Hightower, Jones taking bigger roles for Alabama

The white-hot days of summer conditioning continue on campuses around the country, including in Tuscaloosa.

While special attention will be paid at Alabama to finding a new quarterback, filling holes in the offensive line and developing a free safety to anchor a defense that returns nine starters, it’s worth noting that Tide coach Nick Saban has said his star players should be even better this fall.

Specifically, receiver Julio Jones and linebacker Dont’a Hightower will benefit from a full year in the system. Both of those players, who earned freshman All-America recognition, will have expanded roles as sophomores.

The transition to college football is tough enough on even the best players, Saban said. He doesn’t like to throw more at freshmen than they can handle.

“I think that any time you have new players it’s more difficult to multi-role those players,” the coach said this spring. “For instance, in Julio’s case, we played him at X last year — which is split end in layman terminology — and left him there at that one position for five or six games, never started moving him around to where it was difficult to cover him or whatever. That was a growth/experience issue. This spring, for example, he could play almost anywhere, because he has more opportunity to learn and grow.”

The same was true for Hightower, who started in Saban’s complex defensive scheme. Tide coaches recognized Hightower was one of the team’s best pass rushers last fall.

“But as a freshman playing regular inside linebacker, playing nickel linebacker, now we’re going to try to make him a defensive end and sub rusher, too? Couldn’t handle it all,” Saban said. “So we didn’t use him as a sub rusher. So this spring, we’ve been able, because he has the knowledge to play inside linebacker, nickel, to expand his role as a player to being a defensive end in some situations and can be an effective pass rusher.”

Jones was the SEC Freshman of the Year with a team-high 58 receptions for 924 yards and four touchdowns. Hightower made 64 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and six quarterback hurries. He was on the SEC’s All-Freshman team.

Getting playmakers like Jones and Hightower even more involved should create headaches for opponents. Quarterback Greg McElroy likes the idea, too. That makes the battle to find another receiver on the other side of the field more intense.

“I think obviously Julio is going to be the No. 1 guy,” McElroy said this spring. “That’s pretty much a given after the season he had last year and the progress he’s shown throughout the course of the spring.

“One thing I will say about guys like (receivers) Mike McCoy, Marquis Maze, Darius Hanks and Brandon Gibson — all of those guys have been working really hard, they’ve made a lot of strides. I can’t say there’s a definite No. 2, because just like at quarterback, there’s not a definite No. 1. As long as there’s competition among those guys, there should be a lot of improvement. I expect them to have great summers and a great fall camp and great seasons next year.”

Saban said Jones’ versatility makes him a better player.

“I think we can use Julio in more ways now,” the coach said. “Because of his knowledge of the offense and moving him around. That makes him a more effective, productive player, and a more difficult player to defend.”

Teammates have raved about Hightower’s strength, speed and maturity at linebacker.

Cory Reamer called him “an animal” — and said he’s going to get better.

“He gets after it so much and it’s unbelievable how talented he is,” Reamer said. “He’s just going to do more and more as the year goes on and he gets older.”