Grading Tommy Rees after Week 1 as Alabama offensive coordinator

Tommy Rees helped lead Alabama to 56 points in their season-opening win over MTSU on Saturday night. There were wrinkles beyond the final scoring output, though, that have BamaOnline’s Tim Watts interested in how the Tide’s offense is going to look as the season moves forward.

Watts discussed his takeaways from ‘Bama’s offense in Rees’ debut on ‘Andy Staples On3’ on Sunday night. His first note regarded the use of the tight ends, namely Amari Niblack, as he and CJ Dippre combined for three of the Tide’s 17 catches for 54 yards and a score.

“I think the biggest thing I took out of it was the looks that Amari Niblack got last night,” Watts said. “84 is running around there looking like a thick wide receiver. That was kind of the thing that jumped out to me.”

“CJ got a look early in the game, I think he dropped one. That was what stood out to me,” said Watts.

From there, Watts pointed out one improvement needs to come from Alabama’s run game. Whether it was straightforward sets from Rees or a lack of protection from the backs themselves, he sees room for growth in that phase of their game heading into their second contest.

“I didn’t see them try to really grind the ball. I saw the run game was kind of basic. Also, I thought it was getting blown up a little bit,” Watts explained. “One thing I think Alabama definitely has to work on is their running backs picking up. There was a couple of times that they just got simply overpowered by somebody coming on the blitz.”

All in all, it’s hard to find fault in scoring 14 points in every quarter of play, especially as they broke in a new quarterback under a new offensive coordinator. That’s why, ahead of next week’s primetime matchup with Texas, Watts is content with this foundation and wants to see how they build upon it against the Longhorns come Saturday.

“I think it’s about what we expected,” said Watts. “Again, I think they were just trying to get through that game and kind of learn, get (Jalen) Milroe’s feet underneath him.”

“I’m sure they planned to take a few shots down the field. I don’t think they wanted to show their repertoire. But if it was there? Certainly, Milroe goes into this next game with some confidence now in my opinion.”

Saban on Jalen Milroe: “I think he did a really good job”

Coming into the season, much of the talk surrounding Alabama was uncertainty at the quarterback position. After Saturday night against Middle Tennessee State, though, Jalen Milroe put on a masterful performance that he hopes ends any question marks at the position.

Following the game, Nick Saban discussed Milroe’s debut and expressed pride in the QB1 against MTSU.

“It was good,” Saban said. “He’s been playing good. Prepared well for the game and I thought he did a nice job out there. I’m sure he will learn a couple of other things that will help him improve. We all got plays that we can improve on. But I think he did a really good job.”

Milroe racked up over 230 all-purpose yards and five total touchdowns in the Tide’s 56-7 throttling of the Blue Raiders.

He put on quite the show in the first half and then took advantage of his opportunity in the second half. We knew about his dual-threat ability, especially with his feet. However, a few of his deep passes may have silenced some doubters.