Alabama: Fall Practice Reports

[Bamabuzzard]

I read that AK Dear is having an ankle procedure today and will miss about 8 weeks. Hope he can stay injury free after this unfortunate injury. We need to stay healthy as possible on offense.

It's never good when running backs miss camp reps. It seems anytime we have a RB get injured in camp and misses the rest of camp and comes back during the season, they are basically a non-factor. There's so much more to being a productive running back than just getting the ball and running. It takes reps, the reps develop "feel" and instinct, and then we can't forget the massively important being able to block and pick up blitzes.

 

[sanjosecrimson]

My question for myself so far through Spring and Fall camp is how in the world Traeshawn Brown (17) flew up under the radar in his recruiting class? I'm sure someone knows more than me about this, but he seems legit. My early choice for favorite player of 2026.

much like Josh Jacobs, there just isn't enough time or resources to scout and make evaluations on every player. Brown like lots of kids flew under the radar for various reasons.
the good news is the staff obviously knew about him and offered him.
I agree with you that he's legit and will surprise many fans this season when he sees the field.

 

[Cruiser]

It's never good when running backs miss camp reps. It seems anytime we have a RB get injured in camp and misses the rest of camp and comes back during the season, they are basically a non-factor. There's so much more to being a productive running back than just getting the ball and running. It takes reps, the reps develop "feel" and instinct, and then we can't forget the massively important being able to block and pick up blitzes.

Yep; the best way to get better at football, is to play football.

 

[BamaInBham]

There is a report on al.com, I don’t want to link it, that an NFL scout said that Russell is ahead in the QB race and “it’s not close”. Other observers (a mix) were queried and they all thought KR was ahead or it was even. None thought AM was ahead.

CKD probably already knows but for various reasons has no interest in making a public declaration. He certainly doesn’t have to.

 

[BamaMoon]

Good news/bad news about Dear. I guess it could have been season ending, which would be the worst case!

I guess this opens up more carries for Brown, who seems to have impressed.

Now we need EJ Crowell to get/stay healthy! Need his talent on the field from game 1!

 

[arthurdawg]

much like Josh Jacobs, there just isn't enough time or resources to scout and make evaluations on every player. Brown like lots of kids flew under the radar for various reasons.
the good news is the staff obviously knew about him and offered him.
I agree with you that he's legit and will surprise many fans this season when he sees the field.

Given that AK and Crowell are banged up and the odds of them really making a splash aren't looking good...

I hope Brown can add a spark to Riley and Hill.

 

[JDCrimson]

Does it sound like Dear is having a tightrope procedure?

 

[CoolBreeze]

I’ll believe it when we rush for more than 2yds a carry and don’t rely on Mickey Mouse nonsense to generate yards.

Micky Mouse Nonsense is the correct term. But I do get a sense that DeBoer is committed to a more physical run game. He made moves in the staff and on the O Line that I think was in response to what is needed. This staff is anything but dumb so we will see. Something tells me that if we are scoring an average of 6 TDs a game then us keying on rushing will die down signifying that we are at least doing enough to keep opposing D's worried about our run threat.

 

[CoolBreeze]

The RB injury situation is a concern. But it is early in camp. If we get better on the O Line and adjust the scheme to open more RB lanes then I think we have plenty of talent to rush the ball effectively.

Injuries to AK Dear and EJ Crowell have opened the door for another young Alabama RB

The first scrimmage of fall camp brought some bad news for Kalen DeBoer and Alabama. 5-star freshman RB EJ Crowell, who missed most of the spring with an injury

bamahammer.com

 

[CoolBreeze]

If I had to guess what is happening based on what I know (which is only what I read and read into what I read), we have a very stout defense which is way ahead of the offense. That is really the best news we could hope for at this juncture.

Insider Notes from Alabama football's first scrimmage of fall camp

Alabama football hosted its first scrimmage of fall camp on Thursday inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Touchdown Alabama was able to gather some insight on the scrimmage from multiple sources in attendance. Here are takeaways from their thoughts: – Austin Mack ran the first series as the starting...

tdalabamamag.com

 

[RTR2u]

I'm not putting stock into anything until I see some hopefully good results on the field this fall. Not counting the chickens yet because none have hatched.

 

[BamaFanatJSU]

If I had to guess what is happening based on what I know (which is only what I read and read into what I read), we have a very stout defense which is way ahead of the offense. That is really the best news we could hope for at this juncture.

This. I'm not saying that college football hasn't changed in the last few years, but we definitely won a lot of games in the last 20 years with a lights-out defense and an offense that could at least sustain drives.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

much like Josh Jacobs, there just isn't enough time or resources to scout and make evaluations on every player. Brown like lots of kids flew under the radar for various reasons.
the good news is the staff obviously knew about him and offered him.
I agree with you that he's legit and will surprise many fans this season when he sees the field.

No, there's so many very good players who simply aren't scouted or scouted enough and end up having to go to lower level schools. Look in the NFL and see how many players are on active NFL rosters that come from non power 5 schools. There's a lot. And you ask yourself "How in the world was this kid not playing for a power 5 school?". It's because there's simply not enough time or resources for every kid to be properly scouted.

 

[CoolBreeze]

This. I'm not saying that college football hasn't changed in the last few years, but we definitely won a lot of games in the last 20 years with a lights-out defense and an offense that could at least sustain drives.

We had a pretty decent D last year and we have added talent, most notably in the D Line. I think this is the difference in early camp and the offense must step up and make adjustments. This is what we need.

 

[Cruiser]

This. I'm not saying that college football hasn't changed in the last few years, but we definitely won a lot of games in the last 20 years with a lights-out defense and an offense that could at least sustain drives.

And; those offenses could run the ball so the defense could rest.

 

[Cruiser]

No, there's so many very good players who simply aren't scouted or scouted enough and end up having to go to lower level schools. Look in the NFL and see how many players are on active NFL rosters that come from non power 5 schools. There's a lot. And you ask yourself "How in the world was this kid not playing for a power 5 school?". It's because there's simply not enough time or resources for every kid to be properly scouted.

And; those non-power 5 players did not transfer when they had a good season or 2. How long do you think Joe Flacco would stay at Delaware in the current system?

 

[BamaFanatJSU]

And; those offenses could run the ball so the defense could rest.

Fair point. After the debacle that was last year's running game, if we can just pick up a greater percentage of 2nd/3rd and short without having to result to wing T-levels of deception, I'll be happy.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

And; those non-power 5 players did not transfer when they had a good season or 2. How long do you think Joe Flacco would stay at Delaware in the current system?

He wouldn't have stayed. Or maybe I should say "more than likely" wouldn't have stayed.

 

[Nolan]

Most agree that OL improvement is key. I think practicing against a larger, violent, and clearly upgraded DL is a good thing; iron sharpening iron.

Of course cohesiveness is most important, but it’s easy to like some of the individual OL pieces. IMO, we are potentially great at LT, C, and RG.

 

[denverexpat]

There is a report on al.com, I don’t want to link it, that an NFL scout said that Russell is ahead in the QB race and “it’s not close”. Other observers (a mix) were queried and they all thought KR was ahead or it was even. None thought AM was ahead.

CKD probably already knows but for various reasons has no interest in making a public declaration. He certainly doesn’t have to.

I would think that Deboer has some allegiance to Mack, he did follow him to Bama and is a loyal kid so I dont blame Deboer for extending as much opportunity as possible to him. But in the end, we need the best QB to start...regardless