Jumbo Package: Wrapping up the first scrimmage of camp

Happy Monday, everyone. We will open up with the only highlights you’ll see from Saturday’s scrimmage.

A few things stand out here. First, it’s great to see Damien Harris catching the ball out of the backfield, and the tight ends are catching balls which means the middle of the field is being utilized. Second, the Jerry Jeudy touchdown where he jukes Patrick Surtain Jr. and takes it to the house is shown. Last and most importantly, it’s fun to watch such supremely talented players going at it. It’s not cliche to say that their toughest matchups are in practice.

A few final notes from the scrimmage:

*** Not like this should come as a surprise at this point, but five-star freshman outside linebacker Eyabi Anoma was disruptive as a pass rusher and apparently stood out with that special speed and explosiveness off the edge.

*** It was a mostly good day for for Alabama’s other five-star freshman as well, Surtain. While he got beat on the two Jeudy plays, Surtain had a couple nice pass breakups and got reps at both cornerback and Star.

*** The last note is also secondary-related. Saivion Smith, who will likely start at cornerback, seems to have had a good scrimmage and had an early interception of Hurts.

These are probably the three newcomers that are most expected to find a role on the defense. Early returns are positive.

At least one of those who was in attendance, former defensive back Will Lowery, a cogent observer and a Twitter aficionado — he was invited to take over our Tidesports Twitter account for an Alabama game last fall — declared the race for Tagovailoa before the polls even closed, adding that “it isn’t even close.” To be fair, Lowery also echoed the “no announcement before the first game” opinion. And while there’s no way to confirm his opinion without first-hand observation, there’s no reason to assume it is wrong.

Thus, in some circles, the impatience grows.

Saban’s final word on the matter on Saturday: it’s cumulative. That means waiting until he decides the time is right, and no other.

I actually disagree with Cecil here. Saban isn’t going to name his QB earlier because of media pressure, but id it’s as obvious as it seems to be, I think he will choose to get that question off the table before the game starts.

in case you missed it, a Louisville receiver decided to talk a little trash over the weekend.

“Every receiver in our receiver corps can honestly beat every one of their DBs one-on-one in coverage,” Fitzpatrick said in a video tweeted by WLKY-TV. “It ties into the other stuff, if the blocks are right, if the quarterback’s drop is right, we ran eight-yard routes instead of a 10-yard route, that’s the kind of stuff I feel like we need to sharpen up.

”But I feel like straight talent-wise, I feel like we have the upper edge against their secondary, 1,000 percent.”

Guess we will find out September 1, Dez.

There was a CFB personnel staff symposium in Nashville this week, and Saban connections were everywhere.

The convention attracted employees from more than 60 schools, including Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, Tennessee and Auburn. Yet only one person affiliated with Alabama was there -- Victoria Ross, the Crimson Tide’s recruiting operations coordinator.

The fact Ross was the lone representative from the reigning champion was a source of irony, considering Alabama, in almost every way imaginable, was the inspiration for this powwow. The organizer, Creative Artist Agency’s Ed Marynowitz, had two stints with the Crimson Tide and credits Saban with popularizing the idea of having a personnel department within a college football program that mimics an NFL front office.

If Saban does it, everyone else will soon be doing it.

Tough times in College Park right now.

The belittling, humiliation and embarrassment of players is common. In one example, a player whom coaches wanted to lose weight was forced to eat candy bars as he was made to watch teammates working out.

Extreme verbal abuse of players occurs often. Players are routinely the targets of obscenity-laced epithets meant to mock their masculinity when they are unable to complete a workout or weight lift, for example. One player was belittled verbally after passing out during a drill.

Coaches have endorsed unhealthy eating habits and used food punitively; for example, a player said he was forced to overeat or eat to the point of vomiting.

Head coach DJ Durkin has been placed on administrative leave and will be on his way out if these allegations are proven. It all came to light after the death, reportedly caused by heatstroke, of Terrapins OL Jordan McNair after a June practice. Just a sad situation all the way around.

You may recall that Alabama and at least 55 other programs are using GPS technology to monitor player exhaustion, which will hopefully help prevent such an occurrence.

NFL notes:

Of the 51 players, two former Alabama running backs scored touchdowns in Mark Ingram of the New Orleans Saints and first-year Dallas Cowboys tailback Bo Scarbrough. Defensively, Shaun Dion Hamilton led the Washington Redskins with 10 tackles in his first NFL action.

Cam Sims is looking sharp, folks.

Oh, and I missed this gem on Friday.

Have mercy, Tim. That man has a family.

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

Roll Tide.