Jaylen Mbakwe impressing Alabama teammates in first practices at wide receiver

Alabama freshman Jaylen Mbakwe spent the entirety of his freshman year playing cornerback, but has been practicing at wide receiver throughout preparations for the ReliaQuest Bowl due to the Crimson Tide’s limited personnel available at the position.

Mbakwe was listed as a 5-star athlete coming out of high school, playing both sides of the ball including both quarterback and wide receiver before his college days. Since making the move the last few weeks of practice, Mbakwe’s teammates have been impressed.

“He’s really explosive, really fast, can catch the ball really well,” wide receiver Germie Bernard said. “He lines up how he’s supposed to. He’s very smart, I’m happy that he’s in the receiver room and excited to see him play in the game. He’s a natural-born athlete. He played both side of the ball, he played quarterback, he played punt returner, he played DB, I knew he had it.”

Mbakwe’s quarterback has seem some very positive things from him as a receiver as well, citing skills that are specific to wide receivers.

“He tracks the ball really well,” quarterback Jalen Milroe said. “The over-the-shoulder balls, tracking the balls, he’s done a really good job. That was definitely a wow moment for me. That’s a difficult task to track the ball over your shoulder, and he did a really good job of that.”

In addition to Mbakwe’s athleticism, which is up there with the best athletes on the roster, his teammates have praised his intelligence and ability to comprehend what’s being asked of him at his new position.

“He looks good. He’s definitely talented,” Milroe said. “It’s been good to have him on our offensive side of the ball, and see him pick it up. It’s been quick, it’s been a quick turnaround going from DB to receiver, and how much he’s grasped in that short period of time. Imagine if we’d had him the whole season, how well he’d be playing for us. I’m definitely happy to have him on our side of the ball, he’s done a really good job.”

Bernard is by far the oldest wide receiver left in the room after a number of players transferred out, and he’s made sure to offer his help to Mbakwe when it comes to learning the offense and the playbook.

“It’s just like, whatever you have questions on, ask,” Bernard said. “He’s coming in, he’s learning a whole new playbook. It’s very detail-oriented and something that’s not easy to grasp, but he’s very smart and intelligent and I think he’s grasping it very well. We’re not throwing too much on his plate, but we definitely are trying to get him in the gameplan so he can go out there and make some plays.”

Alongside Bernard and Mbakwe, Alabama’s only other available receivers for the bowl game include Ryan Williams, Rico Scott and Jaren Hamilton. Due to the lack of available bodies, it’s very likely Mbakwe will get to showcase his abilities at receiver against Michigan, despite the quick turnaround on the position change.

Kickoff between Alabama and Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl is set for 11 a.m. CT on New Year’s Eve.

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