Five Takeaways From Alabama Football's 2025 A-Day Practice

A-Day's new practice format featured standout performances from incoming freshmen and transfers along with a glimpse of the ongoing quarterback competition.

Alabama Wide Receiver Isaiah Horton (1) catches the ball during A-Day at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Saturday, Apr 12, 2025. / Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama football completed its 15th and final practice of the spring window on Saturday.

A-Day is typically an inter-Crimson Tide scrimmage, but this year was a 19-period practice. Alabama fans got to catch a glimpse of numerous freshmen having standout outings, a couple of incoming transfers displaying potential for a starting spot, and of course, the ongoing quarterback competition.

There's so much to dissect from this annual event held at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Here are five takeaways:

Impressions of the Quarterback Battle

The question is asked every day around Tuscaloosa during this time of year: Who is going to be Alabama's quarterback for the upcoming season? The Crimson Tide has been and still is holding a three-man quarterback competition between redshirt junior Ty Simpson, redshirt sophomore Austin Mack and true freshman Keelon Russell this spring.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said on Thursday that he doesn't "feel like they're to the point where there's separation," but fans got to see a certain order from the quarterback trio on A-Day. They each rotated with certain unit levels but for the most part, Simpson was with the 1s, Mack was with the 2s and Russell led the 3s.

DeBoer previously stated that this would be the case for Russell mainly due to his lack of experience, but the 2024-25 Gatorade National Player of the Year turned a lot of heads on Saturday. After throwing an interception on his very first throw of the practice, he was cool, calm and collected for the rest of the day, as he showed consistency on numerous deep ball drills with a small number of incompletions. Russell also threw a couple of touchdowns during a 7-on-7 red zone drill.

The Alabama quarterbacks participated in a couple of drills that didn't have any defense going against them, and while this won't be a possibility on gameday, Mack was the most accurate among the trio. He unofficially went 16-for-20 on indie/go balls, completed each 10-yard curl and went 31 of 32 during a concurrent drill with the other quarterbacks involving the majority of the route tree. However, he had a couple of interceptions and was a bit inconsistent against the Tide's secondary.

Simpson, who has been and still is the frontrunner for Alabama's Week 1 starting job, proved a bit why that's the case on Saturday. He didn't necessarily make any crazy throws or do something wild, but his conservative play style in this practice (not a live game) environment led to consistent gains on every type of drill. He had a few incompletions a couple of which were overthrows, but Simpson threw a really nice 50-yard touchdown and also had an accurate cross-body completion.

Returners Showcase Improvement

Due to transfers and injuries, Alabama came into the ReliaQuest Bowl with four healthy wide receivers, two of which had logged more than five receptions last season. Rico Scott's lack of playing time was a big reason for him being on the wrong end of this stat, but after Saturday, it's extremely unlikely that he'll repeat it. With Ryan Williams not participating due to injury, Scott had a few reps and showed a lot of promise with his ease of gaining separation and quick route-running.

Zabien Brown earned the starting job early last season as a freshman and thrived with a Freshman All-SEC Team recognition from the conference coaches. As he prepares for his sophomore campaign, he showed that one of the cornerback spots is his to lose on Saturday. Brown wasn't targeted too often during 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills, but after picking off Mack over the middle of the field, he got some love from defensive coordinator Kane Wommack.

Like Scott, Alabama defensive back Red Morgan didn't make much of an impact as a freshman last season as he mostly stuck to special teams. However, starting safety Keon Sabb's foot injury––that's still healing from the Tennessee loss––allowed Morgan, along with Zavier Mincey, to get more reps on A-Day. Morgan certainly didn't disappoint as he had displayed smothering coverage and multiple pass breakups, including one on former cornerback turned wide receiver Jaylen Mbakwe.

Freshmen Provide Glimpse of Future

4-star freshman safety Ivan Taylor made a mistake during Tuesday's practice on what looked like an open-field tackling drill and Wommack really let him have it. But on one of the first plays of A-Day, Taylor was on the receiving end of the aforementioned interception thrown by Russell. While shaking off mistakes is an everyday part of football, especially at Alabama, it was cool to see Taylor make a big play so early into the public event.

