Fall camp is officially underway for the crimson tide, which means we are inching ever so closer to the return of meaningful football in our lives. It’s an important time for the incoming freshman to get their toes wet in the process and also for the new coaches to build on their roles from spring practice.
But with a lot of the attention going towards guys like quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, defensive tackle Raekwon Davis or even youngsters like rising freshmen Tre Sanders or Emil Ekiyor, it’s very easy to forget about the other sophomores and upperclassmen who may be on their last chance to give a good impression.
These are players who have either patiently waited for an opportunity or who need to finally play to their potential so they can carve out roles on the team before it’s too late.
If there’s one thing everybody knows it’s that at nearly every position on the roster there is competition and some players more than others will need to really impress during camp.
Here are a couple of players who need to have big fall camps on the offensive side of the ball:
Junior QB Mac Jones
After an impressive spring game where he bounced back after throwing an early interception, junior quarterback Mac Jones needs to continue to gain momentum through fall camp. This past recruiting class brought in some extra competition in Taulia Tagovailoa and Paul Tyson but Jones seems to have separated from them.
But that’s not to say that Jones should be content if anything he needs to continue to push himself. If last season showed Alabama anything it’s that the team will need to have a pair of quarterbacks ready to play should anything happen to Tua.
Junior RB Brian Robinson
Brian Robinson is the classic case of a guy who caught a raw deal with the types of players who have come through Alabama at the running back position. From players like Damien Harris, Josh Jacobs, Bo Scarbrough and Najee Harris, running back has been a very saturated position for the crimson tide. But that’s not to say that Robinson isn’t worthy of playing time.
The Tuscaloosa native was rated as a four-star recruit coming out of high school and has shown flashes of being a very talented player in mop-up roles. But like I said before, Alabama will always have a ton of talented running backs. Which is why Robinson needs to work to separate himself from the incoming freshmen Tre Sanders and Jerome Ford. Nick Saban hasn’t been afraid to play young players recently which gives Robinson all the more incentive to earn his carries.
Junior OL Deonte Brown
The Decatur product has had a rather chaotic year, to say the least. He earned a starting spot halfway through last season and showed a ton of promise. His physical play was a welcomed addition to one of college football’s top offenses. But just before the College Football Playoff semi-final game against Oklahoma Brown was suspended along with two others for rules violations within the team.
As of now, Brown is not projected to start for the crimson tide as freshman Emil Ekiyor is slotted in to start at guard instead. The redshirt junior is also facing a four-game suspension at the start of the 2019 season so the odds are not exactly stacked in his favor. Despite all of this working against him, a solid fall camp will push the coaches into making a tough decision after his suspension is over or if he wins an appeal. Regardless, it wouldn’t be the first time Brown wins a starting spot during a season.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
