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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. _ One way or another, true freshman linebacker Rashaan Evans has been one of the players being talked about in the University of Alabama football complex this week.
On one hand, the players can’t stop raving about his burst off the line and ability to quickly get into the backfield.
“Rashaan is a freak, said junior linebacker Reggie Ragland, “and when you’re a freak, you deserve to be on the field.
“He’s putting that time in to be that player that Coach (Nick) Saban and Coach (Kirby) Smart and Coach (Lance) Thompson want him to be.”
On the other, Evans is still very young and learning, as Saturday’s game against Florida Atlantic demonstrated. After missing his chance to record the first sack of his career, Evans – a Parade All-American and consensus five-star prospect out of Auburn High School — came back and got it later in the game.
Specifically, during Florida Atlantic’s first possession of the fourth quarter, after Alabama had pulled its starters, Evens got off a snap faster than the offensive line and dropped quarterback Greg Hankerson for a 10-yard loss.
While he celebrated the play continued behind him with Hankerson essentially questioning whether or not he was down, only to run into linebacker Tim Williams. Officials blew the play dead and credited Evans with the sack, but while they set the ball for the next play Smart grabbed Evans and made him watch the replay one of the video screens at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
In the coaching profession that’s called a teachable moment.
“Yeah, Coach Kirby wasn’t too happy about that,” sophomore defensive end Jonathan Allen said. “We just try to learn to let our play do the talking. You don’t want to bring any unwanted or any negative attention. It’s really a team thing. It’s just a learning experience.”
Regardless, the sack was more than Allen recorded during his freshman season in 2013. In 13 games he was credited with 16 tackles and just a half-sack against Auburn, but had his first full sack two weeks ago against West Virginia.
“That’s big for confidence,” Allen said. “I feel like the first sack is probably the hardest one to get. So now he knows what it feels like, he’s been there, so he knows what he has to do to get there. I really think it’s good for his confidence and I feel like he can really helps us out on the defense.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
