Alabama Football: Week 1 Spring Practice Stock Report

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It might not seem like it, but Alabama has only just completed its first full week of spring practice.

Because of where Easter falls and when A-Day was scheduled, the Crimson Tide opened practice on Friday, March 13, took a week off for spring break, then returned last Monday for what was their first full week of practice.

It started off well enough, with news about running backs and linebackers and quarterbacks (oh my!). But on Saturday all hell broke loose, with several off-field stories that weren’t exactly of the positive variety.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the first stock report of the spring.

Nightmare weekend off the field

It started early Saturday morning, with safety Geno Smith’s DUI arrest hitting the Tuscaloosa County jail database in the early hours.

The news was troubling on two fronts. Smith had been taking starting reps at free safety up until that point. He was expected to take over for Nick Perry in the defensive backfield.

On a personal level and perhaps more importantly, this is Smith’s second DUI since joining the Crimson Tide program. After a solid freshman season in 2012 playing Star, he was arrested for DUI in fall camp, missed the season opener against West Virginia and couldn’t get regular playing time the rest of the year.

At Friday’s practice, Alex Byington of the Times Daily caught Saban telling Smith during practice, “If you want to be a starter, act like it.” Just hours later, Smith was in jail and didn’t disappear from the jail database until around 3:30 p.m. CT, well after Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. practice had gotten underway.

Smith took to Twitter to apologize to fans and coaches:

But even more troubling was news that dropped later that night, that embattled defensive tackle Jonathan Taylor was arrested on domestic violence charges just months into his Alabama career.

Taylor was the subject of intense criticism when he was signed from the junior college ranks, as he already had a still-pending domestic violence charge from his days at Georgia.

Saban will face a lot of heat for what transpired after he fought tooth and nail to get Taylor enrolled, and rightfully so.

His Monday night media availability, scheduled for roughly 6 p.m. CT, should be appointment viewing.

Several current and former Alabama players took to Twitter to share their thoughts:

"

Mistakes will not define this team. Being better leaders & overcoming adversity will help us be great on & off the field. Roll tide

— Kenyan Drake™ (@KDx17) March 29, 2015"

Running backs showing out

In actual, on-field football news, Saban couldn’t stop gushing about running back Derrick Henry, which is how you know he likes somebody.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Henry, a junior, is expected to be the No. 1 running back this season with T.J. Yeldon off to the NFL. If Saban’s analysis of his offseason is any indication, he should be in line for a big year.

“I love Derrick Henry,” Saban said. “He's one of the hardest workers on our team. If you were going to give a most valuable player in the offseason program for just finishing, running hard, winning every race, finishing the drill, he'd have probably got it or been in the top three at least. I think that he has a real burning desire to be a really, really good player and works really hard at it.”

Henry actually led Alabama in rushing last season with 990 yards, 11 in front of Yeldon, who missed a game and was limited late in the season with a foot injury.

Behind him, Kenyan Drake is already back practicing after suffering a leg break against Ole Miss.

Drake has been doing some spot work with the wide receivers too. He was split out wide situationally last year before his injury, and it looks like he’ll be getting more work there this season.

Saban even alluded to a possible formation that surely made message-board posters drool.

“(Drake) is a guy that we want to get on the field,” Saban said. “Derrick Henry and him both are pretty dynamic players for us that are really good playmakers, so we’re going to explore every way possible that we can get those guys the ball.

“So far, Kenyan has been very good as a back coming out of the backfield and the matchups that he gets with that, and we’ll continue to explore ways to do that. But we might have some personnel groups where we play those two guys together. I think both of those scenarios are the reason you’re seeing what you see.”

Injury updates

The biggest injury news of the spring so far is the two starters who are going to miss the spring.

Linebacker Denzel Devall and cornerback Cyrus Jones are both out, creating opportunities for younger players to develop at both positions.

Beyond them, there’s been one small and one major injury.

First, left tackle Cam Robinson missed a day of practice on Wednesday with what Saban called an ankle sprain. He rode the exercise bike for the day, while Brandon Greene slid up to left tackle with the first team. Robinson was back practicing on Friday.

Butch Dill/Associated Press

The big news, though, came on Sunday, compounding what had already been a rough weekend of Alabama news off the field.

Al.com’s Matt Zenitz, citing a source, reported that sophomore wide receiver Cam Sims, who was expected to play a major role at wide receiver, suffered a torn ACL at practice on Thursday.

That would seem to confirm a somewhat-cryptic tweet he sent on Saturday night.

Saban is expected to give official word on Sims’ injury on Monday night.

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes and reporting were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Note: Players are referenced by fall 2015 eligibility.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.