{"id":14997,"date":"2023-08-28T19:34:19","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T00:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=14997"},"modified":"2023-08-28T19:34:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T00:34:19","slug":"saban-sheds-light-on-options-at-safety-reveals-injury-to-junior-db","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/saban-sheds-light-on-options-at-safety-reveals-injury-to-junior-db\/","title":{"rendered":"Saban sheds light on options at safety; reveals injury to junior DB"},"content":{"rendered":"

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. \u2013<\/strong> Alabama did not release a Week 1 depth chart on Monday, choosing to avoid distractions<\/a> for the players and wait until game day to reveal the pecking orders. But head coach Nick Saban<\/a><\/strong> did reveal some nuggets as far as how the secondary could look.<\/p>\n

Saban was asked about the progress of those competing at the safety position this preseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cCaleb (Downs)<\/a><\/strong> has done a really good job,\u201d Saban said. \u201cI know he\u2019s a young player, but he\u2019s done a really good job. He\u2019s smart. He\u2019s bright. He understands football very well. Jaylen Key<\/a><\/strong> has done a really good job. He\u2019s got a lot of experience. Even though he hasn\u2019t played here, he\u2019s played other places in a very similar system. Those two guys have done a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Downs joined the Crimson Tide program during the team\u2019s Sugar Bowl prep in December and has generated positive buzz ever since. A former 5-star recruit, he started the A-Day Game at safety, picking off a pass just before halftime in the spring game, and has consistently worked with the first-team defense leading up to his true freshman season at Alabama.<\/p>\n

Key is another newcomer, although he has plenty of college experience already under his belt. The UAB transfer arrived on campus in late May after five years in Birmingham, Ala., and added another needed veteran to the Tide secondary. Leading up to the start of the 2023 season, Key has worked at multiple positions but received a lot of safety reps with the ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re working on the little things,\u201d said linebacker Deontae Lawson<\/a><\/strong> of the safeties. \u201cThey\u2019re all doing a great job. I\u2019m really just excited to see how they\u2019re gonna do against our opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those appear to be Alabama\u2019s starting safeties in advance of the opener, with senior Malachi Moore<\/a><\/strong> working at Star. Saban also mentioned Moore on Monday, once again pointing out how the versatile defender can line up in the slot at Star or back deep at safety. Moore figures to be part of the defensive plan, but Saban pointed out a couple of other options, too.<\/p>\n

One player that was generating some buzz early in fall camp was DeVonta Smith<\/a><\/strong>, a junior in the secondary who has played in 16 career games as a backup and special teams contributor but was getting some work with the first-team defense. Saban revealed Smith has been hampered by an injury of late as the Crimson Tide continues to plan for a new season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmitty\u2019s been out with his foot for a while, and we certainly think that he would be in the mix if he were healthy,\u201d Saban said. \u201cKristian Story<\/a><\/strong> is a dependable guy at the position. So that\u2019s kind of where it\u2019s at right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up now for a year\u2019s worth of premium access for 50% OFF! Or you can also gain monthly access for just $1! Get access to premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting content and also join thousands of Crimson Tide fans on the BOL Round Table message board!\u00a0CLICK HERE!<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The post Saban sheds light on options at safety; reveals injury to junior DB<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. \u2013 Alabama did not release a Week 1 depth chart on Monday, choosing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14997\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}