Technically, Alabama still has three preseason practices remaining until it moves into game week for its season opener against Missouri. Although, according to Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide has already put its fall camp in the past.
“This signals the end of camp, even though we didn’t have camp,” Saban said following Alabama’s second and final scrimmage over the weekend. “We now have to have a sense of urgency to get ready for the season. We’ll actually start that when we get back to practice on Tuesday, in terms of early opponents and start to get ready for our first game.”
With Alabama now shifting its focus solely on Missouri, it’s a good time to take a look at what we’ve learned about the Tide so far this offseason. Today we’ll break down Alabama’s offense before moving on to the defense Wednesday.
Quarterbacks
What we know: Even after losing perhaps the best quarterback in program history, Alabama appears to be in excellent shape behind center. Unlike previous changing of the guards, this offseason came and went without much of a quarterback competition. After filling in nicely for an injured Tua Tagovailoa last season, Mac Jones will be the starter this year. The redshirt junior continued to show improvement throughout camp and looks poised to continue on last year’s production which saw him average 293 yards and 3.5 touchdowns through the air over his four starts.
While Jones is cemented as the Day 1 starter, Alabama’s other two options have been equally impressive. According to sources, Bryce Young had a very strong performance over the weekend, flashing his dual-threat ability by making plays both in the pocket and with his feet. The five-star freshman has struggled at times with consistency and decision making. Although, that’s to be expected with any true freshman at the position. Redshirt freshman Paul Tyson has also made drastic improvements this offseason which should give Alabama even more depth at the position.
What we don’t know: We know Jones will be the starter. We’re also fairly sure Young will receive a good amount of playing time as well. However, it’s unclear how and when in games Alabama will use its dynamic true freshman. During Tagovailoa’s freshman season, he primarily entered in the second half when the game was secured. Will Alabama use Young in a similar fashion, or will there be packages for him to come in during close games? Young’s dual-threat ability could add another wrinkle to the Tide’s offense and possibly throw off opposing defenses.
