Alabama QBs Bryce Young, Jalen Milroe Improving, RB Roydell Williams Leads Rushing Attack in Second Scrimmage
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Sophomore quarterback Bryce Young, the heir apparent to 2020 Heisman finalist Mac Jones, continues to receive rave reviews during Alabama football's spring season but coach Nick Saban would still like to see the former five-star recruit work on "being the man."
"He's done great," Saban said following the team's second scrimmage of three on Saturday afternoon inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. "He knows the playbook very well. I told him one of the things that he has to work on is having presence on the field — being the man so to speak, taking charge and being in command. I think that he’s done better at that. I think he realizes what he needs to do to try and help the players around him play better and I think he’s done it very well.”
Among the quarterback position, Saban added that freshman Jalen Milroe "showed a lot of improvement from a week ago."
As for the weapons that Young and Milroe have at their disposal, Saban would still like to see a little more from the wide receivers room. The main priority is trying to replace 2020 Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith and likely first-round pick Jaylen Waddle.
"We're just going to have to figure out what we can do with this team," Saban said. "Some of the receivers did a little better job this week. We just keep on working with these guys and see if we can get more guys to play winning football."
Despite being down two more offensive linemen in junior Evan Neal and sophomore Javion Cohen, the Crimson Tide rushing attack was much better than the first scrimmage according to Saban.
"Roydell (Williams) had the most yards," Saban said. "But I don't know what that means because it depends on who you are running against sometimes, who the offensive line is and the opportunities you get. Brian Robinson Jr. has had a great spring. He has done a great job. He's showing really good leadership in terms of his practice habits and the things he has done. We are pleased with what he's done. I'm real pleased with all the other running backs and I don't think that's an issue on our team right now.
"If those guys can stay healthy, they'll be a strength for us."
However, Saban did note that the offense made too many negative plays, which could have been due to the aforementioned injuries on the offensive line and playing many young players like freshmen JC Latham and Tommy Brockermeyer.
“Look, Will Anderson can rush," Saban said. "Chris Allen can rush. We’ve probably got more guys that can rush that have more maturity. We’ve got a couple of the young guys that can rush. So they’re getting challenged, which I think is good. We always say, ‘When you get to practice against really good guys, that really helps your development, helps you self-assess, helps you know what you need to improve on.’ And I think if we got everybody back in the offensive line and we got everybody healthy, I think we would have a pretty good group.
"But with the guys that are out being out and moving guys around, I think that really kind of — I wish it wasn’t that way, but we have to manage the situation and the circumstance that we’re in. And the experience that these guys are getting at multiple positions will be benefit them in the long run because we’ll go into next year with more guys being able to play more spots.”
