Alabama football: Nick Saban assesses Bryce Young’s spring performance
By John Buhler
Nick Saban expounds on how Bryce Young’s spring went with the Alabama football program.
With A-Day firmly in the books, Alabama football head coach Nick Saban came away impressed with the play of quarterback Bryce Young.
After backing up Mac Jones as a true freshman in 2020, Young will be the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback this fall. The former five-star recruit out of Mater Dei High School in Southern California faces massive expectations to carry on the Alabama quarterbacking legacy set forth by Jones, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts before him. Overall, Saban seems to like what he has seen.
“I think he’s done a really good job all spring,” said Saban of Young. “We continue to work on him kind of having a presence out there that affects other people in a positive way. And I think he’s starting to get more and more respect from the other players by the way he plays.”
“Every scrimmage we had, he performed very, very well. And I thought he performed well today. Quarterback’s a hard position to play when the people around you don’t play well. He had some opportunities he couldn’t take advantage of because of the pressure he got in the pocket.”
Alabama football: Can Bryce Young lead the Crimson Tide to the promised land?
Even though Alabama lost so much talent to the 2021 NFL Draft, it really is national title or bust most years for the Crimson Tide, and 2021 will be no different. Alabama will be favored to win the SEC over the likes of Florida, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M. Should the Crimson Tide get to the College Football Playoff, they will have to upend teams like Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma.
The good thing going for Young is he has a year’s worth of experience on campus, so he is not going into the starting quarterback job incredibly raw. He saw firsthand what it took for Jones to prepare during his Heisman Finalist season. Though Young may have to do more to elevate the talent around him, Saban’s growing confidence in him should make Alabama fans very excited.
Young’s progression throughout spring practice and into A-Day is fantastic news for Alabama.
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