Trending with the Tide: Evaluating an Up-And-Down Week for Alabama Athletics
Welcome back to Trending with the Tide where we give a stock report of Alabama athletics over the past week. Today, we’ll take a look at an up-and-down last seven days for the Crimson Tide.
Stock rising
Alabama’s secondary
Alabama will lose two starting cornerbacks from last season’s secondary as Josh Jobe and Jalyn Armour-Davis are both leaving for the NFL Draft. However, last week presented the Tide with a bit of a surprise as Jordan Battle elected to return for his senior season.
Battle, who was previously projected as a Day 2 pick, tied for the team lead with three interceptions, returning two of them for touchdowns. He also finished fourth with 87 tackles and tallied three pass breakups.
Along with Battle, Alabama also saw fellow starting safety DeMarcco Hellams announce his return for next season. Together, the duo should provide plenty of leadership in the backend of the Tide’s defense.
Alabama also brought in LSU transfer Eli Ricks this offseason. He’ll likely take over one of the starting spots at cornerback while fellow five-star talent Kool-Aid McKinstry fills the other. Meanwhile, Brian Branch figures to man the Star role. Each member of that potential starting setup ranked in the top 100 of their respective recruiting classes coming out of high school.
Buy or sell: The stock is extremely high, but I’m buying anyway. Next season’s secondary has the chance to be one of the best Alabama has seen in a while. With Nick Saban overseeing the unit, it’s hard to imagine it not living up to its potential. (BUY)
Alabama cheer
The Crimson Tide’s football team wasn’t able to win a national title, but its cheer squad picked up the slack. Alabama cheerleading took home its third Division 1A all-girl national championship Sunday at the 2022 UCA & UDA College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship in Orlando, Florida.
The Tide’s all-girl team posted an event score of 91.7, edging out Western Kentucky (91.3) for first place. Ole Miss (86.7), Oklahoma (86.5) and South Florida (86) rounded out the top five. Alabama’s co-ed team recorded a score of 93.1 to finish second behind South Florida (93.9).
Buy or sell: I admittedly don’t know much about Alabama’s cheer squad, but history says you should buy here. The Tide’s recent title was its third in the Division 1A All-Girl competition as it previously won in 2020 and 2015. It’s also Alabama’s sixth national title overall as it has co-ed titles in 1984, 2011 and 2015. (BUY)
Stock falling
Alabama’s WR unit
For the third time in three years, Alabama receiving unit is losing multiple starters to the NFL. In 2020, the Tide saw Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Last year, Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith repeated the feat. Jameson Williams figures to be Alabama’s only first-round receiver in this year’s class, but that won’t make the loss of fellow starters John Metchie III and Slade Bolden sting any less for the Tide.
Buy or sell: Don’t get me wrong, Alabama has plenty of talent to go around in its receiving corps. However, it is foolish to think the unit won’t take a bit of a hit next season.
Together, Williams, Metchie and Bolden combined for 217 receptions for 3,122 yards and 26 touchdowns. Rising sophomores JaCorey Brooks, Agiye Hall and JoJo Earle all offer plenty of promise as do the five speedy freshmen the Tide added in this year’s recruiting class. Still, that’s a lot of production to make up. (SELL)
Alabama basketball
Let’s rewind the calendar back to Dec. 11 for a moment. Alabama basketball had just recorded its second straight victory over a ranked team, defeating then-No. 14 ranked Houston inside of Coleman Coliseum after toppling then-No. 3 ranked Gonzaga in Seattle.
At that point, the Tide was 8-1 and would soon move into the top 10. Since then, Alabama has lost five of its last eight games including each of its last three, dropping out of the rankings completely.
Buy or sell: This might not be the elite team we expected at the beginning of the season, but it is still a solid side. Alabama needs to turn it around quickly, and things won’t get any easier with No. 13 LSU coming to town on Wednesday. However, there’s just too much talent on this team for things not to improve.
This is an early turning point in Nate Oats’ tenure. How he and his team respond may dictate the future of the program moving forward. After last year’s memorable run, I’m not counting out the third-year coach’s ability to right the ship. I’m buying low, and I have a feeling I’m going to cash in big in a few weeks. (BUY)
