2022 Alabama Crimson Tide Report Card: Wide Receivers — No one proved they could be the go-to man - Roll 'Bama Roll
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rollbamaroll.comPosted Jun 8, 2023, 6:52 PM UTC
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rollbamaroll.comHolman Wiggins. How are you handed what he was and let it fall apart?
9
I think it’s completely fair to question Wiggins.
But I think you also have to point out that DeVonta Smith turned in a Heisman-winning season with him, John Metchie had a productive career and possibly could’ve been a first round pick without a late season injury, and Jameson Williams went from a decent third option to having one of the best single seasons a Bama wide receiver has had.
It’s entirely possible all of those things would’ve happened without Wiggins. Just like it’s also entirely possible that Alabama has had a number of misevaluations recently and these same receivers would be dropping balls at the same rate with a different WR coach.
I don’t know how one can confidently place the blame primarily on Wiggins or primarily on the receivers themselves.
15
On Wiggins, Smith was inherited and Williams really only had one year with him. Metchie is legitimately someone he developed then that's about it. With lots of bodies we've shuffled through.
When the history of the dynasty is written I wonder how much will be said about the transition from 18 to 19. "where's Dan" might be our eulogy.
After the dynasty was well established for awhile every assistant we hired was a relative rock star in the coaching ranks. They were a well known names in coaching circles. Starting with Wiggins we went through a transition of WTF hires no one ever heard of. I think Saban got tired of replacing those guys every other year.
5
I mean it's not like Devonta was a Heisman candidate before the season started. Not really fair to assume Wiggins just didn't do anything, or rather would regress him. Hypotheticals like that aren't really telling or productive
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But Devonta was established when he got on campus. Wiggins has taken exactly one guy from a high school recruit to an NFL player. Out of ~15 bodies.
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Smith was inherited, and he went from good receiver to Heisman-winning receiver. That’s improvement.
Jamo had one year with him, one year where he went from being a decent third option to having one of the best single seasons a Bama WR has ever had. That’s improvement.
I also don’t think guys like Billy Napier, Brent Key, Mel Tucker, and Derrick Ansley were really rock stars when they were hired, all before Wiggins was brought in.
3
Napier, Locksley, Enos, Cristobal etc were well known names in coaching circles when they were hired. Obviously Lane and Sark were also.
3
I think it's fair to say that the biggest change for both Devonta and Jameson was opportunity. Devonta went from splitting with 3 other guys to being, by far, the number one option. Jameson went from splitting with two other supremely talented receivers to only splitting with one with a better QB throwing to him.
I wouldn't give credit to Wiggins for either receiver. Jameson was very similar to what he was at Ohio State. I wouldn't really even give him credit for Metchie who got to work extensively with Jeudy, Ruggs, Waddle, and Devonta.
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Don't forget Waddle. Waddle made a huge improvement from 19 to 20. People forget that because he got hurt early on.
The quintessential nobody coordinator hires Saban made was one Kirby Smart. Spent his whole career with Saban except for the one year he spent coaching RBs at UGA. Just 2 years prior to being named DC at Bama. Oh, how I wish this sub had been around then to see the takes.
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Smith & Williams are similar on the fact that they somehow were always in the shadows of other receivers getting more recognition. Smitty’s Game Winning touchdown brought light to his name but the 2018 season comes & guys like Ruggs & Jeudy are getting more recognition than him. They were always talented from the start, but it mattered on how they were being utilized in games with their talents while being paired with other extremely Talented Receivers
1
He was Smitty's position coach for 2 years. Is your contention that Smitty didn't improve at all in 19-20? He was a finished product as a sophomore?
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And he's produced a total of zero guys completely from high school recruit to NFL contributor. It's been entirely inherited guys, transfers, and busts.
Position coaches really don't do that much with upperclassmen. Smitty was catching game winners and having monster games while Wiggins was still at VT. Sark was the one scheming Smith open and essentially running the passing game through him post Waddle injury.
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It didn't help that Bob couldn't scheme receivers open.
5
Something seemed fundamentally off with the WR corp last year, and I was never able to identify the root cause.
On one hand, the receivers themselves never looked the part on the field. On paper, Bama should have had one of the best WR squads in the country, but that never translated to on field performance. Dropped balls, poor routes, and general lack of separation were the three things I think plagued them last year, which all led to Bryce having to basically become the entire offense, while the rest of the offense just played support to his magic. So yeah, regardless of what you think the root cause is, I think we can all agree the receivers themselves didn't do the team any favors.
The other issue I think was had was legitimately bad WR preparation on the part of the coaching staff. Wiggins turned in a generational performance with Smitty in 2020, and gave Bama a pretty solid showing in 2021 in terms of receiver performance. How much of that was on the part of the actually generationally good Smitty, and 1st round caliber receivers Bama had in 2021 though? Bama had no 1st round lock receivers last year, so perhaps Wiggins was never as good as the on field results showed, he was just leaning on players that were significantly better then what he was able to contribute.
Finally, nobody believes BoB was a good play caller, nobody. Saban of course ultimately had his hands on the wheel, but BoB called the plays, which were piss poor. If I had to see one more poorly called pass play inside the 2 yard line..... It was a true OC failure, nothing more to be said, BoB did a mediocre job as OC in 2022.
So yeah, receivers not living up to their potential, poor preparation of said receivers, and an OC who didn't deserve his position, and no wonder Bryce had to drag this team to relevancy this past year. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Alabama is a below average team in 2021 and 2022 without Bryce Young.
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I think the confusion comes from playing “American” football vs European football where you’re not supposed to use your hands, maybe?
-4†
Saban hiring Ted Lasso again. Haha
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Can we finally all admit that’s not a good show?
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Alabama’s 2022 Receiver Grade before Auburn Game : C- probably
Alabama’s 2022 Receiver Grade for Auburn & Kansas State Game : B (when they surprisingly figured out how to finally play more Vertically)