Everything Ryan Grubb said after Alabama’s 16th preseason practice

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama held its fifth preseason practice on Tuesday morning, and after the August 19 workout, first-year offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb spoke to reporters inside the Hank Crisp Indoor Practice Facility. Below is everything Grubb said after Practice 16.

Grubb on Alabama’s offense is different from last year…

“I mean, that’s kind of the obvious one, right? It’s like, we’re not necessarily a Jalen Milroe offense right now. Just, Jalen was a super talented runner and that was probably a part of the game plan every week, and was smart last year by the offensive staff. So I think that’s probably the biggest difference.”

Grubb on how running back distribution changes with Jam Miller out…

“We gotta see a lot here in the next week or so to see who can handle the game plan, who’s the most responsible with all their duties.”

Grubb on what he’s seen from Alabama’s running back group…

“That’s a broad question. Seen a lot. Daniel Hill has done a good job providing a lot of protection and I think he’s gotten a lot, lot better at that. As far as with his eyes, super physical guy. I think Daniel has started to run like the back we saw in the spring. Early in camp I thought  he was a little bit slow to come to that. Dre (Washington) has great vision running the football. He improves every day, still. I think some of the pass protection responsibilities are things that probably were not in his wheelhouse prior to getting here. Kevin Riley started to show up a little bit. He’s a guy that has really nice vision. Not as big a back as the other guys, but runs very physical and is really good out of the backfield.”

Grubb on Richard Young…

“Richard Newton? (No) Oh, Rich Young. Thought you said Richard Newton, that was our running back at Washington. So Rich Young, real similar running backs by the way. Rich has been super physical and has been a guy the last two scrimmages, I thought when we needed a little bit of a spark, to pop a run right up the middle and finish it. He’s done a great job. He’s worked really, really hard to become a better player out of the backfield. Has gotten better at that. Very responsible. He cares a lot. He’s tough, physical and we love him.”

Grubb on how Ty Simpson played in the second scrimmage…

‘Ty, I think, was 12-of-15 with two drops. I thought he was very controlled. Distributed the ball right where it was supposed to be. I thought his eye were in the right spot. I thought he was very disciplined. We’re trying to put him in some spots in the fringe and stuff like that to see how he would respond and make sure he takes care of the football, keeps us in field goal range, all those things. And I thought he responded really, really well. Had calm demeanor when it was good and bad. There were a couple flows there, we started out really fast again, and did a nice job when we hit a little bit of a lull, I thought he was there to respond.”

Grubb on the other two quarterbacks’ scrimmage showings…

“Austin started really, really clean. Had a nice touchdown drive to start. Keelon was doing the same, marched down the field. We had a couple hiccups up front there that put the ball backwards a little bit. But I thought initially in the scrimmage, all three of the guys played really, really clean— accurate throws, pushing the ball down the field when they could and smart with their checkdowns.”

Grubb on adding crowd noise at Tuesday’s practice…

“Just like any time. This was the first time we worked it hard, so a lot to improve on there, of course. Anytime you start really getting that in where you’re running plays and using motion and all those things, there’s some bumps on it. I thought they did better as they got more used to it in practice. We’ll continue to work it. That’s something we’ll obviously be ready for.”

Grubb on Kam Dewberry and Geno VanDeMark at guard with Jaeden Roberts out…

“Very comfortable. Those are two veteran players, very versatile, too. They can both play left or right, so they’re interchangeable. Kam brings a lot of physical presence to him. Geno’s a savvy player that knows how to connect with the center.”

Grubb on what the offense misses with Jam Miller out…

“He’s such a stud. He’ll be a value to our team no matter what right now just because of his demeanor and leadership. So I think that’s one of the things you miss on the field right away is just him being out there. There’s a presence to him when he’s on the field, so we’ll certainly miss that. His explosiveness, his running style— all those things will be missed. But he’s been great. He’s in high spirits. He knows this is a temporary setback, and he’ll be ready to go.”

Grubb on how he uses tight ends in unique ways…

“Oh man. A lot of things I can’t talk about. I don’t know. I’ve just always just felt like the tight ends were the equalizer. They’re the guy that can change the box count. They can manipulate what the defense thinks as far as how many people they have relevant to the run fits. So I think the guys realizing that they’re always part of that and how they can manipulate that for us is truly unique.”

Grubb on how close Josh Cuevas and Danny Lewis are to 100%…

“I mean, they’re out there. They’re practicing. So to me, they’re 100%. They don’t have yellow jerseys on, they’re rolling. I think they’re both repping quite a bit, honestly. At one point, they were only at like 20 reps. They’ve went way past that to where I don’t feel like there’s any limitations. 

Grubb on Cole Adams…

“Cole is a really savvy route runner. He knows how to get in and out of breaks. He understands how to play off the leverage of defenders, read coverages. In the last week and a half, has probably made more contested catches than anybody on the team. That’s one of the things I don’t think you’d necessarily think from a guy that’s a little bit smaller in stature, but he’s very competitive when the football’s in the air.”

Grubb on his message to Ryan Williams about dealing with the big stage…

“Ryan kind of does that himself. For his age, he is a very, very mellow guy. He can take it all in, and the moment’s never too big. It’s probably also what makes him a really good player when the big games hit is that he won’t melt in those situations. I think that that part is a little bit built in jus because of who he is. But for him, he’s still working on route-running— inside, outside, wherever we put. And just getting to be a better receiver. 

Grubb on what he needs from running backs for the offense to succeed…

“For us, it’s really putting the stress on the offensive line and tight ends. Being physical up front and creating presence — I think when they do that, if we can establish the line of scrimmage, we certainly have the skill players on the outside. The running game will be key to how far this season can go for us.”

Grubb on who else is getting reps at guard…

“Michael Carroll played a little bit. Olaus has done a nice job. We got good depth there. Those two guys are probably the first two that stand out.”

Grubb on if there are fewer quarterback-designed runs for Ty Simpson…

“I mean, to a point. Ty is certainly capable of doing those things. Just probably philosophically — Mike Penix was a good runner. People really wouldn’t know that, but we didn’t really run him until the playoffs or late, just because it’s a long season. You’re better off with your starter being able to throw the football in this offense than run it. We certainly look for those opportunities, because I think Ty is a good runner. We’ll make sure we’ll have things for him. Taking care of him and making sure he’s upright is important.”

Grubb on Kadyn Proctor…

“He’s getting there. He’s getting stronger. He’s getting there. I think there’s a little bit of catch-up early in camp because he wasn’t in spring ball, so we’re working on the sustainability of him staying on the field, just being in great shape.”

Grubb on Jaylen Mbakwe…

“Bak, catching. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. Honestly, early in camp he had some drops. He’s just getting more comfortable, honestly, playing the position and catching the football. He’s doing a lot better job. Probably those first three practices, probably had three drops or so and since then, it just hasn’t come back up. He’s doing a great job.”

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