Alabama TE Cameron Latu, DL LaBryan Ray Among Those Experiencing "Really Good" Springs

Coach Nick Saban speaks on the progression of Latu, what he has seen from Ray and updates his team's punting situation

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Bill O'Brien loves his tight ends. 

It became evident during his time at Penn State when he recruit and produce two NFL-caliber tight ends in Jesse James and Mike Gesiki. 

Even before that, for his one year in New England as the Patriots offensive coordinator in 2011, two of the top three receiving leaders were Rob Gronkowski with 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns and Aaron Hernandez with 910 yards and seven scores. 

The bottom line is Alabama fans should expect that to see a lot of junior Jahleel Billingsley, who broke out at the end of the 2020 season, and redshirt-junior Cameron Latu incorporated more into the Crimson Tide's offense in 2021. 

Billingsley has 20 receptions, 303 yards and three touchdowns to his name during his Alabama career, while Latu, who originally signed with coach Nick Saban and company as a defensive end in 2018, is in the middle of having breakout spring.  

One of quarterback Bryce Young's three touchdown passes in Saturday's scrimmage inside Bryant-Denny Stadium went to Latu.

"He's had a really good spring so far," Saban said. "He's showed a lot of maturity, made a lot of plays, very athletic guy, he’s a good C-area blocker, he’s got a much better command of the offense. I think he’s much more confident and he’s really a good receiver he’s got good hands, so we’re really pleased with the progress that he’s made."

While the 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end has never recorded a catch or score during his three-year Crimson Tide career already, that is bound to change.

DL LaBryan Ray Having No Issue with Elbow

Alabama defensive lineman LaBryan Ray told the media earlier this week that he was continuing to feel 100 percent and that his elbow, that cost him part of the 2020 campaign, was feeling much better. 

Following this weekend's scrimmage, Saban confirmed that and seemed pleased with the progress that Ray has made so far in the 12 practices in spring up to this point. 

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“He’s done a great job," Saban said. "He practices every day. He scrimmaged in both scrimmages. We kind of monitor his situation, and we let him have input in how he feels relative to if he’s getting sore or he thinks he has an issue or problem with his elbow, then we’ll kind of cut back his reps. 

"But he’s not had an issue and he’s not really asked for any quarter in terms of anything we’ve asked him to do. So he’s done a really good job.”

If Ray is able to stay healthy this season, he will add experience and leadership to a Crimson Tide defense that could once again top the Southeastern Conference. 

Saban Updates Alabama's Punting Situation

In a record-breaking season a year ago, the Crimson Tide didn't punt much at all in 13 games, only 32 times to be exact. 

However, at the beginning of 2020 it was a revolving door as to who get the punting duties week-in and week-out between Sam Johnson and Charlie Scott. 

Ty Perine, who saw action in 2019, never had the opportunity to punt in 2020. 

After the first four games of the year, Scott won the starting job and finished the year with 22 punts, each one going for an average of nearly 40 yards that resulted in 15 fair catches.

After the second of three scrimmages this spring, Scott still appears to have the starter spot on lockdown while Saban would still like to see more consistently from Perine.

“Charlie Scott did a good job today," Saban said. "He had probably his best day. He was injured some, didn’t go through the offseason program, probably didn’t get to train like he really wanted to train but really showed promise today. No. 99 (Ty Perine) continues to have a great leg. We’ve just gotta get him to be a little bit more consistent, and he really has done that. So those two guys, I think, have made significant improvement.”