Nick Saban bemoans drops from wideouts in scrimmage: 'Why do they call you a receiver?'

Following an apparently inconsistent showing from the Alabama wide receivers in a scrimmage on Saturday, head coach Nick Saban harped on the need to cut down drops. As he sees it, wide receivers shouldn’t have drops.

It will certainly be a point of emphasis for the Crimson Tide wideouts to cut back on drops. And Saban even worked in some wry humor while offering up his critique.

“But what is the level of consistency? I mean, if you’re a receiver, why do they call you a receiver? Supposed to be able to catch the ball, right? That’s what receiver means,” Saban said. “So, you should never drop a ball. That’s something that we gotta stay focused on.”

However, it wasn’t all bad during the scrimmage.

Several of the receivers made a number of nice catches and good play, Saban said, but just not on a snap-to-snap basis as necessary.

“Well we made some good plays today, too. So I think that we had some guys make some really good catches. I think the quarterbacks made some really good throws at times,” Saban said.

While Saban had critical words, wideout Ja’Corey Brooks is confident in the Alabama receiver depth

Brooks explained how the spate of freshmen contributors from 2022 are now suddenly seasoned sophomores and the steady upperclassmen like himself are back for more.

The talent present a year ago has 13 more games of experience and honing their craft under their belt. Speaking to reporters at the outset of fall camp, Brooks shared his optimism for the group.

“Yeah I see every guy improve, even myself. But most of the younger guys as in like the freshmen, even the sophomores, develop in their playbook and a skillset of how they run their routes and what they need to see in the defense. So, we’re all developing,” Brooks said.

Brooks and senior Jermaine Burton — who transferred to Alabama ahead of last season — will come back and lead the way for the receiving corps as upperclassmen. Burton had 40 receptions to Brooks’ 39 in 2022 and had three more receiving yards — 677 to 674. Brooks did outpace Burton by a touchdown, eight to seven.

Junior college transfer Malik Benson also could factor in but he’ll be working for reps against a bevy of sophomores, some of whom who were already called upon as freshmen, and talented true freshmen.

Kobe Prentice and Isaiah Bond caught 31 and 17 passes, respectively, in as true freshmen for the Crimson Tide and scored three combined touchdowns. One or both could be on their way to bigger roles in the 2023 offense, especially if the quarterback battle works out as desired for Alabama.