Once Cam Robinson started for a 44th and final time as Alabama's left tackle in January's national championship game, right tackle Jonah Williams became the favorite to flip sides this spring and fill Robinson's role.
So Williams did something rather unique.
"I tried to eat and write with my left hand and that type of thing," Williams said earlier this week in a news conference. "I just wanted to be a little ambidextrous."
It's hard to question the motivational tactics of the 6-foot-5, 301-pound sophomore from Folsom, Calif., who enrolled early last year as a five-star signee and started all 15 games. Robinson and Williams are the only tackles in the Nick Saban era to start as true freshmen, with Williams earning ESPN and USA Today Freshman All-America honors last year.
Williams is well aware he needs both hands to be an effective blocker no matter where he is on the offensive front, but he's having fun with his quest.
"My friends will remind me to put the fork back in my left hand when I'm eating," Williams said, "but for the most part, it's going well. It was just a game I wanted to play with myself. I wanted to try something and make myself more fluid and comfortable."
The Crimson Tide held their 11th spring practice Wednesday, working out for two hours. They will conduct their second spring scrimmage Friday afternoon inside Bryant-Denny Stadium before having Easter weekend off.
Alabama has been working this spring with a first-team line of Williams at left tackle, Ross Pierschbacher at left guard, Bradley Bozeman at center, Lester Cotton at right guard and Matt Womack at right tackle. Only Pierschbacher and Bozeman are working at the same spots at which they played last season, but the shift of Williams has been seamless by all accounts.
"It's been pretty easy for him, I think," Pierschbacher recently told reporters. "He said he feels even more comfortable on the left than the right, which is surprising to me. He's done a really good job. He is the type of guy who if he sets his mind to it, he is going to achieve it. He really wanted to get that left-tackle spot, and he's done everything to earn it."
Said Williams: "It's been a smooth transition. I'm just doing what the coaches are asking of me, but I enjoy playing left tackle. It's what I've been wanting to play for a long time."
Williams, who had 29 knockdown blocks as a right tackle, realizes that being the top left tackle in April is not the same as occupying that spot on Labor Day weekend. He knows what he wants, but he knows it will be for somebody else to decide.
"That's above my pay grade," Williams said.
Tide tidbits
Alabama experimented with some of its defenders during the portion of Wednesday's practice that was open to the media, with senior Rashaan Evans and early enrollee Dylan Moses moving from inside to outside linebacker, and with redshirt freshman Ben Davis moving from outside to inside linebacker. The Crimson Tide's nickel package continues to consist of cornerbacks Anthony Averett, Tony Brown and Trevon Diggs, and safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ronnie Harrison.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.