After what the Alabama offense has accomplished the past three seasons, and given the skill position players that now populate the NFL, and given what it continues to haul in on a yearly basis, the question must be asked: What if Alabama has reached the fully formed version of itself?
The question might cause an incredulous reaction from some, who will correctly point out that the Crimson Tide have been plenty dominant over their history. The trophy case proves their argument. They’ll also nudge you to the list of names that Alabama has pumped into the NFL throughout the years. Again, they’ll be right.
Advertisem*nt
But it looked different in the past. It was different.
Stay with me for a moment. Alabama opened the early signing period with 24 signees, including four of the top nine wide receivers in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. It also signed the top two offensive tackles and the top center in the country. There’s no surprise that it’s a No. 1 recruiting class, still holding an edge over Ohio State. Thirteen of the top 89 players in the country are now signed with the Crimson Tide.
Alabama’s identity throughout most of its history was great defense and a powerful running game, whether it be out of an I-formation, the wishbone or the wildcat. But now Alabama can do both of those things — play great defense and run the ball — while also looking like the Fun ‘n’ Gun Florida Gators of the 1990s.
Alabama has produced two Heisman Trophy winners (Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry). It had a runner-up in 2018 in Tua Tagovailoa, and the current favorites to win it this season are an Alabama wide receiver (DeVonta Smith) and an Alabama quarterback (Mac Jones).
In 2009, in 14 games, Alabama passed for 2,631 yards (187.9 passing yards per game) and 17 touchdowns. In 2020, in 10 games, Alabama has passed for 3,477 yards (347.7 per game) and 28 touchdowns. Not one time before 2018 in the Nick Saban era did the UA offense average 300 yards passing per game. Since then, it’s averaged 323.6, 342.2 and 347.7 the past three seasons.
Alabama has been throwing the ball all over the field the past three seasons, and it shows no signs of slowing down. That’s what was signaled when Saban and his staff received the signatures of wide receivers Jacorey Brooks, JoJo Earle, Agiye Hall and Christian Leary on Wednesday.
It worked out well in 2017 when the program got Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III and DeVonta Smith. It followed up a year later with Jaylen Waddle. They formed the Big Four. No one can guarantee success for high school players coming into college, but it looks like history is repeating itself.
Advertisem*nt
There could be another Big Four on the way.
“I think that sometimes when you have four guys like we had, the two that went out last year, Jerry and Ruggsy, and the two we have this year, Waddle and Smitty, everybody knows they’re on your roster, so it becomes a little bit difficult,” Saban said. “And we’re probably a little bit thin in numbers at receiver, and knowing that there’s the potential to lose a couple more guys this year, we thought it was really important for us to sign a minimum of three wide receivers. And we were happy to get four.
“These guys are of different types. I’ve talked about receiver, the position, before — it’s kind of like a basketball team. You need a point guard, a shooting guard, a power forward. You need different kinds of players to make an effective receiving corps, and I think that we have some big guys and we have some fast guys, so I’m really pleased with that group.”
Alabama Class of 2021 signees
| Player | Pos | Stars | Rk | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
JC Latham | OT | 5 | 2 | IMG Academy (Fla.) |
Tommy Brockermeyer | OT | 5 | 5 | All Saints Episcopal (Texas) |
Dallas Turner | DE | 5 | 8 | St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) |
Damon Payne | DT | 5 | 19 | Belleville (Mich.) |
Ga'Quincy McKinstry | CB | 5 | 23 | Pinson Valley (Ala.) |
Jacorey Brooks | WR | 5 | 34 | IMG Academy (Fla.) |
JoJo Earle | WR | 4 | 48 | Aledo (Texas) |
Terrence Ferguson | G | 4 | 54 | Peach County (Ga.) |
Deontae Lawson | LB | 4 | 55 | Mobile Christian (Ala.) |
Agiye Hall | WR | 4 | 56 | Bloomingdale (Fla.) |
Christian Leary | WR | 4 | 68 | Edgewater (Fla.) |
Jalen Milroe | QB | 4 | 78 | Tompkins (Texas) |
Monkell Goodwine | DE | 4 | 89 | Rock Creek Christian (Md.) |
Kendrick Blackshire | LB | 4 | 146 | Duncanville (Texas) |
Kadarius Calloway | ATH | 4 | 151 | Philadelphia (Miss.) |
Kaine Williams | S | 4 | 171 | John Ehret (La.) |
James Brockermeyer | C | 4 | 186 | All Saints Episcopal (Texas) |
Keanu Koht | LB | 4 | 198 | Vero Beach (Fla.) |
Ian Jackson | LB | 4 | 236 | Prattville (Ala.) |
Devonta Smith | CB | 4 | 314 | La Salle (Ohio) |
Tim Keenan | DT | 3 | 372 | Ramsay (Ala.) |
Khyree Jackson | CB | 3 | 4 (juco) | East Mississippi CC |
Anquin Barnes | DT | 3 | 531 | Robert E. Lee (Ala.) |
Robbie Ouzts | TE | 3 | 622 | Rock Hill (S.C.) |
Brooks was one of the three verbal commitments Alabama had back in May when recruiting was off to a slow start. He’s a five-star prospect, considered the crown jewel of the strong wide receiver class. But he’s hardly alone. Add in Hall and Leary, and it’s an elite class. But UA wasn’t done.
In a signing day surprise, Alabama flipped Earle from LSU to put the cherry on top. Earle was the second player from LSU who flipped to UA on Wednesday, joining four-star rush end Keanu Koht.
When reminded that LSU coach Ed Orgeron said he planned to dominate Alabama on the field, on the recruiting trail and every time he saw them, Saban didn’t take the bait.
“No, we don’t worry about other schools,” Saban said. “We don’t talk about other schools in recruiting. We don’t get stimulated or whatever by what they say or do. We have a process of how we do things here. We’ve got a lot of people who contribute to that process and it’s worked well for us in the past. We try to create a lot of value for players, whether it’s in personal development, academic support and the success they have in developing a career off the field, the success they have in being able to develop a career on the field. Those are the things that we sort of try to focus on, is the culture of the program and how it’s going to help them be successful and have a chance to be more successful in life.
Advertisem*nt
“Look, I’m not on the internet. I don’t hear all that stuff out there. So I don’t even know what you’re talking about, to be honest with you. So my motivation must be coming from someplace else, and it’s because we want to have a good team. We want to continue to have a good team. We want to have character, quality people in our organization who represent our program. And I’m pretty pleased that that’s been the case for a long time around here.”
Alabama still has a few elite recruits it will target until the February signing date, but the numbers are extremely tight. The program can afford to be picky because most of the work is already done. But Saban will make room for the right player(s).
What makes it all the more fascinating is that this is expected to be the wildest offseason in college football history in terms of roster movement, with an expected change to allow players a one-time transfer without sitting out. That will affect an elite program like UA, certainly, with highly regarded players possibly looking for a quicker path to the field. But it can work the other way too with talent flowing into Alabama.
What stood out most for Alabama on Wednesday was that elite skill position players are flocking to Tuscaloosa in great numbers. It’s not just running backs anymore. Wide receivers are on the menu too.
(Photo of Jacorey Brooks: Mike Janes / Four Seam Images via Associated Press)
