Alabama is through six of its 15 spring practices.

Here are a few quick notes based on what I’ve been hearing about spring ball thus far:

— It’s still early, but don’t be surprised if freshman defensive lineman D.J. Dale ends up playing a decent amount for the Crimson Tide this season. Word is that the 6-foot-3, 315-pound Clay-Chalkville graduate has been very impressive. “I feel like he’s a great person to come in and learn the ropes, learn the process,” former Alabama star defensive lineman Quinnen Williams said in January. “He’s a very humble person and he’s from where I’m from, so we’ve got that same trait, that same mindset, myself and him. But he’s (much) bigger coming in. He’s way bigger than me coming in.”

— Another young guy that seems to be doing well thus far this spring for the Tide: Sophomore cornerback Josh Jobe. With Trevon Diggs working at nickel back, Jobe has been in with the first-team defense at the cornerback spot opposite Patrick Surtain and it sounds like he’s been holding his own against Alabama’s talented group of wide receivers. “We’ve got confidence in Josh Jobe,” Tide coach Nick Saban said. “He’s made a lot of improvement. ... We thought he made a lot of progress last year. I think he’s much more confident even this year.”

— It sounds like Alabama’s two position experiments are going well — Chadarius Townsend at running back and Cameron Latu at tight end. Townsend, a redshirt sophomore who ran a 4.4 40 during the Tide’s spring testing, is one of the faster players on the team and brings a different skill set to the table than Alabama’s other running backs as a smaller but faster and quicker guy who could help the Tide in the passing game from that running back spot. Latu, a redshirt freshman who spent last season at outside linebacker, seems to be progressing at tight end and it sounds like there’s a decent chance the former four-star recruit could end up staying at that position.

— Former Alabama defensive back Kyriq McDonald, who left the Tide in February, is looking at Cincinnati as a potential transfer destination, per a source. McDonald may visit Cincinnati this week.

Matt Zenitz is an Alabama and Auburn reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.