look like he spent all of his time studying, though, because this kid is big and quick. I don’t see any way that he beats Terrence Cody or Josh Chapman for playing time this season, but he is certainly a heck of an athlete.


Anthony Steen – he would be shock number two behind Patrick, because this guy looks ready to play. Depth at the guard positions is light, and he could crack the two-deep quickly if he grasps the offense quickly. If you only watch him when he’s lined up next to Fluker, you might be duped into thinking he’s a fire-plug type of guys – big time strong, but not very big. Once he moves away from Fluker, though, you notice that he’s 6′3, and a big guy.


Ed Stinson – he is considerably bigger today than he was on signing day, but still not quite big enough to factor into the jack discussion quite yet. He has natural pass rush skills, and could see some time as the rabbit rusher, though. He looked to have quick feet and good explosiveness, and that’s what you want in a pass rush guy. He just needs to add 20 pounds or so.


Chance Warmack – being here this spring should pay huge dividends, as should the 25 pounds that he lost since the spring. Linemen are hard to judge when they are just doing individual drills, but I’ll be surprise if he’s not in the discussion for the backup guard spots immediately.


Rod Woodson – safety is a tough, tough position to learn under Nick Saban, and he’ll have to make some serious adjustments. But he looks the part of a Bob Sanders style head-hunter, and he could be a deadly pairing with Mark Barron down the line. I didn’t watch as much of him as I probably should have, but he looks like a really solid athlete.


Keep in mind that what we got tonight was a teaser. We essentially got to see these guys run around wearing jerseys, and not much more than that. They should get a chance to workout with the full squad tomorrow, and we should get a much bigger guage for how many of these guys could realistically contend for playing time in 2009 at that time.


But it’s also nice to look at this entire group and see no one that looks like they are three years away from being physically ready to compete if needed. I’m looking forward to seeing where some of these guys are at this time next week.


Day 1 Practice 2: Bama Sports Report.

 

[Tider27]

The individual reports on the players were a awesome read, thanks for posting that Terry.

 

[planomateo]

agree, thanks Terry

 

[TheChief]

This has got to be one of the best threads in a long, long time. Great Terry.

 

[musso]

and more thanks! the time and effort is truely appreciated terry.