Nick Saban gives immediate takeaways from first Alabama scrimmage of spring

Alabama held is first scrimmage of the spring on Saturday, meaning Nick Saban got to get an early look at what his new group can do in a game-like situation. Afterward, he shared his immediate takeaways — and pointed to a few different areas the Crimson Tide need to improve.

Saban also acknowledged some new faces are getting some big opportunities because of injuries. That said, that’s a good thing so those players can get some experience under their belts before the season begins in the fall.

“We’re not disappointed in where we are,” Saban told reporters. “We’re certainly not where we’d like to be or want to be or need to be. But I think that because of the circumstance we’re in, we’re getting a lot of young players a lot of opportunities, which I think is really important. Having three offensive linemen out — two starters — for the entire spring. We had a couple guys out on defense today, so that gave some other guys some opportunity. Nothing serious. But all in all, I thought the effort was pretty good out there. Some really good collisions. Our guys played with toughness.

“I thought we executed OK on offense. I think we dropped some balls, which is something that we need to clean up. Probably had too many pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball, which is something we need to clean up. So just playing smart football. It’s important to have a great sense of urgency, but it’s also important to be able to play with intelligence and make good choices and decisions so that you can play winning football. But all in all, I’m not disappointed in where we are. I just think that we’ve just got to take everybody from wherever they are and try to keep working with them so we can continue to improve.”

Plenty of key pieces are coming back for Alabama, notably quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young on offense. But on defense, the Crimson Tide bring back plenty of fire power. Will Anderson, Henry To’oTo’o and Jaylen Moody are among the big names to return on that side of the ball.

But there are new faces on the roster, as well. Saban brought in the No. 2 recruiting class in the country this year, according to the On3 Consensus Team Rankings, while also adding three transfers. All three of them were in the top 15 of the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings, led by Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs — On3’s No. 3 transfer in the portal. Georgia transfer Jermaine Burton came in as On3’s No. 5 transfer, while LSU transfer Eli Ricks checked in at No. 12.