Outside of “maybe two balls,” Kalen DeBoer liked what he saw from his three quarterbacks following Alabama’s first spring scrimmage on Thursday morning. Players went through 115 plays on the day with the first and second units taking 50 plays apiece and the third team getting 15.
While the scrimmage was closed to the public, it served as the first real opportunity for DeBoer and his staff to see redshirt junior Ty Simpson, redshirt sophomore Austin Mack and true freshman Keelon Russell operate the offense in a game-like setting.
“I think it's pretty consistent from where it was from the beginning,” DeBoer told reporters when asked about the play of his quarterbacks after the scrimmage. “So, you know, they all bring something a little bit different to the table, even though it's not like, maybe, a runner and then a passer. It's guys doing their thing and what their strengths are, you know, catchable balls and things like that, that they do really well. Making maybe field throws, one guy does that a little bit more. One does a little better job of scrambling.
"So I think they're all learning from each other, though, and taking something from each other's game and applying it to theirs and seeing that there's always a way to make this play happen or that play happen."
Alabama did not provide stats from the scrimmage, but DeBoer estimated that his quarterbacks completed somewhere between “60-65 percent” of their passes combined. As far as mistakes, the head coach said there were only two glaring errors.
“One was a really short pass that you really want to see completed, and one that was an opportunity at big gain that was missed,” DeBoer said without naming quarterbacks.
DeBoer said all three quarterbacks had the opportunity to handle reps with the first and second units, stating each did a decent job of managing the offense. While that the biggest thing he wanted to see from the bunch, he was also impressed by a few big plays on the day.
“I thought they did a good job keeping their eyes downfield and hit some explosives, and kept the chains moving on some third and fourth downs that were critical,” DeBoer said. “That shows good composure. We threw a lot at them the first couple of practices, and now, I think they’re getting into a groove.
"And again, we dialed back a little bit for the scrimmage, and we’ll keep throwing stuff back on them. The installs were heavy from both sides. So offense is installing, defense installing, and then you’re facing what you’re seeing, not just what you’re supposed to execute on your side. So today was good, you know, kept it not at an elementary level, but not at the expert level, either, as far as what we were putting on their plate."
Thursday’s scrimmage was Alabama’s eighth of 15 spring practices. The Tide will practice two more times next week before holding its second scrimmage on Friday, April 4. Alabama will not hold a spring game this year but will instead hold a 90-minute practice inside Bryant-Denny Stadium on April 12.
