Alabama Football: Starters on the Hot Seat in 2015 Spring Practice
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — With Monday’s return to the practice field, Alabama football is officially back in full swing in Tuscaloosa. That means 13 more days of practice, including April 18’s A-Day game.
A lot will happen between now and then, but the biggest benefit is a camp-like setting that allows for more focus on development and growth instead of installing opponent-specific game plans like in the fall and during the season.
That means that young players have chances to really come into their own and show what they can do, rather than be relegated to scout-team duty.
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It also puts some heat on current starters who don’t necessarily have the benefit of experience or knowledge of the playbook like they do during the season, when most young players are playing catch-up.
“I know you guys hate to hear this, but we really don't have a depth chart at this point,” Nick Saban said half-sarcastically last Friday after the first spring practice. “It's just for organizational purposes. We want to give everybody an opportunity out there. We want to coach everybody. We want to see who can make a contribution to the team. Our only expectation right now is that people play with the kind of effort that is our expectation, which I felt like at times we have not gotten in the past.”
It’s a Saban staple to avoid any talk of depth charts, in-season or out, but this is as close as he’ll get to actually meaning it.
Every spot is up for grabs. Which returning starters are in danger of losing theirs? Let’s take a look.
Denzel Devall
Devall will be a senior in 2015, and while his experience is as valid as anyone’s on the team, his production and playing time has slowly slipped since what many thought were breakout freshman and sophomore years at outside linebacker.
He appeared in every game his freshman year in 2012, notching three tackles for loss and two sacks as a rotational player. As a sophomore, he started three games and recorded five tackles for loss and three sacks.
Last year, though, he was all but invisible.
Devall started seven games and appeared in just one more as he battled an ankle injury suffered against Ole Miss. At season’s end, he had no sacks, just one tackle for loss and only 11 total tackles.
Meanwhile, others thrived in his place.
Sophomore Ryan Anderson recorded three sacks off the edge. Rashaan Evans lived up to his 5-star billing out of high school. And Tim Williams showed why Reggie Ragland said he “can be the best pass-rusher in the country.”
To compound matters, Devall is missing the entire spring after having surgery for that ankle injury. He’ll spend his practices doing conditioning work with strength coach Scott Cochran, watching while Anderson, Evans, Williams and the rest of that group get valuable reps in front of coaches.
Devall needs to come back strong in the fall to ensure he won’t get bumped from his starter status by a young stud.
Eddie Jackson
Jackson gets the starter designation at cornerback due to the number of games he's played, but this spot is very much up in the air.
Cyrus Jones was the only cornerback to start all 14 games in 2015, with Jackson starting opposite him for 11 of those. Bradley Sylve had a start, while Tony Brown got the other two.
Jackson enters spring as the favorite to lock down that No. 2 role because of experience, but it is very possible he'll be usurped by Brown or even Sylve by the time Alabama flies to Dallas to face Wisconsin.
There will be plenty of opportunities for all of them, and maybe even an outsider or two, to show what they can do this spring with Jones out after having offseason hip surgery.
Right now, Jackson and Brown are the first cornerbacks through drills, followed by Sylve and former 5-star Marlon Humphrey. Saban would refer to that order as being just for “organizational purposes,” but you can get an idea of where things stand.
Of all the returning starters, Jackson’s seat is probably the hottest.
Anyone on offense?
These first two were all on defense, because on offense, pretty much everyone will be a new starter.
Center Ryan Kelly and left tackle Cam Robinson are the only returning starters from a record-setting 2014 offense, and their seats are as cool as the other side of the pillow.
So on the offensive side, we’ll have to go with probable returning starters, but even then it’s difficult to find someone who could be in danger of losing a starting job.
Derrick Henry and O.J. Howard are really the only two that you can say for sure should be starters. And even if one or both don’t get a technical “start,” it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s because of performance.
Running back and tight end are two positions that are very situational and rotational. Kenyan Drake, for example, got the start at “running back” against Florida, because on the first play of the game, Lane Kiffin wanted to hit a home run and motioned him out to wide receiver.
But pretty much every other place—the remaining offensive line spots, wide receiver, quarterback—is wide open for competition with no presumptive starters.
So on offense, there are hardly any “starters” on the hot seat in 2015. But that says more about all of the new faces who will need to step up across the board rather than the ones already there.
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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