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00:00 Welcome into Bama Central's The Extra Point segment.
00:04 I'm Will Miller joined today by Matthew Gibson, where we are going to break down
00:08 some of Nick Saban's comments on one of the offensive position groups on this
00:12 2023 Alabama football team.
00:15 This past Saturday, there was a scrimmage and
00:18 afterwards Coach Saban gave some of his thoughts on his players.
00:22 Quarterback, not the only position battle on offense,
00:25 got some action going at wide receiver as well.
00:27 Pivotal part of any offense, but Coach Saban didn't necessarily have the most
00:32 gleaming glowing endorsement anybody's ever heard, Matthew.
00:35 >> No, he did not.
00:37 And as we all know, Alabama did struggle a little bit with drops last year,
00:40 whether it be Kobe Prentice or Jermaine Burton.
00:41 But even with the last press conference,
00:43 Coach Saban was not very pleased with the performance from practice saying, but
00:48 what is the level of consistency?
00:49 I mean, if you're a receiver, why do they call you a receiver?
00:52 Supposed to be able to catch the ball, right?
00:54 That's what a receiver means.
00:55 So you should never drop the ball.
00:56 That's something we gotta stay focused on.
00:58 So clearly, the wide receiver room has got some things to work on.
01:02 There's gonna be a healthy sense of competition with, again,
01:04 with guys like Kobe Prentice, Jermaine Burton, Manuel Henderson,
01:07 just all of the names that you can have there.
01:08 Again, Alabama's got a deep wide receiver room.
01:12 Again, last year, struggled with drops.
01:14 They're gonna be trying to cut back on this this year
01:17 under Holloman Wiggins as the wide receiver coach.
01:19 So again, if this is a problem that Alabama has this year,
01:23 it's gonna be really hard for a quarterback like Jalen Melroy or
01:25 Ty Simpson, who's really trying to get adjusted to playing as the starting
01:28 quarterback for the first time in Alabama's new offense.
01:32 >> What do you make of this, though,
01:33 three weeks out from the regular season officially starting?
01:37 I mean, you are full steam ahead.
01:39 You can see the season right there in your sights.
01:43 And these things are still cropping up.
01:46 I guess that kind of begs the question, who do you look to to step up?
01:50 Wide receiver, very deep position group, a mix of players, some experienced,
01:55 some less experienced.
01:57 Who do you look to to kind of lead the charge as you look to go to practice
02:00 every day and have these activities, team activities?
02:03 And who's gonna help steer the ship and help this group get right?
02:07 >> Yeah, I mean, I think it has to be Jermaine Burton.
02:10 Jermaine Burton is the most experienced wide receiver on this Alabama roster.
02:13 And for him, he has to be able to step up and lead guys like Kobe Prentice,
02:17 who's a little bit younger than him, and just be able to be a leader,
02:20 be a seasoned veteran after playing at Georgia and now Alabama last year.
02:24 And then again, if it's a quarterback, in order to help win that quarterback
02:28 competition between Melrose Simpson, Laundrin, Buechner,
02:32 that's another way to get bonus points there.
02:35 You gotta be able to step up and make sure your receivers are on the same page as
02:39 you, you gotta make sure they're coaching them correctly too as their quarterback,
02:43 leading them to the right place and be able to make catches like that.
02:46 But again, it's hot outside, we'll say that too.
02:49 So there's some factors there that could be playing into that.
02:52 But I don't think it's something Alabama has to be too concerned about yet.
02:55 First couple of games if it's happening,
02:57 I think that's when you really begin to worry about it.
02:59 But again, this wide receiver group is pretty deep.
03:03 They should have a good unit and look for
03:06 Alabama to have some good plays of wide receiver this year.
03:08 They'll be solid, I think.
03:09 >> Do you think that some of this might have to do with the fact that these guys
03:14 are having to gel with all different quarterbacks?
03:17 As we mentioned at the top of this video,
03:19 you have position battles all over the offense, quarterback being the central
03:23 focus for a lot of people on the outside looking in.
03:27 These guys are having to gel with all three of these quarterbacks that
03:30 are in this position battle.
03:31 Do you think that's a factor at all?
03:32 >> I do think it's a factor, particularly with the newer freshmen, or
03:39 someone like Ty Buechner who's coming in from Notre Dame.
03:41 But whether it be Milrow or Simpson, they've been here for a hot minute now.
03:47 Some of these wide receivers should be adjusted,
03:48 maybe not to freshmen, but J'Cory Brooks, Jermaine Burton,
03:53 that entire group should not be having drop problems like they have been,
03:57 apparently.
03:58 I think, again, that's something that as you get into the season,
04:01 if it becomes a problem in games, it's a little bit different.
04:04 But in practice, you don't have to worry about it too much yet.
04:06 I do think it's something to keep an eye on, but
04:08 I don't think it's a pressing issue yet.
04:10 And it could be just Nick Saban giving his wide receivers a little bit of
04:13 motivation and the presser.
04:17 >> For Bama Central, this has been the Extra Point.
04:20 I'm Will Miller once again with Matthew Gibson, and
04:22 thank you so much for watching.
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