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Alabama has gone through the fourth quarter program and has had five practices, so there has been a small enough size to report on. Here are some key takeaways going into practice no. 6.
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Defensive Line
Leading off, I have to say that the new coaching assistants have already made an impact. First year defensive line coach Brian Baker is really on his group, coaching, yelling, a lot of intensity shown from him each time we’ve seen him. Phidarian Mathis at 6-foot-4 and 317 pounds wasted zero time jumping to the front of the line with the ones and he looks very promising so far. Mathis wears 317 pounds very well and just has a very wide frame that should create for a great run stuffer. Alabama’s front three right now read as such: 6-foot-7, 309 Raekwon Davis, 6-foot-5, 285-pound LaBryan Ray, and 6-foot-4, 317-pound Phidarian Mathis.
That is a lot of weight and athleticism that will be chasing down quarterbacks this coming fall. There is no question Raekwon Davis is working his tail off during what I call a “money year”. He’s the next Alabama defensive lineman to go in the first round if he works for it and we’ve seen a lot of spring footage that has us thinking he’s dialed in. LaBryan Ray as you would expect looks beastly and is primed for an All-American year.
Other defensive linemen that have impressed early on include 6-foot-4, 285 pound Stephon Wynn Jr. who is now an RS-Freshman and 6-foot-5, 310 pound Christian Barmore who also red-shirted during the 2018 season. Regarding Barmore, he looks to have so much upside but at practice, you see that he really gets down on himself, something he did last year as well. That is a sign of immaturity and hopefully as his career at Alabama progresses he’ll steer clear of that and just fix the technical issues.
Tevita Musika at 6-foot-1, 342 pounds reps with the twos right now, but I am not sure how much he is really going to play. Maybe on a 3rd and goal where you need a bunch of widebodies to fill space, but he just does not seem to have too much athleticism compared to the rest of the group. Justin Eboigbe at 6-foot-5, 283 pounds is a player we have not talked too much about, but he has good size obviously and has the frame to carry 15-20 more pounds easily. Antonio Alfano at 6-foot-4, 288 pounds continues to show to be a grinder, just working with his head down trying to move up in the rotation. Alfano and Eboigbe could be a very serious duo in the future at Alabama.
Inside Linebackers
With the inside linebackers, I understand the concern regarding Ale Kaho missing the first two practices of the spring, but rest assured that Inside Linebackers Coach and Defensive Coordinator Pete Golding has things in order. Golding continues to demonstrate a very detailed coaching style which should provide a player like Dylan Moses an opportunity to grab hold of the defense as the signal caller this season. Think of Moses as a coach on the field emulating Golding.
