Written by Ell | 31 March 2008

Alabama had its first scrimmage of the spring! Lots of folks are clamoring about the sky falling because the offensive numbers were disappointing; something that is not all that surprising for any team having its first scrimmage, much less one with a new offensive coordinator. A few things to consider regarding the poor offensive numbers:

• When you're "playing" yourself, every positive has a negative, and every negative has a positive. The passing numbers were bad, which means that the QBs and WRs weren't playing well. It also means that the DBs were playing well.
• Bama is working on a new offense. While Coach Saban has talked about the fact that 70% of the offensive terminology from last season will remain, there is still an adjustment. Add to that the fact that this was Bama's 6th practice, with 2 of those coming in shorts and T-shirts prior to spring break, and you have to expect the offense to be behind a defense that, despite changing coordinators also, is the same defense that the Tide ran in 2007.
• Bama's WR corp is young. Yes, there are some returning guys, namely Mike McCoy, Nikita Stover & Will Oakley. But both Stover & Oakley were dealing with injuries, so it's unlikely that they participated a great deal. It is important to keep in mind just what Bama is replacing at this position, though - between DJ Hall, Keith Brown & Matt Caddell, the Tide is losing a combined 397 receptions, 5,918 yards & 35 TDs. The guys returning have a combined 71 receptions, which I will grant is a decent number considering most teams that lose their top 3 receivers likely have far less returning experience. We should expect for there to be a learning curve for this new group. Guys like Earl Alexander & Darius Hanks have very limited experience. Bama has a couple of talent guys that saw no action last year in Brandon Gibson & Marquis Maze, as well as early enrolee Chris Jackson. And then there's the group of Freshmen coming in - Julion Jones, BJ Scott, Melvin Ray, Devonta Bolton & Destin Hood - that will factor into the mix in August.
• Offense is typically behind defense early in a practice cycle. A great deal of offensive success is dependant upon timing, while a great deal of defensive success is dependant upon reaction. Give the offensive guys some time, and we'll likely see things improve.

Bama will have another scrimmage this weekend, leading up to April 12th's A-Day game. I expect we'll see better offensive numbers in that scrimmage, though I doubt we'll really see what this offense is capable of until guys like Nikita Stover and Glen Coffee get healthy, and the influx of new talent hits campus this summer.

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