In his weekly press conference, apparently some reporter finally worked up the courage to ask Coach Saban about Jimmy Johns. More specifically, he was asked about the possibility of using Jimmy Johns as a tailback in short-yardage situations, to which he replied:
Well, that sums things up pretty nicely. The bottom line is that -- regardless of how highly-touted Johns was coming out of high school or how much raw talent he may possess -- Johns has not done the things necessary to play, and apparently has not even come close to doing the things needed. At the moment, he's at best the back-up fullback in an offense that doesn't even really utilize the fullback, and at tailback he's been beaten out even by a walk-on who was playing wide receiver up until about six weeks ago.
In short, just move on and get over it with the whole Johns situation. He's not a viable option at this point, and unless something major changes he's going to remain on the bench when the offense is on the field. And that's where the discussion ends regarding Jimmy Johns.