Quarterback, wide receiver are biggest concerns for Alabama, Joel Klatt says
Alabama hasn’t reached its standard over the past two seasons, and with Georgia looking stronger than ever heading into the new year, could the Crimson Tide be facing reality for the first time since 2008?
If they want to get back to the regularly scheduled program, they need to be elite in two offensive categories in 2023: At quarterback, and at wide receiver.
“They have to replace Bryce Young, who single-handedly kept them in and won them some games a year ago — and they have a wide receiver corps that I would say came up short a year ago,” FOX’s Joel Klatt said on his show. “This is not a wide receiver corps that I believe a lot in. … You’ve got to have elite wide receivers in order to beat this [year’s] Georgia team. You have to have an elite passing game.
“I don’t know if Alabama is going to have that this year.”
As it stands, a starting quarterback has not been announced as week three of fall camp rolls along. Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson and Tyler Buchner are the three in contention with the most likely option being Milroe — at least for now.
He has the most experience under Saban, which could go a long way in his head coach’s final decision. After all, Milroe ended up being No. 2 on the depth chart last season behind Young and finished the 2022 season totaling 297 yards on 31-of-53 passing with five touchdowns and three interceptions. He also contributed 31 rushes for 263 yards and one score on the ground.
Meanwhile, Buchner joined the team after spring training and is still adjusting to the Crimson Tide’s system and style, while Simpson has the smallest sample size of the bunch. That’s not necessarily a bad thing — as many believe Simpson has the potential to take on a bigger role later in the season if he doesn’t win the QB battle out of fall camp.
In terms of the wide receiving corps, Alabama’s top playmakers out wide are comprised of three veterans including Ja’Corey Brooks, Jermaine Burton and Malik Benson, to go along with the three sophomores, Kobe Prentice, Isaiah Bond and Kendrick Law.
Burton and Brooks, who were Young‘s No. 1 and No. 2 wideouts from a year ago, combined for 79 receptions for 1,351 yards and 15 touchdowns for Alabama last season. The former true freshman trio of Prentice, Bond and Law combined for 56 receptions, 665 yards and three touchdowns. Other than Burton and Brooks, Prentice was the only other wide receiver to log more than 30 receptions in 2022.
Still, four of those six wideouts that Alabama is expecting their QBs to rely on are in their first or second year playing in the Crimson Tide’s system. They’re all still young, as the veterans that hold that group together — Brooks and Burton — both have eligibility to return to Tuscaloosa next season. But maybe experience in Saban’s system is all it takes.