Most of Alabama’s defenders had a difficult time tracking down Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson in January’s football national championship game. Rashaan Evans was a glaring exception.
Evans capped his sophomore season with two sacks in the Crimson Tide’s 45-40 defeat of the Tigers. This spring, however, the 6-foot-3, 230-pounder from Auburn, Ala., has been getting a look at inside linebacker under coach Nick Saban and new defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt.
“We recruited him because he had such a fast-twitch ability to rush on the edge,” Saban said in a news conference Monday night. “He did a good job of that last year, and we still have every plan to use him at that, but we do a lot of experimenting in the spring. We want to know who can do what, so we know how to put the pieces together in the fall.”
The Crimson Tide had their second of 15 spring practices Monday afternoon, working out for two hours in helmets and shorts. The workout was the first for the defending national champions since March 11.
Alabama will put on pads for the first time Wednesday.