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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Two scrimmages down and one to go. After wrapping up its second scrimmage Saturday, Alabama heads into its final week of spring camp. From here, the Crimson Tide will hold practices on Tuesday and Thursday before concluding with the annual A-Day game on Saturday. Here’s a look at what we learned from Alabama’s second scrimmage.
D.J. Dale breaks into first-team defense
The biggest shakeup during the scrimmage came on the defensive line as freshman D.J. Dale was inserted into the first-team at the nose guard position between defensive ends Raekwon Davis and LaBryan Ray. Dale, a three-star recruit from Pinson, Ala., wasn’t the most hyped member of Alabama’s 2019 class. However, the 6-foot-3, 314-pound early enrollee has generated positive reviews since arriving on campus in December.
“DJ is playing some with the ones at nose,” head coach Nick Saban said following the scrimmage. “He’s got good initial quickness, good power, strikes, seems to be pretty conscientious, shows a little maturity about being able to go out there and do his job.”
Previously, redshirt sophomore Phidarian Mathis occupied the center of Alabama’s defensive line. Saturday, Mathis was moved to defensive end on the second team with senior Tevita Musika at nose guard and freshman Justin Eboigbe on the opposite side. Eboigbe is another player who has excelled during his short time in Tuscaloosa.
While the play of Alabama’s young defensive linemen was encouraging, Saban tempered his praise by stating the unit still still has a ways to go to build depth.
“I think some of the other guys have certainly showed us that they have ability,” Saban said. “I think when they get into competitive situations, they completely just dumb down. They can’t focus. They’re supposed to slant. They don’t slant. So it’s really you could see the talent, you could see the ability, but they’ve got to develop confidence when they hear a call that this is what I do and trust in that and believe in that. Right now, in practice, it’s starting to happen. But the next step is we got to get it in a competitive situation.”
