Jumbo Package: There is not, and will be no quarterback controversy in Tuscaloosa

We’re busting a hump this week in anticipation of a very busy Alabama draft class. Today’s JP is going to be done with minimal editorializing, but there’s a ton to get through:

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27. Kansas City Chiefs: Marlon Humphrey, CB, Alabama

Do the Chiefs take Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer or find a cornerback who can play opposite Marcus Peters? If you’re going purely by value, it’s cornerback.

Here’s a mock to get you through today. The highest ranked Bama player? Jonathan Allen at No. 7. LOLOLOLOLOLOL. He’s not lasting until the 7th pick.

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O.J. Howard climbed from a tiny high school to become the top TE in the 2017 NFL Draft - SBNation.com

Cam Newton and Auburn were Howard’s favorites

Before Howard joined Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide, he had dreams of following in Cam Newton’s footsteps at Auburn, despite the fact that the rest of his family rooted for Alabama.

"When Auburn won the national championship and the newspaper clipping came out ... he hung it on his door," Howard’s mother, Lamesa Howard, said. "And so we had to walk by it all the time and look at those Auburn pictures hanging up there."

He was motivated by the play of Newton who once inspired a Superman celebration by Howard. But the welcoming environment of Alabama convinced him that Tuscaloosa was the place for him.

Thank goodness this whole deranged notion of flirting with Auburn was just high school rebellion.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey doesn't view parts of recruiting package as 'healthy'

Sankey said the league, which already has a signing limit for member programs, wanted to expand the time range for counting scholarships toward the current class.

"What's called a hard cap on signing, I don't think that accomplishes what it's intended to accomplish," he said. "I think what it's going to do is remove some opportunities that should exist. So somebody signs, isn't eligible for some reason, the school is prohibited from replacing that scholarship with someone new, an initial counter. "

Soemhow I do not think the other conference are going to play along with an extension of time (a soft cap, in essence) to count a team’s schollies, esp. the Big 10 who will just carp that the CHEATIN’, OVERSIGNIN’ SEC is at again.

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For Alabama, it's still Jalen Hurts and everybody else in quarterback battle | NCAA Football | Sporting News

“To me Jalen Hurts played very, very well last year,” Saban told ESPN after the game. “He was a really good player for us. Somebody’s got to beat him out.”

It’s important to note that Saban didn’t just comment on his quarterback’s play in the spring: He preemptively jumped to Hurts’ defense from the 2016 season, which didn’t exactly end well for the true freshman.

There is no quarterback controversey. Full stop. Nor, barring an absolute implosion, will there be. This is Hurts job with a bullet.

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2 Alabama defenders undergo surgery | AL.com

Two Alabama defensive players, cornerback Anthony Averett and outside linebacker Christian Miller, underwent sports hernia surgery Monday, AL.com has learned.

Both are expected to be back to 100 percent well before the start of fall camp in August.

Best of luck to Miller. Alabama needs all the pass rushers they can get that are healthy. Unrelated, I still have no clue where D’shawn Hand was this weekend.

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See another wave of A-Day photos from Crimson's 27-24 win | AL.com

With all the action at the wild 27-24 Crimson win at A-Day 2017, we had enough photos for a second gallery, se it above.

The original gallery can be seen with the game story, linked below.

Vasha and Gentry with some really nice photos here.

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SEC commissioner firm on no alcohol sales in football stadiums | TideSports.com

“The conference has a policy that says that we’re not selling alcohol in the general seating area,” Sankey said. “Now, you can agree or disagree with that policy, but that’s the policy. The basis for changing that or maintaining it is one that’s developed in the conversation.”

With public safety as a main concern, the argument that alcohol sales would increase attendance rates wasn’t enough either. Sankey didn’t even hesitate to refute it.

“I think we were at like 98 percent ticket sales in football,” he said. “So is that one-percent margin a trade that we’re going to make?”

Slive may poo poo 1% of additional revenue, but for schools like Alabama that comes out to $110,000, and a whole lot of good can be done with six digits.

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Alabama Crimson Tide football Nick Saban Jalen Hurts Tua Tagovailoa Najee Harris Minkah Fitzpatrick

The fifth starter Saturday was Matt Womack at right tackle. Saban indicated after the scrimmage that their were three other linemen in the mix to start. The only other lineman to open a scrimmage this spring with the 1s was Deonte Brown, a Nate Newton-like powder keg of a guard whose presence with the starters kicked Cotton out to tackle. As it sits right now, Cotton's place on the right side is contingent upon the fifth guy.

This is about as comprehensive a player by player review of A-Day as you’ll find (even if we don’t always agree with their analysis.)

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Hurts, Tide players use Clemson loss as motivation, reminder

“We wanted to treat that whole situation like Clemson, the Clemson game, man,” linebacker Rashaan Evans said after A-Day. “We came up short, but going into the summer workouts and stuff, we’re going to work on just finishing. That’s the main thing.”

“I feel like now that these guys have been through that situation, we’ve got a chip on our shoulders,” Evans said. “... I feel like we’re going to work even harder now that we’ve been through that. We understand the situation we were in, and I just hope we learn from it and just get better.”

Few things are as motivating as failure.

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Preseason College Football Rankings: Top 25 After Spring Practice | Bleacher Report

"My assessment of the spring is that we are not what I would call an elite team right now," said Saban, per Christopher Walsh of SEC Country. "We're an adequate team."

Walsh noted Saban clarified the quote was not meant as a negative, rather that the roster is going through the annual process of developing. The spring game showed they need to address the offensive line and the secondary in particular.

But the Crimson Tide haven't lost more than two games in six straight years. Suggesting they won't be prepared once September arrives would be unwise.

Guess who’s Number 1?

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Mark Stoops on ring criticism: 'I don’t give a crap what anybody says'

“I don’t give a crap what anybody says,” he said. “Our players, we have bowl games and we have money allotted to bowl games. They can get what they want. I couldn't care less what they get. They want a ring? We’ll get a ring. They want a T-shirt? We’ll get a T-shirt. They want a sweatsuit? We’ll get that. That’s for those guys to decide.

“I really don’t give a crap what anybody else says.”

Let the football kids at the basketball school celebrate any way they want to...Alabama hangs NIT banners, FFS. I can’t believe they caught shade for this.

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3 best team fits for D-line prospect Jonathan Allen | PFF

Allen has played virtually all positions on the right side of Alabama’s defensive line, as a matter of fact, he played nearly the same amount of snaps as a 1-tech, a 3-tech, and as a 5-tech while he also logged eight snaps as a nose tackle and played a couple snaps from a two-point stance. Obviously, it is his production besides his versatility what makes Allen one of the best prospects in this year’s draft and here are some of the things he does best, along with three teams that make sense for Allen.

Pro Focus Football is fast becoming one of my favorite places for evalution and film breakdown. Great site.