A position-by-position look at the Alabama Crimson Tide following Saturday's A-Day game.

Quarterback: Even with plenty of football in front of him, there may not come a time when Jalen Hurts transforms into a passer who has a great feel for working from the pocket. And, really, it's not as if that is something the offense needs from the sophomore. What it needs is more of the ability to make opposing defenses pay in the vertical passing game that we saw on Saturday. He wasn't just accurate on deep balls, he was on time. Combine that with what Hurts can provide with his legs and you can live with a guy who is a work in progress in the traditional passing game. As for Tua Tagovailoa, I've written/talked plenty already about the instincts and accuracy the early enrollee possesses. Not to discount his work ethic, but they're the kind of attributes that can't always be taught. For all the nice things he did in the A-Day game, his very first snap may have been most impressive. I knew he could deliver from the shotgun, but seeing the left-hander deftly execute boot action from under center before delivering a strike -- while moving to his right -- to Jerry Jeudy caught me a bit by surprise. That was as New England Patriots-ish as anything I saw all day. As advanced as he is as a passer, Tagovailoa's has room for improvement where fundamentals are concerned. There were some things his arm strength allowed him to get away with in high school that won't work as well in the SEC. Mac Jones fits the role of developmental prospect pretty well. He came in with the knowledge that he had some work to do physically and he's already made some strides in that department. Both of his interceptions Saturday were perfect illustrations between the difference in high school and the SEC. Miss a tad inside and these guys will make you pay. On a positive note, the newcomer displayed poise in dealing with a ground ball, shotgun snap Saturday before hitting T.J. Simmons on a crossing route inside the 10-yard line.

Running back: Hard not to be impressed by the physical gifts Najee Harris brings to the table. In terms of handling the football, he showed the full arsenal Saturday, with cutting ability, acceleration, power and hands ranking at the top of the list. As talented as his is, he provided Burton Burns with some good teaching tape in the A-Day game. Specifically, Harris will become more of a one-cut-and-go runner as he goes along. That's where Josh Jacobs already gets it. No wasted movement, no hesitation, just stick a foot in the ground and get up field. Once he does that, Jacobs gets up to top speed as quickly as any back UA has and he finishes with the kind of power that pads yards after contact/catch stats. He's also advanced in pass protection. It was subtle, but offensive coordinator Brian Daboll's delayed check down with Jacobs on the heels of a tight end occupying a safety and inside linebacker was some nifty play design that went a long way in the Crimson team getting the win. In most spring games, working with the first-team offense means you'll be afforded the opportunity to feast upon second- and third-teamers. That wasn't the case for Brian Robinson, who carried seven times for 21 yards on Saturday, with most of that coming against a defense that has finished first in the nation against the run in four of the last six years.

Wide receiver: Through his first two seasons at Alabama, Calvin Ridley averaged 11.3 yards per catch. On Saturday, the junior averaged 25.5 yards per catch. Not exactly a realistic total when looking ahead to the fall, but more indicative of what Daboll's offense will attempt to get out of Ridley and the passing game in general. Of the six catches Ridley and Robert Foster combined to make on A-Day, four went for 37 yards or more. As impressive as the two starters were over the weekend, good luck keeping Jerry Jeudy off the field in 2017. When you hear Nick Saban talk about defensive backs not winning enough 50/50 balls, he has a receiver like Jeudy in mind. The true freshman not only runs past corners, he already understands how to use his body and hands to create that extra bit of separation that precedes the moment of truth. Along with Cam Sims, rounding out the top six in the rotation at the end of spring drills was Simmons and Xavian Marks, who caught three passes for 52 yards while working from the slot for the White team.

Tight end: Most of the best work accomplished by the passing game in the middle of the field Saturday came from the tight ends, with receptions of 34 and 21 yards by Irv Smith, Jr., and Miller Forristall serving as highlights. Hale Hentges chipped in a reception for five yards and Ronnie Clark had another for eight. Between the four, Smith, Forristall, Hentges and Clark hauled in six passes for 71 yards. Crazy as it sounds, if there's an area where UA may miss OJ Howard the most it's blocking. He's the third tight end right now but with his versatility and sturdy frame, Smith may end up being the best all-around player of the three.

