Alabama's Wide Receivers Aim to Be Like Rock Paper Scissors: Versatile and Unforgettable
Go back a year, two years ago, and there was plenty of talk about Jaylen Waddle.
His first game? Just 146 all-purpose yards in its 51-14 win over the Cardinals in the Camping World Kickoff in Orlando.
The buzz began well before the season started. “The dude is explosive. He really might be the fastest dude on the team. He has legit speed,” running back Josh Jacobs said. “He’s going to make a lot of big plays.”
Waddle’s debut with the Crimson Tide resulted in three receptions for 66 yards, including a 49-yard play that set up a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Najee Harris. He also had four punt returns for 80 yards with a long of 31.
However, the play that really made people’s jaws drop that night was one that didn’t count. Waddle had punt return for a touchdown nullified by a penalty.
“He's got great quickness on change of direction and run after catch,” Nick Saban said. “Really an outstanding overall receiver, but would work really well for us in the slot. Has really good run after catch speed, sweep type of ability. Maybe a little different than some of the guys we have right now, which is a really good thing.”
Waddle was so good that he immediately forced his way into playing time even though Alabama already had Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III, who were top-15 selections in the 2020 NFL Draft, and DeVonta Smith, who caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime of the 2017 national title game.
Jeudy was calling him "very shifty and quick,” and just about everyone on the Alabama roster had an eye-popping story to tell.
And Waddle has only gotten better.
Ask Auburn.
When coaches put him deep on kickoffs in the rivalry game he returned one 98 yards for a touchdown. It was just one of four times he reached the end zone, the other three all coming on receptions of 58, 12 and 28 yards as he tallied four catches for 98 yards.
Overall, he finished his sophomore year as a consensus second-team All-American, but landed first-team honors by the Football Writers Association of America after leading the nation by a wide margin in punt return average (24.4 yards).
He also crushed the Alabama record in the process and was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year.
“Every time he touches the ball I hold my breath because he’s just an explosive receiver, explosive punt returner,” said Jeudy, the 2018 winner of the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in college football. “So no matter what he’s going to always make plays, find a way to make plays because that’s the kind of player he is.”
The part that should really scare opponents, well, beside the blazing speed as he used to race Ruggs on a regular basis, is that Waddle has yet to be considered a full-time starter – at least on paper. Alabama treats him as one, but he only lined up on the first play just three times during the regular season.
This season, he's expected to be in the slot, in Jeudy's former spot, and combined with DeVonta Smith will try to be known as the best receiving tandem in college football.
The steady Smith, who led the Crimson Tide in receiving yards last season (1,256, while Jerry Jeudy had 1,164), and was also tops in touchdown catches (14) and yards per catch (18.5).
He's Alabama's rock at the position, in that he's proven and everyone knows what to expect.
Waddle figures to be the slasher for obvious reasons.
If Alabama can find another quality player into the fold, as one of the aims of the receiving corps is to start the next wave of standout Crimson Tide pass catchers, it could, yes, be known as the rock, paper, scissors unit.
You probably just groaned at that, but remember that versatility is the key to the game and no one ever forgets rock, paper, scissors.
“It’s very difficult when he’s in space because he’s very fast and quick,” Crimson Tide cornerback Patrick Surtain II said about Waddle. “You don’t know what he’s going to give you.
“He plays — he’s probably 5-10, 5-11 — but he plays big. That’s why he’s on the football field because he can jump, high point the ball. He can do all that. I treat him like any receiver, a big receiver or a small receiver.”
2020 Alabama Wide Receivers
Returning: Devonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, John Metchie III, Slade Bolden, Xavier Williams
New: Thaiu Jones-Bell, Traeshon Holden, Javon Baker
Departures: Jerry Jeudy (NFL), Henry Ruggs III (NFL), Tyrell Shavers (transferred to Mississippi State), walk-on Mac Hereford (transferred to Vanderbilt)
This is the fourth story in a series regrading Alabama's fall camp:
• Quarterbacks: Mac Jones Enters Fall as Alabama's Starting Quarterback; The Job is His to Lose
• Running backs: With Najee Harris Leading the Running Backs, Alabama's Ground Game in 20/20 Shape
• Defensive line: Strength in Numbers Doesn't Begin to Describe Alabama's Potential
