It takes a lot to stand out at Alabama as a freshman, and even more to earn high praise from Nick Saban. This spring, safety Ronnie Harrison did both for the Crimson Tide.

An early enrollee, Harrison spent the spring flying around the field and impressing both his teammates and, yes, his head coach.

“Ronnie is a bright guy,” Saban told AL.com. “For a guy that’s a new freshman in the system, he’s done extremely well.”

A Tallahassee, Fla. native, Harrison was one of two four-star safeties to enroll at Alabama mid-year to join the team for spring practices. While the other, Deionte Thompson, spent the spring taking reps at wide receiver. Harrison, though, took full advantage of uncertainty in the defensive backfield to potentially carve out a role for himself come fall.

With three players from last year’s safety rotation moving on and Geno Smith’s status for the fall still up in the air after his DUI arrest last month, there were plenty of reps to be had at safety this spring. By all indications, Harrison has already picked up on the mastering Alabama’s defensive philosophy and getting the mental aspect of the game down, which can be a difficult transition for a player who just wrapped up his high school career.

“He’s starting to pick up the defense,” senior linebacker Reggie Ragland told Rivals.com. “He’s learning. He’s not being frustrated.”

Hootie Jones, one of the players competing with Harrison for playing time at safety, had praise for him as well.

“He’s just showing a lot of instinctiveness out there on the field. He’s still getting it mentally, and that’s going to take time, but he’s definitely a football player. So he’s one of the guys that’s impressed me a lot,” Jones told Rivals.

It’s typically taken some time for Alabama’s safeties to get on the field. Even Landon Collins, who blossomed into an All-American and likely top NFL draft pick, played on special teams more than he did on defense as a freshman. Could Harrison be ready to break that mold?

Given the uncertain state of Alabama’s secondary, it seems likely that Harrison will at least find the field this fall, even if he can’t claim a starting job. New secondary coach Mel Tucker is searching for answers, trying out cornerback Eddie Jackson at safety while giving first team reps to Jackson, Harrison, Smith, Jones and Jabriel Washington.

With all of the turnover Alabama faces, getting a spark from a young player would be a welcome development. Harrison has all the gifts necessary to be an impact player in the SEC: smarts, physicality and athleticism. There’s a tall mountain to climb when it comes to finding the field as a freshman at Alabama, but it sounds as if he’s got as good of a chance of doing it as any defensive player in recent memory.