Three Alabama Receivers Who Could Step Up for Injured Noah Rogers: Just a Minute

Alabama's 2026 football season is over 140 days away, and yet there's already a need for a replacement at wide receiver for Week 1.

After Germie Bernard exhausted his collegiate eligibility and Isaiah Horton transferred, Alabama's starters for 2026 automatically became Ryan Coleman-Williams, who started each of the last two seasons, and Lotzeir Brooks, whose role increased more and more each game as a freshman.

There's been a position battle this offseason for the third starting spot, and NC State transfer Noah Rogers seemed to be in the driver's seat following head coach Kalen DeBoer's statement that the wideout "stood out the most" during the April 3 scrimmage.

However, Rogers went down with an injury this past Saturday at Alabama's A-Day scrimmage. DeBoer said on Monday that the setback will "bleed into the season." In other words, the Crimson Tide will need to find another option at the third wide receiver spot during summer and fall camp while Rogers recovers. Here are three candidates for the job...

Rico Scott

The redshirt sophomore's experience in DeBoer's system automatically makes him one of, if not the top candidate, to fill in for Rogers. Scott had a ton of hype ahead of the 2025 season after standing out in the summer due to his team-best sprinting speed of 23.4 miles per hour.

Scott was the first wide receiver to come off the bench during the season opener against Florida State, and despite an impressive performance, he would eventually swap spots with the aforementioned then-freshman Lotzeir Brooks for the remainder of the season.

Scott initially planned to enter the transfer portal in January, but then decided to return to UA with hopes of an increased role. He has the speed to gain separation and he has the chance to prove it over his other WR3 candidates during summer and fall camp.

Cederian Morgan

Every year, there's a freshman at Alabama who receives a ton of hype well before the season. In 2023, it was Caleb Downs. In 2024, it was Ryan Coleman-Williams. In 2025, it was Dijon Lee Jr. This year, it's been all about wide receiver Cederian Morgan.

Morgan, a 6-foot-4, 223-pounder, who uses his large frame efficiently, had a couple of wild plays during A-Day scrimmage, including a touchdown near the corner of the end zone, and a 40-yard catch-and-run — the longest gain by Alabama all day.

Coleman-Williams revealed after the A-Day scrimmage that Morgan has taken on the nickname "The Gulf of Mexico" because "you throw it in there, he's going to catch it. He's got plenty of space." Receiving praise like this four months before your first collegiate game when facing some of the best defensive backs in the country on a daily basis makes Morgan a strong candidate to fill Rogers' role.

Derek Meadows

For the second consecutive year, the sophomore is Alabama's tallest wide receiver, standing at 6-foot-5. He's a WR3 candidate because of his large catch radius and the advantages that come with it in the red zone and jump balls.

Additionally, he had by far the most targets at A-Day with nine, resulting in five catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. For reference, running back Trae'shawn Brown had the second-most targets with six and third place was a four-way tie with three targets apiece. DeBoer said on the April 6 edition of 'Hey Coach' that Meadows "has had some big plays throughout the whole spring," and Coleman-Williams couldn't agree more.

"Everything y'all saw today, it was pretty consistent, and that's what it's been throughout the entire spring," Coleman-Williams said of Meadows after A-Day. "That's pretty much who Derek Meadows is. He's going to make a play, he's going to be in position. [Meadows' performance at A-Day] was nothing that I didn't expect because he's a super consistent guy that's always smiling and always ready to come to work every single day."

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