Tua Recaps First Scrimmage of Spring Practice

Ever since he took over the reins at quarterback for Jalen Hurts against Georgia in January 2018, Tua Tagovailoa has galvanized fans of the Crimson Tide who have been longing for a quarterback that can sling the ball all over the field.

When asked about the structure of the scrimmage for the quarterbacks, head coach Nick Saban highlighted Tua Tagovailoa as the starter along with Mac Jones as the primary back-up behind the junior from Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

During his visit with reporters the Alabama's returning quarterback provided his thoughts on Saturday's scrimmage beginning with the opportunity to lead and mentor the younger players on the roster.

"This is a great learning experience and an opportunity for the older guys to help out a lot of the younger guys (early enrollees, guys that didn't get as much playing time last year). It's a great way for us to kind of hone in our experiences and share with them and kind of help them get better, hopefully reach their full potential as well." Tagovailoa said.

Under offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, the Crimson Tide offense utilized the RPO concepts as a base part of the passing attack. While the RPOs won't be going away according Tagovailoa, new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will have the junior quarterback read more of the field in his progressions.

"With Coach Sark (Steve Sarkisian), it's really full-field progression reads. Last year we worked more on RPO (run-pass option) and we had that opportunity to perfect it, and now we're trying to perfect full-progression reads so reading the entire field this year. I think implementing pure progression reads and RPOs definitely going to be really big for us this season." Tagovailoa said.

In addition to the adjusting to a new offensive coordinator, Tua Tagovailoa discussed the play of the reserve quarterbacks in the scrimmage, his chemistry with the wide receivers, making sure he doesn't take unnecessary hits, the growth of Mac Jones, getting accustomed to new terminology in the playbook and reflecting on his sophomore campaign.