Alabama senior linebacker Rashaan Evans has a decent idea of what to expect from Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois a week from Saturday night in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Evans, after all, does have to go up against Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts in scrimmages.
"Jalen and Francois have great poise, and that's the No. 1 reason they were able to play at a young age," Evans said this week in a news conference. "They both have the ability to escape, and when they need to throw, they make the throws."
The top-ranked Tide practiced Wednesday for two hours in full pads, with sophomore tailback Josh Jacobs returning to the field after missing several workouts with a hamstring injury.
Francois and Hurts are both sophomores, with Francois having completed 235 of 400 passes (58.8 percent) last year for 3,350 yards, a total that led all freshman quarterbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Francois compiled his totals in 13 games, while Hurts threw for 2,780 yards in 15, but the reigning Southeastern Conference offensive player of the year also rushed for 954 yards.
Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans (32) works through drills during Alabama's fall camp football practice, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017, at the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/Alabama Media Group via AP)
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Francois had just 198 rushing yards last season, but he did more than enough on the ground to keep defenses honest.
In the opening 45-34 comeback triumph over Ole Miss, Francois threw for 419 yards and also rushed for 59. In an early 55-35 win over South Florida, he rushed for 75 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown. And in the regular-season finale, a 31-13 win over Florida, Francois had nine carries for 63 yards, including an 8-yard score.
"You've got to respect quarterbacks like that," Evans said. "You can't allow yourself to get too wild with your pass rushing, because a lot of guys want to beat the tackles so much and get the sack that they get themselves out of position. With these guys, all you can really do is get as much pressure as possible."
Evans, a 6-3, 234-pound former five-star member of Alabama's 2014 recruiting class, is used to challenging top-flight quarterbacks. In the Crimson Tide's 45-40 defeat of Clemson in the national championship game of the 2015 season, Evans tallied two sacks of Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson as an outside linebacker.
After moving inside in spring 2016, Evans replaced injured starter Shaun Dion Hamilton late last season and tallied a combined 18 tackles in the Peach Bowl national semifinal against Washington and the title rematch with Clemson, which the Tide lost 35-31.
Evans, who had 53 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss last season, said this week that he has been working inside on first and second downs but has been used some on the outside on third-down rushing situations.
"Rashaan has certainly done a really good job for us," Alabama coach Nick Saban said in a recent news conference. "He kind of played defensive end/linebacker, which we recruited him as, because he's a really good pass rusher. We moved him to inside linebacker, and he's made fantastic progress at that.
"He's really shown a lot of leadership on the field."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.