All eyes are on the offense for Alabama football this spring.

After the first scrimmage Friday, Alabama coach Nick Saban said he was pleased with the intensity shown at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“There was a lot of good hitting and a lot of good things to teach from,” Saban said. “We have a lot of young guys playing a lot of positions.”

The youth on the offense is glaring, especially with offensive lineman Emil Ekiyor Jr. and receiver John Metchie III out with injuries.

At quarterback, Saban singled out the play of sophomore quarterback Bryce Young.

“I thought Bryce did a good job of managing the game and was accurate with the ball,” Saban said. “He made a few explosive plays. I thought he really did a good job of managing the whole situation on offense when he was in there.”

When asked about the receivers, Saban said he wasn’t ready to single out a player out of the group.

“Without John Metchie out there, other than Slade (Bolton), there’s not a lot of experience,” Saban said. “I saw good things and I saw some things we definitely need to improve on.”

The offensive line continued the theme of the spring offensively.

Evan Neal is the only returning starter participating in spring practice up front.

“We have a long way to go,” Saban said. “We have a lot of young guys who have a lot of ability. I think their head is spinning probably a little bit right now with all the things that they have to learn on offense, but you’re also seeing a lot more things than you’re used to seeing out of the defense.”

Building up confidence is what Saban is wanting to do for the offensive line so they are able to do their job on a consistent basis.

“We’re not there yet,” he said. “We are making progress and I think every one of those guys will see what they need to improve on and we’ll go to work on it Monday.”