Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
The subject of running back depth has been bantered about since spring practice.
The early exit of T.J. Yeldon to the NFL coupled with the premature departures of Altee Tenpenny (transferred) and Tyren Jones (dismissed) left the position a little thin. That was before true freshman Bo Scarbrough, who enrolled early, suffered a knee injury.
A week into fall camp, the depth issue worries haven't completely gone silent, but they aren't as prevalent.
A healthy Kenyan Drake, who is a nice complement to bruising back Derrick Henry, has eased a lot of fears as has the summer arrival of freshman Damien Harris, rated the No. 1 prep back in the country as part of the 2015 recruiting class.
Redshirt freshman Ronnie Clark remains with the running backs (he started with the team as a defensive back). The team also brought in freshman Xavian Marks as a late signee and sophomore Derrick Gore as a walk-on from Coffeyville Community College.
Scarbrough has participated the first five practices of fall camp in a black, no-contact jersey. UA coach Nick Saban said Scarbrough will be available at some point in the season but not in the first four games, for which Scarbrough must serve a NCAA-issued four-game suspension.
QB questions
If all things are equal in a quarterback competition, does the veteran senior win out or does a freshman's youth play a factor because of the years ahead of him as a starter?
That was a question put to Saban. In other words, if senior Jake Coker is close in competition to redshirt freshman David Cornwell or true freshman Blake Barnett, who would Saban choose?
"I think in fairness to this team, to this group, to the commitment that this team has made, I think everyone on the team, myself and every coach expects us to make the decision about the quarterback based on who can help us and be the most effective player for us right now," Saban said. "That's how the decision is going to get made.
"I'm not really too concerned about what's happened in the past. I'm not really worried about what's going to happen somewhere down the road in the future, but I am really, really concerned about what we need to do to get this team ready to be the best team they have to be. I think we have to make decisions on who can play the best for us right now, lead the team the best, make the best choices and decisions to play winning football."
If Cornwell or Barnett were to win the job, each would have potentially four years to be a starter. That, to Saban, isn't a factor that will be considered.
"If someone shows great potential for the future, then our theory on how we manage that is to keep that guy in a position where he can develop so that if he's called on at some point in time in the future, he's going to be more ready to do that. But that does not give him sort of an advantage in being able to play right now."
Camp continues
The team worked indoors Monday afternoon, the fifth consecutive day of practice during fall camp. Today the team goes through the first two-a-day practice.
After one practice on Wednesday, the team goes through another two-a-day Thursday. The team gets its first day off from camp Sunday.
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1791076#sthash.5IKMt8Ps.dpuf
TideSports.com Senior Writer
The subject of running back depth has been bantered about since spring practice.
The early exit of T.J. Yeldon to the NFL coupled with the premature departures of Altee Tenpenny (transferred) and Tyren Jones (dismissed) left the position a little thin. That was before true freshman Bo Scarbrough, who enrolled early, suffered a knee injury.
A week into fall camp, the depth issue worries haven't completely gone silent, but they aren't as prevalent.
A healthy Kenyan Drake, who is a nice complement to bruising back Derrick Henry, has eased a lot of fears as has the summer arrival of freshman Damien Harris, rated the No. 1 prep back in the country as part of the 2015 recruiting class.
Redshirt freshman Ronnie Clark remains with the running backs (he started with the team as a defensive back). The team also brought in freshman Xavian Marks as a late signee and sophomore Derrick Gore as a walk-on from Coffeyville Community College.
Scarbrough has participated the first five practices of fall camp in a black, no-contact jersey. UA coach Nick Saban said Scarbrough will be available at some point in the season but not in the first four games, for which Scarbrough must serve a NCAA-issued four-game suspension.
QB questions
If all things are equal in a quarterback competition, does the veteran senior win out or does a freshman's youth play a factor because of the years ahead of him as a starter?
That was a question put to Saban. In other words, if senior Jake Coker is close in competition to redshirt freshman David Cornwell or true freshman Blake Barnett, who would Saban choose?
"I think in fairness to this team, to this group, to the commitment that this team has made, I think everyone on the team, myself and every coach expects us to make the decision about the quarterback based on who can help us and be the most effective player for us right now," Saban said. "That's how the decision is going to get made.
"I'm not really too concerned about what's happened in the past. I'm not really worried about what's going to happen somewhere down the road in the future, but I am really, really concerned about what we need to do to get this team ready to be the best team they have to be. I think we have to make decisions on who can play the best for us right now, lead the team the best, make the best choices and decisions to play winning football."
If Cornwell or Barnett were to win the job, each would have potentially four years to be a starter. That, to Saban, isn't a factor that will be considered.
"If someone shows great potential for the future, then our theory on how we manage that is to keep that guy in a position where he can develop so that if he's called on at some point in time in the future, he's going to be more ready to do that. But that does not give him sort of an advantage in being able to play right now."
Camp continues
The team worked indoors Monday afternoon, the fifth consecutive day of practice during fall camp. Today the team goes through the first two-a-day practice.
After one practice on Wednesday, the team goes through another two-a-day Thursday. The team gets its first day off from camp Sunday.
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1791076#sthash.5IKMt8Ps.dpuf
