TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama’s secondary displayed its lack of depth Saturday afternoon.

But most of the scholarship players that could, and did, suit up for the Crimson and White teams during the 2018 A-Day Game at Bryant-Denny Stadium have shown promise this spring.

“I think that everyone improved,” head coach Nick Saban after the public scrimmage.

“Trevon (Diggs) had a really good spring, Xavier McKinney had a really good spring. Deionte (Thompson) was solid in the two games that he played (last season) and he was solid this spring. Saivion (Smith) made a lot of improvement. I still think he’s not quite sure on what he’s doing all the time, but the fact that he was here this semester and this spring probably was a really good thing for him. Shyheim Carter made a lot of progress.

“So, these guys made a lot of progress. Jared Mayden made a lot of progress and did a nice job. Now, he played with the twos today, but he’s played with the ones some. So, those six guys -- past that, we need to make a significant improvement in the players that we have and the guys that we’re bringing in.”

On the winning side of the 24-12 spring game, the Crimson -- or first-team -- secondary allowed 195 passing yards, zero touchdowns and intercepted one pass against the first-team offense and quarterback Jalen Hurts. A banner day by the front seven helped with that, but a secondary tasked with replacing six starters didn’t come off as inexperienced.

“It’s one standard here,” safety Deionte Thompson said. “We have to play to the Alabama standard, and that’s what those guys did a good job of -- and the guys before them did a good job of. So, we have to play to the Alabama standard.”

Thompson registered six tackles, one pass breakup and half of a tackle for loss Saturday. He is the most experienced defensive back on Alabama’s 2018 roster, having started the team’s two College Football Playoff games in place of injured starter Hootie Jones.

Alabama CB Saivion Smith

That helped him improve, as well as step into a leadership role this offseason.

“I gained a lot of confidence,” Thompson said. “It’s going to help me, and then, overall, it’s going to help me help the other guys, telling them what the game is like and what we’ve got to prepare for going into the season. I have to step up, be very vocal, talk to the guys and communicate the calls across the board.

“I think I’ve been doing a good job of that and we as a whole group have been doing a good job of getting everything communicated. We’ve got some stuff we’ve got to work on this summer, but going in into the season, we’ll be fine.”

Cornerback Trevon Diggs paced the secondary with nine tackles and intercepted one pass. He had the only pick for the Crimson team, while Mayden intercepted Mac Jones as a member of the White team (first-team offense, second-team defense) Saturday.

In his second spring as a defensive back, Diggs appeared to make more strides on defense.

“He’s improved in about every area,” Thompson said. “A guy that used to play receiver, you see some of the stuff that’s kind of tweaked, but he’s been really good this spring, coming out and communicating, high energy at practice every day and he’s progressing very well.

“Same with Saivion. He’s coming out and progressing. He’s learning, he’s doing a good job, getting a good feel for what’s going on here and he’s had a very good spring.”

With safety Keaton Anderson (shoulder) out for the spring, Alabama was down to 10 scholarship defensive backs. Early enrollee Slade Bolden also practiced at safety, but he wasn’t a consistent participant with the first- or second-team defenses on A-Day.

The secondary is one of the thinner position groups on the Crimson Tide’s roster for 2018. The good news is four of the team’s five defensive back signees will enroll at UA this summer to give Saban more able bodies to fill out the back end of his defense. Along with Saivion Smith, the newcomers will have opportunities to contribute in their first seasons.

“We don’t even have enough guys on scholarship to go out there two-deep,” Saban said after the final practice of the spring, “so the four guys coming in, some of those guys are probably going to need to develop and contribute early on.”

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).