Jumbo Package: Busy Friday Headlined by Sexton/Petty, Gym Tide, and Spring Scrimmage #2

Happy Friday, everyone. It is a busy one as the Gym Tide compete in the NCAAs tonight, baseball continues its series with Texas A&M, NCAA Player of the Year finalist Alexis Osorio asks you to turn up the hate as she leads softball into Knoxville to take on Tennessee, and the football team hosts its second and final scrimmage before A-Day:

All we heard about after the first scrimmage was how well quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa looked last Saturday.

Everyone we talked to about the scrimmage said Hurts and Tagovailoa were impressive.

It’ll be interesting to see how both players respond when the defense turns up the pressure this week. Look for Alabama to focus on passing with this being the last scrimmage before A-Day on April 22.

More consistent play along the line of scrimmage from both the offense and defense is two of the areas the team wants to show. Last week’s scrimmage revealed big plays in the passing game, and Saban wants more discipline from his defense line.

“I think we stopped the run OK,” he said. “think the big thing we have to work on is pass rush, pass rush lanes, quarterback scrambling, quarterback running. Everybody is worried about getting the sack. They need to worry about forcing the quarterback, pushing the pocket in the middle so he can’t step up and throw the ball, can’t extend plays which means that coverage breaks down in the back and we make big plays.

66 OL Lester Cotton

Why he's on the list: After opening last Saturday's scrimmage at right guard with the first-team offense, Cotton worked at right tackle -- with redshirt freshman Deonte Brown to Cotton's left at guard -- in the practice leading up to scrimmage No. 2. Whether it's at tackle or guard, now would be a good time for a guy who made five starts in 2016 to help stabilize the right side of the offensive line. Heading into the spring, it appeared as if that help would come at the position -- guard -- Cotton is suited for best. However, in his remarks following the spring's first scrimmage, Nick Saban made it clear that Cotton was in play at right tackle, the position he called home during the closing stretch of the 2016 season.

You can bet that the secondary is sick of hearing the buzz around the passing game. They will be looking to restore order. As noted, there has been some shuffling on the right side of the offensive line, as Lester Cotton was seen working at right tackle next to Chris Owens. Matt Womack had been a stalwart at right tackle throughout the spring.

Aaron Rodgers is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, a six-time Pro Bowler, two-time NFL MVP and likely future Hall of Famer.

That's why Trent Dilfer's comments on Tide 102.9 this week are so noteworthy.

The former NFL quarterback worked out "a lot" with Rodgers when the Green Bay Packers star was in college at California. And, to Dilfer, Alabama freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa "throws it better than Aaron Rodgers threw it as a sophomore at Cal-Berkeley."

"That's not an exaggeration," Dilfer added.

Other than family, Dilfer might be Tua’s biggest fan. During Elite 11 prep he compared one of Tua’s workouts to Andrew Luck, and he’s now throwing around the name of Aaron Rodgers.

One look at Najee Harris and it’s obvious why he was rated as the No. 1 player overall in the 2017 class. The 6-foot-2, 227-pound running back doesn’t look like a freshman and goes toe-to-toe with fellow teammate Bo Scarbrough for the title of biggest back on the Tide’s roster.

So far, Harris has proven to be every bit as electrifying as Scarbrough as well. While his stats weren’t revealed following Alabama’s first scrimmage, word got out that Harris hurdled three of his teammates during the game.

“That was my first time seeing something like that in real life,” Alabama receiver Cam Sims said when asked about Harris’ performance on the day.

Nice summary here of how the early enrollees are progressing. Safety Xavier McKinney seems to be doing pretty well, which is good considering the new uncertainty with Deionte Thompson.

"It's absolutely true; he should have had much more production here, relative to his ability and what his strengths are," Alabama coach Nick Saban told Sirius XM NFL Radio earlier this week. "And fortunately or unfortunately, we didn't have the complementary people around him to be able to make that happen. So it was through no fault of his that he didn't have the production. ... It just never worked out that we had the type of offense to take advantage of O.J.'s strengths."

Want to hear the crowd roar next Saturday? Let one of the quarterbacks rip one down the seam to a big dude wearing a number in the 80s.

Is there a lot of ill will for Clemson because that championship loss? There’s always going to be ill will [after losing] a game in Tuscaloosa or anywhere in Alabama. We lost to Auburn one year and we had fans poisoning trees. The year of the “Kick-6,” somebody was at an Iron Bowl party and an Alabama fan shot and killed an Auburn fan. It’s big down there when you lose a game. That’s what I don’t think he understood and that’s what I was trying to tell him. This is all these people got. I don’t feel like he was there picking a fight, he seemed like a good dude.

Ignore the headline. The part you are interested in is Ryan Anderson’s interview toward the end. Needless to say, the barners and corndogs are having a field day with this quote. If only we had lives outside of college football, y’all...

Potential top-five pick Jonathan Allen will be in Philadelphia for the ceremonies along with Cam Robinson. Nick Saban was also on the list of college coaches who'll be in the hall that night.

The draft will be held April 27-29 in Philadelphia.

Projected top pick Myles Garrett of Texas A&M was not on the list of attendees released by the NFL on Thursday evening.

"He's dynamic," ex-NFL scout and current NFL Network draft analyst Bucky Brooks said during a conference call on Wednesday. "He's tough. He has worked on his craft. At the top of the charts, you're trying to make sure you don't miss. He's almost a can't-miss prospect in terms of what he brings to the table. With those guys, those are special guys. That's why I think he kind of warrants a top-10 grade."

The draft should be very good to Alabama this year.

Last but not least, set your DVR for ESPN2 tonight at 8pm for the Jordan Brand Classic basketball game:

What: Jordan Brand Classic

Where: Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

When: Friday, April 14—Global Showcase at 1 p.m. ET, Regional game at 3 p.m. ET, girls at 5 p.m. ET, boys at 8 p.m. ET

How to watch: Watch boys game live on ESPN2

Below is all of our coverage, including rosters, player diaries, and more.

Kentucky has the most JBC All-Americans with four; Duke and Alabama had two apiece.

That’s right, folks. Alabama is tied with Duke for the second-most high school All-Americans. We saw Collin Sexton, already projected as a top 10 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, show out at the McDonald’s game. This game offers an opportunity to see John Petty as well.

Depending on who you ask, either Sexton or uncommitted Trevon Duval is the top high school guard in the country. Watch the pair go at it in practice:

If he keeps it up, Sexton might be the best guard to wear Crimson since Latrell Sprewell.

That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.

Roll Tide.