| 28 August 2011
The University of Alabama football team had its final pre-season practice of the year on Saturday. When the Tide practices again on Monday, it will be game week. The staff held the full pads practice inside the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility.
Here's what you need to know:
Kellen Williams and Dee Hart were still in black no contact jerseys, though both guys are working out more heavily than we saw earlier in the week. Williams will likely be practicing again on Monday, while Hart is still targeting October for a return to the practice field.
Marquis Maze has been limited in practice, though no one has officially said why. It looks more like he's trying to keep something nagging from becoming serious, but he has not been fully participating in drills.
Duron Carter has still not been cleared, despite every day rumors of him being good to go. Rumors have again been rampant that Monday will be the day for him, but those rumors have popped up before without coming true. Coach Saban told us that he'd believe it when he sees it, and I'm starting to feel the same way.
Not surprisingly, it looks like the scout team quarterback duties will be split by Phillip Ely and Morgan Ogilvie. Ely will simulate pro-style QBs while Ogilvie will replicate the dual threat guys.
What did come as a surprise is that Marvin Shinn is the freshman receiver working with the scout team, while Bradley Sylve and Christion Jones work with the Tide offense. Also a surprise, walk-on Hardie Buck was working with the offense, while all of the other walk-on receivers were with the scout team. Buck played on special teams in all 13 games in 2010, but he could be primed to get playing time at the receiver position, especially if Carter does not end up getting cleared.
That's pretty much all that was visible during the media viewing period. It is expected that there will be an official depth chart released tomorrow. We'll run the risk of embarrassing ourselves by taking a guess now. The staff has been liberal with the use of an "or" when they have not yet made a decision, and we will guess on a few of those, as well:
Offense
Quarterback - A.J. McCarron OR Phillip Sims, Blake Sims
Running Back - Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy, Jalston Fowler
Tight End H - Brad Smelley, Chris Underwood
Tight End Y - Michael Williams, Brian Vogler
Wide Receiver Z - Marquis Maze, Kenny Bell
Wide Receiver X - DeAndrew White, Michael Bowman
Wide Receiver H - Kevin Norwood, Brandon Gibson
Left Tackle - Barrett Jones, Cyrus Kouandjio
Left Guard - Chance Warmack, John Michael Boswell
Center - William Vlachos, Kellen Williams or Chad Lindsay
Right Guard - Anthony Steen, Alfred McCullough
Right Tackle - D.J. Fluker, Arie Kouandjio
Defense
Left End - Quinton Dial, Ed Stinson
Nose Guard - Josh Chapman, Nick Gentry
Right End - Damion Square, Jesse Williams
Jack Linebacker - Courtney Upshaw, Alex Watkins or Adrian Hubbard
Mike Linebacker - Dont'a Hightower, Chris Jordan
Will Linebacker - Nico Johnson or C.J. Mosley, Trey DePriest
Sam Linebacker - Jerrell Harris, Jonathan Atchison
Left Corner - DeMarcus Milliner or Phelon Jones
Free Safety - Mark Barron, Jarrick Williams
Strong Safety - Roberts Lester, Will Lowery or Nick Perry
Right Corner - Dre Kirkpatrick, John Fulton
Nickel "Star" - DeQuan Menzie, Hasean Clinton-Dix
Special Teams
Place Kicker - Cade Foster or Jeremy Shelley
Punter - Cody Mandell, Jay Williams
Long Snapper - Carson Tinker
Punt Returner - Marquis Maze, DeAndrew White
Kick Returner - Marquis Maze, Christion Jones or Bradley Sylve
Bama will return to practice again on Monday afternoon, and we'll have our normal report - along with the official game week depth chart.
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