Offensive line: In his post-A-Day comments, Saban said the offense currently has four linemen capable of playing winning football. While he refused to name those players, given that they went wire-to-wire with the first group this spring, Jonah Williams, Ross Pierschbacher, Bradley Bozeman and Lester Cotton would be good bets to make up the unnamed quartet. 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.

Defensive line: Junior college transfer Isaiah Buggs quickly claimed a place as the starting end opposite Da'Shawn Hand. With Hand out for Saturday's scrimmage, we learned that Quinnen Williams was the third end, as the redshirt freshman worked with first-team defense in Hand's place. It was two-hand touch on the quarterbacks, but Williams still showed some closing ability in getting a piece of Hurts on the opening series of the scrimmage. As is usually the case, Da'Ron Payne proved extremely difficult to get movement against in the run game, an area where Buggs should excel as well. Raekwon Davis was active throughout the scrimmage and was clearly the top defensive lineman among the second group. Interestingly enough, veteran Josh Frazier was not the next nose tackle on the field after Payne. That was Johnny Dwight. End should be fine with an available Hand to go along with Buggs, Williams and Davis. Bigger concern is what happens at nose tackle if Payne is lost for an extended period of time. Frazier handled those snaps a season ago, so perhaps he'll prove trustworthy enough of doing so once again in 2017.

Outside linebacker: As starters in the base defense, Christian Miller and Anfernee Jennings ended spring drills the way they started. Jennings was the choice as the lone outside linebacker in the big nickel the first-team defense opened up in on Saturday. When the White team defense needed pressure late in the scrimmage, it brought Rashaan Evans off the edge in an overload blitz that had Jennings lined up inside Evans with Miller coming off off the opposite edge. That's a personnel grouping we might see a good bit of in the fall. As for Terrell Hall, his one big play of the day -- a leaping grab of a Tagovailoa swing pass that turned into a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown -- provided a glimpse into what the sophomore can bring to a defense looking to replace a couple of dynamic playmakers on the outside. He may not be an every down presence in 2017, but expect Hall to flash a few times per game. With Jennings, Miller, Hall and Evans bringing different strengths to the mix, expect UA to return to more of the situational personnel options we saw prior to last season.

Inside linebacker: On a team loaded with talent, depth at the inside linebacker spots ranks up there with the running back and wide receiver positions. Even without 2016 starter Shaun Dion Hamilton, in Evans and Keith Holcombe, the first-team defense still had plenty at the position to get the job done against the run on Saturday. As for the future, with Mack Wilson and Dylan Moses working together on the White team, we got a good look at what's coming down the pike at the spot. Based on that glimpse, opponents can expect more of the same from UA inside backers in 2018 and beyond. That means a combination of athleticism and physicality seldom seen on the college level.

Secondary: Based on everything we heard leading up to Saturday, the move of Trevon Diggs from wide receiver to cornerback had gone swimmingly, with the sophomore earning praise from both Saban and his teammates alike. That's why his struggles in man coverage on A-Day came as a bit of surprise. Still, we're talking about a guy who has 15 practices at the position under his belt, so don't expect Saban and the defensive staff to panic based on a spring game. Between reps and some coverages that will lend him more help than he had on Saturday, there's still reason to think Diggs can excel at his new home. That said, his continued improvement will prove critical to a secondary that is otherwise set. This doesn't exactly qualify as breaking news, but Minkah Fitzpatrick is an absolute pro at safety. As in, right now. The junior plays with the kind of controlled aggression others around him would be wise to adopt.

Special teams: While the hope is that incoming freshman Joseph Bulovas will take over at least some of the place kicking duties, the value of JK Scott to his team increased over what it already was on Saturday. He didn't make all of his field goal attempts in the scrimmage, but the fact that Saban went with Scott on the two kicks that decided the outcome said plenty about what the senior may be asked to do in the fall. Early enrollee Thomas Fletcher was adequate if not always precise with his snaps on A-Day. Based on what I saw, there could be a drop-off from what Cole Mazza provided a year ago. As for returns, Diggs and Marks were first up on kickoffs, with Harris and Simmons also getting a look. Diggs and Marks both field Scott punts without incident.