Wide receiver Lotzeir Brooks has easily been the most talked about incoming offensive player this offseason due to the freshman's quickness and agility. And on Saturday, Brooks didn't disappoint as he made several nice catches against the Tide's 2s and 3s. He was also on the receiving end of Russell's touchdown pass and displayed his speed throughout. Alabama's receiver room is filled with talent, perhaps too much, but he could potentially see some impact snaps this season.

Freshman cornerback Dijon Lee has been holding that most-acknowledged newcomer status on the defensive side of the ball this spring. The five-star's 6-foot-4 length is eye-popping for his position but he's already proving that he can use that frame well. Lee had a couple of pass breakups on Saturday, including a deep ball against wide receiver Germie Bernard. Domani Jackson didn't participate due to an injury he's dealt with before the spring and Lee filled his spot with the first team.

Speaking of size, wide receiver Derek Meadows uses his 6-foot-5 frame to haul in some big receptions. But in addition to his catch radius, the 208-pounder also stood out for burst at the line of scrimmage as he quickly broke free from coverage on multiple reps. Meadows also hauled in a back-shoulder deep touchdown pass from Mack during the 7-on-7 drills. The Las Vegas native was previously committed to LSU, but he's off to a solid start in Tuscaloosa with the Tigers' rival.

Transfers Show Potential

Alabama lost over 20 players to the transfer portal this offseason, but it also gained a few to help fill those holes. One area of notable roster turnover was in the secondary, but the addition of former Utah cornerback Cam Calhoun has hopes to turn the Tide around. Calhoun was taking mostly second team but also some first team reps on Saturday, but had a couple of nice pass breakups, including one in the endzone where wide receiver Jalen Hale was running across.

As previously stated, Alabama's wide receiver room looks a lot different than last year. But Isaiah Horton's 6-foot-4 length isn't the only reason he's standing out. Horton had a couple of nice catches but one was the play of the day. Simpson threw to Bernard and Bernard then launched a high ball into double coverage but Horton somehow came down with it and slipped away from the defense for a 70-yard touchdown.

GERMIE BERNARD AIRS IT OUT

The senior gets the screen from Ty Simpson and finds Isaiah Horton down the field for a 70 yard touchdown. Biggest highlight from A-Day so far.

Will we see this play in the 2025 season? pic.twitter.com/kU5AfDOgv9

— Theodore Fernandez (@TheoFernandez__) April 12, 2025

Alabama lost co-captain and left guard Tyler Booker to the 2025 NFL Draft, as he has a chance to be selected in the first round. The Crimson Tide has multiple players competing to fill Booker's position and one of which is Texas A&M transfer Kam Dewberry. Geno VanDeMark is also in the running for the LG1 spot but he didn't participate on Saturday and Dewberry took advantage with some solid work with the 1s.

New Format Creates Disappointing Turnout

Ahead of Kalen DeBoer's second year as the Crimson Tide's head coach, the program decided to change the format from a scrimmage with touchdowns, full-contact, flags and everything in between to a 19-period practice. This featured drills like 11-on-11, 7-on-7, go-routes between a wide receiver and a defensive back, passes in the red zone and more. That said, there wasn't much contact as gaining reps between the first, second and third teams was the top priority.

Fans were well aware that this would be the case and the attendance in Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium reflected that. Although the tickets were free, there were way more empty bleachers than occupied seats. UA hasn't announced the total attendance but the stadium that holds over 101,000 people couldn't have had more than 30,000 on Saturday.

The years of the A-Day scrimmage spanned a wide margin of attendance. In 2011, there were 92,310 fans and the entire 2010s decade had at least 62,000 seats taken. 2001 and 2004 each had 35,000 and those teams were coming off of sub-.500 seasons. Saturday's showing was very likely less than that and it also wasn't broadcast on television like usual.

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Following a few scrimmages during the summer, Alabama's next opponent won't be wearing crimson and white but rather garnet and gold as it'll face Florida State in the season opener on Aug. 30. Unlike their last meeting in 2017, this won't be a neutral site matchup as the Seminoles will host at Doak S. Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.

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