Alabama Football - A-Day Game 2016

Alabama wide receiver Derek Kief (81) grabs pass as Alabama defensive back Deionte Thompson (14) and Alabama defensive back Tony Brown (7) hit him during the first half of Alabama's A-Day spring football game, Saturday, April 16, 2016, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com

(VASHA HUNT)

There was only one touchdown scored during Alabama's spring game in April, a late score that proved to be the difference in the game.

It was a Derek Kief 5-yard touchdown catch.

With his team trailing by three, Kief got open out of the slot and kept both feet inbounds while securing a Jalen Hurts pass along the sideline in the end zone.

It capped a positive spring for one of the Tide's promising young wide receivers.

While Kief probably won't play a prominent role this season, people inside the Alabama program believe the redshirt sophomore has the potential to be a good, productive player down the road because of plays like the touchdown in the spring game.

"Derek Kief has made a lot of plays and done a nice job. Very crafty," coach Nick Saban said of Kief, who had five catches for 58 yards and the touchdown during the spring game.

Others in Alabama's receiver group have great speed. Robert Foster, Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart all ran the 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds or better during the Tide's spring testing. While Kief lacks elite speed, the long-armed 6-foot-4 Ohio native possesses height, ball skills and that craftiness to get open that Saban mentioned.

Kief's 40 time during the spring was just 4.71, but he posted good numbers in exercises that test leaping ability and lower body explosiveness.

His vertical jump was second-best among Alabama wide receivers (32.5 inches). His broad jump was third-best among receivers (9'8").

"He's (tall), and he's got great hands," said Kief's high school coach, Tom Grippa, currently the offensive coordinator at Mount St. Joseph, a Division III school in Ohio. "He's got great subtle moves. He knows how to get open. He catches the ball in traffic. He's tough. He'll block. And he's unselfish. He didn't care whether he had 10 catches or one catch as long as we won the game."

Continuing to get faster is one priority. Continuing to add size and strength are others.

Kief is up to 205 pounds after weighing as little as 190 after first arriving at Alabama in 2014.

"If you look at him, you think 'He looks just like a basketball player,' but we've seen a change in body composition, and you can tell that he's got a lot more lean muscle mass," Kief's stepfather, Adrick Ceasar, said. "He's so long that you wouldn't be able to tell if you just had the story of 'How much does he weigh?' But because of all the advanced techniques they have down there looking at the lean body mass, they've been able to calculate how much improvement in lean body mass he's been making."

Kief improved enough last year that he was the only non-starter among Alabama's wide receivers to see time on offense during the Tide's win over Clemson in the national championship game.

While Kief finished the year with just one catch, he played in each of Alabama's final six games and was thrown to during the first quarter of an October game against then-No. 9 Texas A&M.

Playing some last year and then making some big plays during the spring has helped Kief's confidence. So has his relationship with redshirt sophomore cornerback Marlon Humphrey, his closest friend on the team.

A former five-star recruit, Humphrey is widely viewed as one of the top young cornerbacks in the country after starting all 15 games for the Tide last season.

"You have two guys that are like brothers, and then all of a sudden you're pushing each other to be your best. I think that's what type of friendship they have," Ceasar said. "I think on and off the field, they're pushing each other to be the best. They're going against each other in practice and then hanging out off the field. I think that friendship has really helped him to realize 'I belong here and I'm going to have my shot to help this team.'"

It will likely take more patience.

Ridley, Foster and Stewart are three of the top receivers in the SEC.

Ridley is a sophomore while Foster and Stewart are redshirt juniors, so all three will be back next year unless someone transfers or turns pro.

Alabama also has junior Cam Sims and graduate transfer Gehrig Dieter. Both would be top options at many other schools around the country.

But Kief continues to progress and will at the very least be in the mix for playing time as a backup.

Grippa texted Kief after the national championship game, "Derek, next year, I want to see you catching touchdown passes."

Kief wrote back, "I got you, coach. I promise."

Grippa then bumped into Kief's mom, Kelly Ceasar, during a recent trip to Target.

She shared how confident, happy and optimistic Kief is heading into the fall.

"He's down there at Alabama because he realized that the most important thing for him was to go somewhere where he would have the best chance to develop," Adrick Ceasar said, later adding, "Derek is a diamond in the rough. If he's willing to persevere through the pressures of the program, his rewards will be great."