Alabama Football: Julio Jones' Replacement Still Up in the Air

Spring games don't settle nearly as many questions as fans think, but the Alabama coaches were wanting to see if somebody in the receiving corps would separate themselves from the pack in Saturday's A Day game.

Nick Saban had high praise for young receiver DeAndrew White, but that's praise for what he's been able to do as a freshman, not an inference that he could be the third receiver.

In watching the game, I was especially interested in the " intangibles" that will ultimately determine who gets that job. The biggest intangible is blocking.

If you're an offensive player on a Nick Saban team, blocking is just as important, if not more important, than your "skill" job. If you can't help your teammates achieve their objectives as well as your own, then you're going to ride the pine until you can.

Every running back and receiver on the Alabama team knows this.

In watching the blocking, you had to give high marks to Kevin Norwood, who I saw occupy his defender with relative ease during his limited playing time.

The second thing that Saban is looking for from the third receiver is the ability to break tackles and be the "go-to" guy on third down. This person has to be able to catch the ball three yards from scrimmage and muscle his way another four yards to convert the third and six.

Again in the second half, Norwood caught a short ball, stiff-armed a defender, picked up more downfield yards and got a big first down for his team.

Of course, the coaches are officially no closer to making the determination of who will get the valued starting job this fall.

They have yet to see Duron Carter in a crimson jersey, and many wonder how he may fit into this group. Senior Brandon Gibson, sophomore Kenny Bell and redshirt freshman Keiwone Malone still may have a say over how many catches any one player gets.

Who knows? Coach Mike Groh, the receivers coach, may choose to replace Julio Jones by committee. There may not be anything wrong with that approach, as each player brings a different skill set for the opponents to have to study up on.

After studying this position so closely and watching the replay the next day, it looks like Kevin Norwood is the guy with a leg up at this time. That's only one reporter's opinion, though, and it's still early; only time will tell.