Alabama's Young Receivers Earning Opportunities Late in Season

With Cole Adams out for the year, the Alabama coaches are digging into their depth at wide receiver.

Oct 26, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Ryan Williams (2) lines up with his teammates during warmups before a game against the Missouri Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. / Will McLelland-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer announced on Monday that redshirt freshman wide receiver Cole Adams would be out for the remainder of the season with a leg injury. Adams was the starting punt returner and began to see his playing time increase on offense when veteran receivers Kobe Prentice and Kendrick Law were dealing with injuries earlier in the season.

"Unfortunately, we aren't at full strength there, much like most teams across the country are," DeBoer said. "You're short-handed, but you mix and match and you continue to find the versatility in guys and put them in the spots and coach them up. And there's a lot of cross training that happens within positions, and receiver is one of them. Guys that can play inside and outside both, we're going to utilize them to their full potential.It's always all hands on deck, especially this time of year.”

Crimson Tide wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard said injuries like Adams' are unfortunately a part of the game when you're playing as tough of a sport like SEC football. With Adams out, it creates a void for young players at the position to step in and help replace his reps and production.

Alabama didn't have a receiver coming into this season that had more than 350 yards for the Crimson Tide in 2023. Prentice was the leading returner with 314 yards a season ago, so from the beginning of the season, Alabama has utilized young talent, namely star freshman Ryan Williams, at the receiver position.

Williams leads the team with 702 yards and seven receiving touchdowns through the first eight games, and it was evident from his very first practice at Alabama that he would make an immediate impact this season.

"I think we do a great job of not really separating out the freshmen, sophomores, juniors," Shephard said after Wednesday's practice. "It’s funny, when we first got here, or when Ryan first got here, and he had one of his first practices, he went out there and really had a great day. The veterans here, as soon as I walked out on the field, they said, ‘Hey, get the ball to No. 2.’ You had your vets saying, ‘Hey, that guy, you need to get him the ball.’

"That’s the thing about here at the University of Alabama. These guys, they recognize who is playing at a high level. They expect each person, whoever’s in there, to play at a high level. And so they don’t care who’s doing the work, they just want the work to be done. I don’t really care who pays my bills, I just want my bills paid. So that’s what our guys want. They want the ball caught on Saturday. They don’t care who catches it.”

Freshmen Caleb Odom and Rico Scott have also seen playing time at wide receiver this season. Scott has only appeared in two games, so he is still currently under the four-game threshold to redshirt at the end of the season, but he could see more playing time with Adams out. Odom, who was recruited to Alabama as a tight end, but switched to receiver in the spring, has continued to see more reps with the first-team offense at times and has five catches for 45 yards this year.

Shephard raved about the 6-5, 227-pound freshman receiver on Wednesday, and said he respects the way Odom's worked and what he's brought to the team.

"His growth as a player has been exponential throughout this season— that’s why he’s played as much as he has," Shephard said. "When you’re a bigger guy like he is, you’re really working to get in and out of your breaks more efficiently and be able to move in a way that is more of a receiver. Obviously he was recruited to be a tight end here initially, and so I’m proud of his progress to this point. Really reliable kid, tough, willing to do whatever it is that we ask him to do. You know, at one point I asked him if he wanted to go play a different spot in the receiver room, and his answer was perfect. ‘Coach, I’ll do anything to get on this field and help this team.’"

With another huge opportunity this weekend at No. 15 LSU, Shephard's message to his wide receivers is simple: stay so you don't have to get ready. He wants the guys to prepare at an all-American level so that they're ready if their number is called upon for the Crimson Tide's big game against the Tigers.

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