Alabama Football: Breaking Down Crimson Tide's 2015 A-Day Rosters
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama’s A-Day rosters are officially here.
While head coach Nick Saban likes to say that the practice groupings are for “organizational purposes” only, it’s fair to say that these groupings mean a little bit more.
The format hasn’t changed during Saban’s time at Alabama. The Crimson team is comprised of the first-team defense and second-team offense, while the White team gets the first-team offense and second-team defense.
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So without further ado, here are your 2015 Alabama A-Day rosters (walk-ons not included), with a couple of takeaways and observations.
Crimson Roster
| Jonathan Allen | DL |
| Ryan Anderson | LB |
| Blake Barnett | QB |
| Parker Barrineau | WR |
| Cooper Bateman | QB |
| Tony Brown | CB |
| Ronnie Clark | RB |
| David Cornwell | QB |
| Denzel Devall | LB |
| Johnny Dwight | TE |
| Raheem Falkins | WR |
| DeSherrius Flowers | RB |
| Ty Flournoy-Smith | TE |
| Reuben Foster | LB |
| Brandon Greene | OL |
| Adam Griffith | PK |
| J.C. Hassenauer | OL |
| Eddie Jackson | S |
| Cyrus Jones | CB |
| Brandon Kennedy | OL |
| Derek Kief | WR |
| Korren Kirven | OL |
| Darren Lake | DL |
| Dillon Lee | LB |
| Isaac Luatua | OL |
| Michael Nysewander | TE |
| D.J. Pettway | DL |
| Reggie Ragland | LB |
| Jarran Reed | DL |
| A'Shawn Robinson | DL |
| Bo Scarbrough | RB |
| Geno Smith | S |
| Maurice Smith | S |
| Bradley Sylve | CB |
| Alphonse Taylor | OL |
| Deionte Thompson | WR |
| Dalvin Tomlinson | DL |
| Dallas Warmack | OL |
| Tim Williams | LB |
White Roster
| Anthony Averett | CB |
| Dakota Ball | TE |
| Chris Black | WR |
| Bradley Bozeman | OL |
| Josh Casher | OL |
| Jake Coker | QB |
| Jonathan Cook | S |
| Kenyan Drake | RB |
| Rashaan Evans | LB |
| Robert Foster | WR |
| Joshua Frazier | DL |
| Shaun Dion Hamilton | LB |
| Da'Shawn Hand | DL |
| Ronnie Harrison | S |
| Derrick Henry | RB |
| Keith Holcombe | LB |
| O.J. Howard | TE |
| Marlon Humphrey | CB |
| Dominick Jackson | OL |
| Laurence "Hootie" Jones | S |
| Walker Jones | LB |
| Ryan Kelly | OL |
| Cole Mazza | LS |
| Christian Miller | LB |
| Alec Morris | QB |
| Ross Pierschbacher | OL |
| Cam Robinson | OL |
| JK Scott | P |
| Cam Sims | WR |
| O.J. Smith | DL |
| ArDarius Stewart | WR |
| Jabriel Washington | S |
Quarterback Hierarchy?
As we reported on Tuesday, redshirt freshman David Cornwell was a starting quarterback at Alabama’s second scrimmage on Saturday, with Jake Coker leading the other team.
It looks like it’ll be the same format for A-Day.
Coker will lead the White team along with Alec Morris, while Cornwell, Cooper Bateman and Blake Barnett make up the Crimson signal-callers. Expect Morris and Bateman to be the second-team quarterbacks for each unit, with Barnett playing sparingly toward the end of the day.
Cornwell starting would confirm some suspicions from the last few days of spring practice: He is moving up the depth chart and has a very real shot at the starting job come September.
It will be hard to judge the quarterbacks solely on their A-Day performance—the defense very much has a built-in advantage given the way the game is set up.
The quarterback playing time and ordering will tell much more about where they stand in the race than how they actually perform once they’re out on the field.
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One big difference between the first and second teams is at middle linebacker, where Reuben Foster and Shaun Dion Hamilton have gone back and forth for much of the spring.
But at least for A-Day, Foster will be lined up with the first team alongside stalwarts like Reggie Ragland and A’Shawn Robinson.
At last year’s A-Day, Foster’s biggest weakness was put on display. He went in for a big hit on Kenyan Drake but lowered his head too far and had to be helped off the field to the locker room. Saban later disclosed that he had suffered a minor concussion.
Foster will get his chance again as a first-teamer on Saturday. If he can stay healthy, he appears to have a great shot at a starting role in the fall.
Secondary Shuffle
Alabama has done a lot of moving around in the secondary this spring, both out of necessity and in the spirit of experimentation.
With Cyrus Jones out (hip injury) at cornerback, younger players have gotten some more opportunities. Meanwhile, Eddie Jackson was moved to safety.
The first-team secondary looks like it will be made up of Tony Brown and Bradley Sylve at corner, with Geno Smith, Maurice Smith and Jackson at safety in some form or fashion.
That moves players like Hootie Jones, Jabriel Washington and Ronnie Harrison to the second team.
Offensive Line Set
Alabama’s starting five on the offensive line from spring practice is listed on the White roster, indicating that the Crimson Tide have their first five pretty much set for right now.
From left to right, Cam Robinson, Ross Pierschbacher, Ryan Kelly, Bradley Bozeman and Dominick Jackson are expected to play in front of Coker with the offense at A-Day.
It appears that Pierschbacher and Jackson have the best chance to be in the starting lineup for the first game of the season. Right guard, though, could play out like it did last season.
“We’re really pleased with the two tackles,” Saban said last week. “Cam and Dominick have really done a nice job this spring. Ryan Kelly has done a really good job this spring. Pierschbacher has really done a good job this spring. I think those four guys have really made progress. Then we’ve got another four or five guys in a pile that are kind of competing for the rest of the positions. (Bozeman) probably has the most experience. I think depth there is critical.”
Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes and reporting were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.
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