With Alabama's special teams, the kicking jobs are safe. Adam Griffith and JK Scott return for their third years this fall.

The real question is who'll be returning the kicks and punts? The top players in both roles graduated with little experience behind them.

Nick Saban identified two players who've made strides this spring in filling those jobs. Receivers Calvin Ridley and Xavian Marks were mentioned by name after Saturday's scrimmage.

"We have two or three other guys that are doing it," Saban said. "But those guys have done a pretty good job and did a good job today. We didn't have mishandled balls or have any turnovers on special teams. That was a positive."

Neither Ridley, nor Marks returned a kick last season. Ridley is no stranger to making plays as the top receiver in 2015 (89 catches, 1,045 yards) while Marks saw very limited action. He played in the November win over Charleston Southern, rushing once for no gain and catching two passes for 19 yards. The 5-foot-8, 163-pound sophomore ran indoor track this season. He ran a 4.40 in the 40-yard dash this spring.

"He's also made a lot of improvement as a returner," Saban said. "And I think the number one thing that if I had to say he has anything to prove is, if you're going to be in those positions as a punt returner or kickoff returner or even as a slot receiver, your ball security has to be something that everyone can depend on. And I would say that to anybody that was going to do that on our team. But he has made a tremendous amount of progress and I think will contribute to our team in those roles next year."

Cyrus Jones and Kenyan Drake were the two big-play threats on special teams last year. Both had return-game touchdowns in the playoffs.

Jones scored four times while getting 42 of the 47 punt returns last year. Drake had 19 of the 37 kickoff returns while Damien Harris is back after getting nine for an average of 19.3 yards.