Alabama Football: Tony Brown Emerging at Right Time for Tide Secondary

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — As Alabama’s secondary gets more and more depleted early in the season, the Crimson Tide could be getting some much-needed good news this week ahead of their SEC opener against Florida.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said that 5-star cornerback Tony Brown “will play a lot in this game.”

“Tony's definitely improving, definitely getting better,” Saban said. “I think the opportunities that he's had to play in the last two games have been good for his development and his confidence.”

It’s unclear how much of Brown’s playing time is based on injuries around him versus his growth and development early on in his playing career. But if he is indeed ready to take on a hefty role, as Saban says he will this week, it will be a big boost for Alabama’s secondary as it heads into conference play.

Saban didn’t say anything else other than that Brown will play “a lot,” but if practice is any indication, Brown will be seeing time at his natural position, outside at cornerback.

During Tuesday’s media viewing period, Brown took first-team reps at cornerback, on the other side of Cyrus Jones in a nickel drill, the only time this week that the media saw that drill.

Some thought Star could be a good spot for Brown to learn the secondary early on, especially with regular Star Jarrick Williams out with an injury and Geno Smith playing free safety in the first half for the suspended Nick Perry. But Maurice Smith—built more like a safety—occupied that role in practice, allowing the rangy Brown to play outside.

Eddie Jackson had played that other cornerback spot the last two games after he came back from a knee injury much earlier than expected, and Bradley Sylve struggled in the season opener against West Virginia.

Jackson, though, hurt his quad against Southern Miss (Brown took his place in that game) and doesn’t appear to be ready to play just yet.

Saban only offered up this assessment of Jackson’s injury after the Southern Miss game:

That leaves Brown to step in, a guy that came in with as much hype as anyone in Alabama’s 2014 No. 1 recruiting class.

The 5-star cornerback from Beaumont, Texas, enrolled in the spring and by all accounts impressed as he got an early acclimation period into Saban’s defense and life as a college football player.

His teammates praised his work ethic, and it paid off for him in the spring game when he caught an interception—even while playing with an injured shoulder.

This season, he’s worked his way into more and more playing time. He’s mostly played with the No. 2s after the game is out of hand and last week got some time with the 1s when Jackson went out.

Butch Dill/Associated Press

“I think he’s handling it well,” cornerback Cyrus Jones said of the increased role. “He’s always been a guy who’s eager to learn, takes coaching well, so he’s progressing really well.”

Brown has all the talent in the world to make a difference on this team, where pass defense has been suspect so far.

He ran track in high school, winning a state championship in the 110-meter hurdles and placing second in the 100. The speed is there to keep up with elite SEC receivers.

But what’s most impressive is the size that comes with it.

Alabama lists him at 6’0”, 198 pounds, and he looked every bit of that when he got to campus in the spring and has only gotten stronger.

Brown has the makings of a superstar at cornerback if he puts everything together. He’ll get his first chance to do that on Saturday.

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats come from CFBStats. All recruiting information comes from 247Sports.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.