Alabama Football: What to Watch for in Crimson Tide's Spring Game

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It’s a celebration, a big recruiting tool and essentially the midway point of the college football offseason. But for University of Alabama fans, the annual A-Day game is, above everything else, their first glimpse at next year’s team.

It’s also the only one that they’ll get until the first week of training camp in August, when Alabama will start preparing for the season opener against Southern California at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 3.

Granted, a number of players coming off injuries will be held out of the scrimmage and the play-calling will be vanilla to keep things simple and not give away too much to opposing teams, but those things are easily overlooked.

It’s been more than three months since the reigning national champions have played before fans, who are eager, almost desperate, to see the updated version of the Crimson Tide in action, especially the playmakers.

They can’t wait to see running back Bo Scarbrough with a regular role, the defense that could again be very, very good and the quarterbacks competing for the opportunity to take over for Jake Coker.

They want to see Calvin Ridley make another big reception, and Robert Foster recovered from his shoulder surgery. Remember, Foster and fellow wide receiver ArDarius Stewart were named co-MVPs of last year’s game.

It’s the big names like Reuben Foster and O.J. Howard who will draw the most attention and dominate the headlines, which is all and good, but head coach Nick Saban already knows what they can do. Consequently, his primary focus won’t be on them during Saturday’s exhibition at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

He’s looking for players who not only fit in with the big names—and Alabama has a lot of them—but complement them. He wants to see how someone like Xavian Marks handles playing on a big stage.

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If you don’t know who Marks is, you’re not alone. A lot of Alabama fans are just beginning to get used to the name, and few noticed the guy wearing the No. 31 jersey last season.

Listed at 5'8" (which might be generous), he’s known for one thing in particular.

“Speed,” Howard said. “He’s really fast.”

Marks was a late addition last summer along with his brother, Torin. Both players were committed to New Mexico State last year, but did not sign. With Alabama having an opening and looking for a playmaker, Xavian was given a scholarship while Torin walked on.

Xavian briefly played against Charleston Southern. He had one carry for no yards gained and two receptions for 19 yards. During the offseason, the coaching staff moved him to wide receiver.

“He is very quick, very fast, has very good hands,” Saban said. “He's not a big guy but he can overcome all that and he has made a tremendous amount of improvement.

“He's also made a lot of improvement as a returner, and I think the No. 1 thing that if I had to say he has anything to prove is if you're going to be in those positions as a punt returner or kickoff returner or even as a slot receiver your ball security has to be something that everyone can depend on," Saban continued. "And I would say that to anybody that was going to do that on our team.”

The two players who have stood out the most as a returner this spring are Ridley and Marks, and Saban made a point of saying that there were no mishandled balls or turnovers on special teams during the last scrimmage.

“That was a positive,” he said.

While Alabama’s position battles have been few and far between this offseason, with the quarterbacks and offensive line obvious exceptions, among the few remaining questions are how the depth charts will work out at the playmaker positions.

At running back, Scarborough and Damien Harris are expected to be the two main staples, although neither has had that role before. This is the first time since Saban arrived in 2007 that Alabama hasn't had at least one established veteran returning in the backfield.

After them, no one knows how it will work out.

“I think there’s going to be an opportunity for some young players there,” Saban said. “We’ve had freshmen running backs do well for us in the past, so it’s not a position they can’t play and contribute.”

The situation is similar at wide receiver, where Ridley, Foster and Stewart are established, and Cam Sims and Derek Kief are good bets to be part of the rotation. Throw in a guy like Marks, who is also a sprinter on Alabama’s track team, and he could end up earning regular playing time.

“He’s hard to press, the DBs have to get pretty low to jam him,” Howard said. “It’s hard to jam him and in open field it’s hard to catch him. I just think he does a great job of getting open. His size, he uses it to his advantage.”

During A-Day, Saban traditionally splits the team into two sides, with the first-team offense facing the first-team defense, and the second-teamers also squaring off against each other.

In theory, it should give everyone an equal chance of having a standout performance. Just don’t be surprised if one of the players who does isn’t considered to be one of the Crimson Tide’s biggest assets yet.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.