Will Alabama Football Have James Smith Ready for Season Opener?

- Alabama kicks off its season in 11 days against the Florida State Seminoles. The Crimson Tide is debuting several new starters as the new season kicks off but one potential starter has been in and out of the lineup in fall camp after dealing with a minor injury.

Junior James Smith is poised for a breakout season along Alabama's defensive front as he looks to fill the role vacated by a graduating Tim Smith in the offseason. Smith has appeared in 22 games over the last two seasons as a backup defender but now looks to assert himself as one of the Crimson Tide's starters. He missed both of Alabama's fall ca mp scrimmages with a minor injury, putting his week one status in doubt.

"James has been working through, building up," Kalen DeBoer said on Saturday after the scrimmage. "Feel good about the progress he’s had in the week of practice with it being live. Needed to hold back there, but he’s getting closer by the day."

Smith was seen in full pads, leading the defensive line drills at Alabama's Tuesday practice during the media viewing portion of the practice, giving an indication that he's on track to play in the season opener in Tallahassee.

"Yeah, James is doing a really nice job, was dinged up there for a couple days and has come back nicely, has hit all the markers he needed to hit," Kane Wommack said on Wednesday. "We got him back out there on the field the other day. He looked fresh, fresh legs. He's such a havoc-style player, right? He can create and generate a lot of havoc in the backfield, which is so mething I'm excited about in how we're going to utilize him in that role."

Smith was a 5-star recruit from Carver Montgomery along with the Crimson Tide starting Wolf Qua Russaw. The pair came to Tuscaloosa together and look to shine in their first year starting together on the Alabama defensive front. In his 22 appearances he's totaled 22 tackles with 3.5 for a loss with one sack and one fumble recovery.

“James had a great, phenomenal offseason,” Alabama strength and conditioning coach David Ballou told reporters earlier this week. “A+ if I was like grading our roster from offseason production. James Smith would be in the top five. The physical numbers certainly have been great. The body composition, he’s put on nine pounds of lean mass, but it’s outside, it’s a mentality, the consistency, the maturity, kind of just the intentionality he’s come with to training. I couldn’t be more happy with where he’s at right now mentality-wise, not just physical, but mentality wise, and I really hope this kid plays like what I just saw from January to July.”