Alabama won the national championship last season on a 41-yard walk-off touchdown from backup freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to backup freshman wide receiver DeVonta Smith to top Georgia 26-23 in overtime in a game in which it never led for even one second.
If that seemed weird, well, it evidently was part of Alabama's 2017 identity -- especially among the wide receivers.
That was Smith's second game-winning touchdown in the clutch -- the other coming in early November at Mississippi State -- but only his seventh catch of the season. Running back Bo Scarbrough finished the season as the Crimson Tide's second-leading receiver with 17 catches, with Jerry Jeudy, Cam Sims, Robert Foster, Josh Jacobs and Irv Smith, Jr., each hauling in 14 passes each.
The leader? Calvin Ridley with 63, of course.
That disparity in receptions made things a little uncomfortable in the locker room. Ridley was asked why a player like Foster -- who ran a 4.41 40-yard dash at the NFL combine -- didn't get much love within the 2017 offense.
"I mean, we had a lot going on," Ridley said, according to AL.com. "The way we had things, I got the ball a lot more than the other guys. It was a weird situation but I definitely think [Foster] is a great receiver and he's going to improve."
When asked whether things were downright awkward in the Tide wide receiver room during meetings because of the disparity, Ridley admitted that sometimes that was indeed the case.
"Sometimes, yeah because some of the guys made comments, throw up the charts," Ridley said. "Everybody would have like five catches and I had like 50. It's just kinda weird. I wish we all had the same amount but we won the championship. And everybody was happy."
Player | Pos. | Rec. |
Calvin Ridley | WR | 63 |
Bo Scarbrough | RB | 17 |
Jerry Jeudy | WR | 14 |
Cam Sims | WR | 14 |
Robert Foster | WR | 14 |
Josh Jacobs | RB | 14 |
| Irv Smith, Jr. | TE | 14 |
Ridley's 63 catches were 30.9 percent of the Tide's total for the entire season, and 49.6 percent among players listed as wide receivers.
With Ridley -- along with Foster, Sims and Scarbrough -- gone off of the roster, new offensive coordinator Mike Locksley and the staff will have to find a way to make the new-look offense work with their go-to receiver gone. More importantly, though, it would be to make the wide receiver room more comfortable.
While it worked last year with Jalen Hurts starting every game at quarterback, his struggles in the title game against Georgia and ensuing battle with Tagovailoa will undoubtedly dominate spring practice. Alabama needs some stability, and a stable wide receiver room led by Jeudy and Smith -- both rising sophomores -- will go a long way toward establishing the new identity of the offense.
And, in a perfect world, a little less weirdness.
