Alabama released its depth chart Monday. A few things to keep in mind there.
Depth chart Monday is one of those special moments in every Alabama football season.
The door opens for Nick Saban to begin his first news conference of game week and the white sheets of paper are quickly distributed around the media room. There's a quick dash to relay the chart during the opening statement.
Only later is there time to fully digest this declassified document. Now we can put a few things in context.
A few thoughts on the
2018 Alabama depth chart:
-- There were a lot of slashes to designate shared roles. That includes at quarterback where Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts were both No. 1.
-- A total of nine true freshmen were somewhere within the two deep. That includes Skyler DeLong, the only punter on scholarship.
-- The only true freshman other than DeLong who is listed on the first team was Patrick Surtain II. He is co-first unit at cornerback with JUCO transfer Saivion Smith. Everything we've seen in practice has Smith with the first group. Surtain was the top cornerback recruit coming out of Fort Lauderdale with all the talent and not so much experience. It'll be interesting to see how quickly he continues to develop.
-- Seeing Ale Kaho as the backup to Dylan Moses at middle linebacker was notable. He's been here only a few weeks after leaving Washington to Alabama a week into preseason. That speaks to the depth concern at middle linebacker who both returning reserves Josh McMillan and Markail Benton as co-backups behind Mack Wilson at the other middle linebacker spot.
-- Two more true freshman were listed as backups at outside linebacker. Eyabi Anoma was co-No. 2 with Jamey Mosley at the SAM spot while Cameron Latu is the same with Mosley at JACK.
-- One name missing from the chart: Ben Davis. Saban after the second scrimmage said the depth behind starting outside linebackers Christian Miller and Anfernee Jennings included "Ben Davis and two freshmen." Davis played a few snaps last season against Mercer in his first Alabama action.
-- Josh Jobe was also a co-backup at one of the cornerback spots while Jalyn Armour-Davis was the lone No. 2 at the cornerback spot Smith and Surtain at co-No. 1s. It's clear that cornerback recruiting class was stacked.
-- Miller Forristall, a starter before tearing his ACL early last season, is the backup to Irv Smith Jr. at the H-back/tight end position.
-- Behind Damien Harris, it's a co-No. 2 at running back with Najee Harris and Josh Jacobs.
-- The freshman everyone has been talking about on offense was slot receiver Jaylen Waddle. He was not, however, listed as a starter. The three sophomores -- Henry Ruggs III, DeVonta Smith and Jerry Jeudy -- were top-line guys at receiver. Waddle was the backup listed at the WR-H position behind Jeudy.
-- The right side of the offensive line has Alex Leatherwood as the first team guard and Jedrick Wills at tackle. Starting center Ross Pierschbacher was asked about the two Monday afternoon. "I think Jed's more of a rangy guy, so I think that's why tackle suits him better. Leatherwood's really good in short spaces, so I think that was a good move for them. Just getting their confidence up, knowing the game plan, getting as many reps with those two."
-- Saban said they were still sorting out the situation at kicker where Temple transfer Austin Jones is co-No. 1 with redshirt freshman Joseph Bulovas.
-- Trevon Diggs is again the punt returner backed up by Waddle, the freshman receiver.
-- Diggs is also co-starter at kickoff return with Josh Jacobs. The two had explosive moments last season but Alabama didn't have overwhelming numbers in the return game. It ranked 44th with an average return of 21.9 yards on no touchdowns. In context, the Tide's 20 returns were the second fewest of any team thanks to the lack of scoring from the opposition.
A few thoughts, observations from Alabama depth chart