Alabama football: Breaking down footage from Practice No. 3

The Alabama football program only bestowed a 35-second video upon us after the third spring practice on Wednesday. However, the brief clips provide a good opportunity to quickly discuss the highlighted players.

We start with clips from the RB Corps. We don’t talk about this group enough. Coach Saban was highly complimentary of the entire RB Room in his remarks on Wednesday. He was effusive in his praise of transfer RB Jahmyr Gibbs but overall, he appears highly confident in all of the backs.

The clips feature two walkons and Trey Sanders at the start of the video. As we know, Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams are in black jerseys which means they are practicing but on a limited basis. That means more reps for the walk-on group but also more reps for Sanders, freshman Jamarion Miller and the transfer, Gibbs. I think the most interesting question about this group is this — with the abundance of bodies and talent, will the RBs get it done by committee this fall or are we going to see the Jahmyr Gibbs Show? Is this solo Gibbs or the BeeGees? (google this joke)

We then see WR Jermaine Burton and it strikes me that I don’t think another player on the team has been featured more in the spring clips than Burton. While that likely means nothing at all, I think you could also fairly conclude that he is a big spring story. While Burton did not accumulate sick numbers in his time at Georgia, just think of boxes you would check when evaluating him. He’s the most experienced WR on the team. He’s big at 6’0,200. He’s fast with a legit, certified 4.4 as a high school prospect. Per College Football Focus, he did not drop a single pass last season. So … experience, size, speed and hands? Yeah, this is going to be our WR1 this fall. Making it even more fun is that Georgia fans will be astounded and mad when he catches 60 balls for over 1,000 yards.

We then get another clip of a walk on WR catching a ball and, no, I am not upset about this. They serve an extremely valuable purpose and we can’t do this without them and they don’t get enough credit or attention. We just only get 35 seconds of footage and … no problem. I’m calm. Just saying, the RB clips were primarily walk-ons, now a walk-on at WR. You can’t show us how the offensive line is lining up from left to right? Just one quick sweeping shot?

Cool shots then follow of Malachi, Holden and Ouzts.

Malachi Moore had all the makings of a huge star in his freshman season but he followed that up with a very quiet sophomore season. Lingering offseason injury? Sophomore slump? His bigger problem is potentially being passed up by Brian Branch on the depth chart. But, no doubt, if Chi is back to form, they will find him a role. How about star when the Tide is in dime? Branch could slide to money or safety in that alignment.

Traeshon Holden is our second-best “big body” WR behind Burton. Therefore, there will be a role for him. If you are playing over/under on receptions for Holden this season, take the over. I don’t think he will be one of the top 3 guys at WR but he could be just behind that group in snaps/catches.

Robbie Ouzts will definitely play a role with the 1s. He is probably the best pure blocker in that TE Room. His athleticism is also under-regarded. Let’s tread it on a small limb here — I think Ouzts is TE1 in 2023. Pound for pound, he may be the best blocker on the team.

The clip ends with Bryce in slo mo, readying to fire a dime downfield, no doubt. While any athlete needs reps on the field and it is vital that he creates chemistry with his new WR1 (Burton), I think Bryce’s most vital work this offseason is in the film room and on the grease board with Coach O’Brien. Bryce needs to improve his pre-snap and post-snap reads. Getting Alabama into the right play and out of bad ones, based on alignment, will hugely improve his game and the Alabama Offense. Which is a scary thought for the opposition.