Quarterbacks still dividing reps
Aaron Suttles | Beat Writer
Junior quarterback Cooper Bateman is among four players splitting reps at the position in spring.
Gary Cosby Jr. | Staff
Cooper Bateman is athletic. Just how athletic?
Remember last season when he worked at wide receiver during spring practice?
Then there’s this: athletic tight end
O.J. Howard said the quarterback is faster than he is.
Bateman is one of the four quarterbacks splitting repetitions, a plan UA coach
Nick Saban said will continue for the foreseeable future.
“We haven't changed how we're doing the reps. We're still giving everybody a chance,” Saban said.
That includes Bateman,
David Cornwell,
Blake Barnett and
Jalen Hurts.
But it is Bateman’s grasp of the offense that’s giving him a head start on the others. His athleticism doesn’t hurt either, and that includes being faster than one of the best tight ends in the country.
“I can see when he takes off, if we’re running sprints he’s ahead of me, easily jogging or even full speed he beats me a lot of the time so he’s pretty fast,” Howard said.
Cornwell’s strength is his arm, his ability to throw passes with higher velocity. He and Bateman are out in front of the two younger, less experienced quarterbacks, Barnett and Hurts.
“I think the guys that have the most knowledge and experience played the best,” Saban said. “The two younger guys, even though they demonstrated that they have a tremendous amount of upside in terms of the way they played, their consistency in performance because of their confusion, lack of knowledge, poise under pressure, whichever you want to talk about -- which is not uncommon or surprising for young guys the first time they go out there. They probably weren't quite as consistent as the other guys.
“We're continuing to try to give everybody an opportunity. I think we'll probably do that for the rest of the spring.”
Howard said all the quarterbacks had positives to take away from last Saturday’s scrimmage and things to work on before the next scrimmage this Saturday.
“I think quarterback play was [good],” Howard said. “Guys made smart decisions. They put the ball in places to allow receivers to make plays, and tight ends. Whenever you have guys playing smart and giving guys a chance to make plays you have to give them their props.”
He also said Bateman’s knowledge of the system is beneficial to him at this point.
“He’s an older guy. He has experience, and leadership, that comes with it. So he knows what he needs to do, he knows the system very well. It’s just been natural for him to be a leader in the huddle.”
Early in junior high I had a teacher say, "if it doesn't look right, rewrite." IE: "...took the manhood of Tommy Bowden and Clemson." 
