Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ronnie Harrison came to the University of Alabama as freshmen defensive backs in 2015, but neither played like a freshman.
Both were significant to the Crimson Tide’s College Football Playoff National Championship. Fitzpatrick was a Freshman All-American with 11 pass breakups and two interceptions returned for touchdowns. Harrison had six breakups, a quarterback hurry, a forced fumble, a blocked kicked, and two interceptions. They were young pieces in a “No Fly Zone” secondary, anchored by safety Eddie Jackson, but they were ready for any opponent threw at them. Alabama fans are hopeful that this year’s class of defensive backs can do the same. The Crimson Tide brought in Jaylen Mbakwe, Zabien Brown, Zavier Mincey, Red Morgan, Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., and Peyton Woodyard in Nick Saban’s final recruiting class. Kane Wommack, 36, inherits a talented group as defensive coordinator. He sees young men that don’t carry themselves as freshmen on the field. Wommack spoke to Tide reporters on Wednesday about what impresses him the most about this group. He likes how quickly they fix mistakes.
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“I was really pleased in the last two practices with how our guys got those things fixed,” Wommack said about the freshmen defensive backs helping out against the run. “You want to see young defensive backs make a mistake, but then get it corrected moving forward. If we can continue doing that, on this trajectory, we will be good for August 31.”
Wommack said the freshmen class in the secondary is ‘hungry.’
“They have an urgency to get things fixed,” he said. “They have an awareness of what mistake they made and how to get it corrected. If you walk into our coaches offices at night, we all go up and grade the film as coaches. We would come back in the morning, but that night, there were a bunch of freshmen in every coaches room. They are getting better, learning, taking every mental rep they can. They are locked in. They act like guys that have been there before, and that’s impressive from this group.”
Alabama’s offense throws a lot at its defense, but it is good to see the secondary picking things up.
The Tide has its second scrimmage on Saturday before the A-Day Game next week.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
