Ad Disclosure
Alabama lineman explains why the Tide are doing more cross-training than ever before
By Keith Farner
Published:
One of the biggest trends in college football this season is players working out at multiple positions. The idea is to be prepared in case positive coronavirus cases, or even contact tracing or other precautions, force a program to adjust its personnel on the fly.
Alabama is among those programs cross-training players like never before, according to C Chris Owens.
“We’re building depth and depth is never a bad thing to have on a team,” he said in a recent Zoom meeting with reporters. “You want to have as many possible starters as you can on the team because you never know, especially in a year like this, someone were to go down or get sick, you need as many bodies as you can. We do need to continue to build depth, and I do believe over these last couple of weeks we have come together and we’ve got more guys playing more positions than I’ve ever seen here. So as long as we can continue to do that, I think we’ll be just fine as a group up front.”
Owens already knows a thing or two about playing multiple positions. Last year, he made 4 starts in 2019 and played in 11 games on the offensive line, but also contributed at tight end (wearing No. 84) in some formations.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
