Alabama’s 2019 preseason camp begins Friday, Aug. 2, and the 20 practices that follow will be opportunities for several Crimson Tide players to prove why they deserve meaningful snaps this fall.

Here, we break down five Alabama players with opportunities to impress during fall camp.

QB Mac Jones, redshirt sophomore

No one is questioning who Alabama’s starting quarterback will be this fall. But who will be the backup is still up for debate. Jones exited the spring as the No. 2 signal-caller and should open preseason camp in the same position in the pecking order. In the two scrimmages before the season opener, he will have prime opportunities to solidify that spot. He will have to hold off Taulia Tagovailoa and Paul Tyson, but Jones will have his chances to lock down the backup role.

“Mac has made a lot of improvements,” said Nick Saban at SEC Media Days. “He’s matured very nicely at the position. He’s a very bright guy. He’s got good knowledge of the position. … And his consistency and performance have been very, very good. He did get to play some last year, so this is not going to be totally foreign to him if he has to go in a game and play. Hopefully, we’ll have good enough players around him that it will help him have a chance to succeed. But we’ve been pleased with his progress. We’re confident that he's capable.

“It’s our job to be able to get him to a point where he has enough consistency to be able to play if we need him to.”

LB Joshua McMillon, redshirt senior

McMillon is the old man in Alabama’s inside linebacker room. He spent the spring practicing at the Will linebacker position with the first-team defense opposite Dylan Moses and should start camp there, too. This offseason, Saban commended McMillon for understanding “what he has to do to be successful at the position” but whether he can play with the necessary consistency “remains to be seen.” McMillon will have to hold off younger linebackers like Markail Benton, Ale Kaho, Jaylen Moody and even Shane Lee, but he has a chance to finally crack the starting lineup.

Alabama outside linebacker Christopher Allen

TE Cameron Latu, redshirt freshman

Latu, a former outside linebacker, spent the spring with the tight ends. But what initially looked like a spring experiment is now looking like a permanent move for the Salt Lake City, Utah, native. That’s because Alabama’s tight end depth is even thinner now than it was in April after the transfer of Kedrick James to SMU. Miller Forristall will be the No. 1 option at the position, but Latu will have an opportunity to secure the second tight end spot following a productive spring. If he can continue to progress at tight end, the second-year player could claim a spot with the ones.

CB Josh Jobe, sophomore

Jobe ended the 2018-19 season playing with the first-team defense. He continued to do that in the spring, working at cornerback while Trevon Diggs and Patrick Surtain II split time at corner and Star. If Shyheim Carter lines up at safety, opposite Xavier McKinney, then Jobe will be on the field in UA’s nickel and dime formations. If it’s Carter in the slot and Jared Mayden at safety, then Jobe could join the fray in dime. Regardless, Saban views Jobe as a potential starter at corner.

“Josh Jobe has made a tremendous amount of improvement and has matured very nicely,” said Saban at SEC Media Days. “And we view him as a guy that is a potential starter and a guy that is playing in a way that, throughout the spring, that we have confidence that if he’s a starter, he can be very successful, and we can be very successful with him playing corner for us.”

LB Christopher Allen, redshirt sophomore

Allen is coming off an ACL injury that kept him on the sideline all of last season. He was able to practice some last fall and even more in the spring and looks to enter camp 100-percent healthy. Alabama needs some of its young players to step up and provide quality depth behind starters Anfernee Jennings and Terrell Lewis with Eyabi Anoma entering the transfer portal again, and Allen is the leading candidate to do that. He could be the first outside ‘backer off the bench in 2019.

“He came off injury last year, and I keep trying to uplift him and motivate because he’s going to be a dangerous player,” said Moses at SEC Media Days. “He just has to keep working.”

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

*** Take advantage of 30% OFF our Annual VIP Pass for the first year ***