Freshman Mike Bowman's stint on Alabama's scout team had to be the shortest of any player during Nick Saban's tenure with the Crimson Tide.
And when asked about the 6-foot-4 rookie's sudden promotion to become the first wide receiver out of the 2009 class to appear in game -- the first-half against Florida International -- Saban told a good story with a clear meaning ...
Assignment to his scout team can change instantly.
"When we started scout team for the first time, about Wednesday or Thursday, the week before the Virginia Tech game, (Bowman) went down there on the scout team and just tore it up," Saban said. "I'm talking about us, the defense. I said, 'Where has this guy been?' I talked to him about it, and if he was committed to continuing to do that, we would give him another chance to try to contribute to the offense, because certainly playing that way, he would be one of our six or seven best receivers."
Saban noted that Bowman, who qualified late, arrived a little behind other players in terms of conditioning and other aspects.
"He sort of struggled through camp a little bit," Saban said. "We thought he had a lot of ability. He's got great size. He's very good with the ball in the air, in terms of making plays. ... I think once he got in a little better shape, once he got his legs back, he played a lot faster, had a little better understanding of what he was supposed to do.
"He's made a tremendous amount of improvement and is one of the best six or seven receivers we have right now. So we gave him a little playing time to see if that enhances his development and (if) he continues to play that way in games, he'll be important for us down the road."
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And when asked about the 6-foot-4 rookie's sudden promotion to become the first wide receiver out of the 2009 class to appear in game -- the first-half against Florida International -- Saban told a good story with a clear meaning ...
Assignment to his scout team can change instantly.
"When we started scout team for the first time, about Wednesday or Thursday, the week before the Virginia Tech game, (Bowman) went down there on the scout team and just tore it up," Saban said. "I'm talking about us, the defense. I said, 'Where has this guy been?' I talked to him about it, and if he was committed to continuing to do that, we would give him another chance to try to contribute to the offense, because certainly playing that way, he would be one of our six or seven best receivers."
Saban noted that Bowman, who qualified late, arrived a little behind other players in terms of conditioning and other aspects.
"He sort of struggled through camp a little bit," Saban said. "We thought he had a lot of ability. He's got great size. He's very good with the ball in the air, in terms of making plays. ... I think once he got in a little better shape, once he got his legs back, he played a lot faster, had a little better understanding of what he was supposed to do.
"He's made a tremendous amount of improvement and is one of the best six or seven receivers we have right now. So we gave him a little playing time to see if that enhances his development and (if) he continues to play that way in games, he'll be important for us down the road."
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