This may be the height of the wide receiver era at Alabama, and first of all, let me just say how weird that is to say. These Alabama teams have been about the running game and a strong defense under the Nick Saban dynasty. But, in 2018, it may be Alabama’s receiving corps that snatches headlines. For the better part of the last decade, Alabama has had the one true elite wide receiver. From 2008-10, it was Julio Jones. Then, Amari Cooper came along, followed by Calvin Ridley. All three were first round draft picks in the NFL Draft. All three are among the top five receivers in program history. Each guy was “the guy” during their tenure at Alabama and that sort of became the norm.
But, it looks like that dynamic is about to change, as the Tide currently have three guys making up the top of their receiving corps that could excel.
Jerry Jeudy
The talk about the 2018 Tide receivers begins and ends with Jeudy. If anyone is going to step out of this group and become the true number one that the Tide has featured for the past decade, it’s him. He only caught 14 passes in 2017, but his 264 receiving yards was second on the team to Ridley. He averaged 18.9 yards per catch and scored two touchdowns to boot.
Henry Ruggs III
Ruggs had a pretty quietly productive year in 2017, catching 12 balls for 229 yards. But, it’s his touchdown rate that stands out. The dude caught six touchdowns on just 12 receptions. That’s right – literally half of his catches went for touchdowns in 2017. He’s obviously talented, and will get a chance to shine in 2018.
DeVonta Smith
He was one of the heroes of the National Championship game, catching that miracle touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa and so beating the Georgia Bulldogs for the championship. I have a feeling we may be seeing plenty more of that in 2018. Smith tallied eight catches for 160 yards and three touchdowns in 2017, averaging 20 yards per catch in the process.
The Landscape
All in all, this is a deep, talented group. It’s sort of the perfect storm for this group to absolutely go off in 2018. With Tua taking the reins, the Tide have a “franchise quarterback,” a guy who’s already among the 2018 Heisman favorites, at the helm for the first time in a long time. I don’t think even A.J. McCarron was ever hyped the way Tua is heading into 2018. Saban’s ability to continually evolve as the college game evolves, whether he wants the change or not, is one of his greatest strengths. This team could possess a potent passing game as lethal as its rushing attack.
But, the defense is poised for a regression, and that’s a factor as well. I know we say it every year, but we don’t know how Saban and company are going to simply reload after all of that defensive talent went to the NFL. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see this team’s strength become its vertical passing game. This deep receiving corps could have the offense hanging dozens of points on the SEC each and every week.
Only about three months until football season starts.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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