Alabama Football: 5 potential breakout stars for 2017

Year after year Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide don’t rebuild, they reload. Here are five Alabama football players poised for a breakout season in 2017.

In what shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that follows college football, the Alabama Crimson Tide enter the season atop the AP Top 25 preseason poll. As usual Bama lost several key players to the NFL draft.

This year the Tide have a lot of younger players stepping into roles previously filled by NFL caliber talent. It will be important for these players to adjust quickly to their new responsibilities.

Alabama has several players that are now upperclassmen who will be looked upon for leadership and game changing plays. Typically there is a drop in talent level when star players move to the next level, but Alabama is not your typical team in many regards. The drop off is not as steep with the Tide and they are robotic in their consistency year to year.

Unlike a lot of teams, Alabama didn’t schedule a cupcake for their first game. They face off against Florida State who enters the season ranked third in the country. Here are five players that are set up to have a breakout season for the Crimson Tide.

Harris joins a very crowded backfield including Junior standouts Bo Scarborough and Damien Harris. Judging by his early performance in Alabama’s Spring Game, Najee could be in line to make an immediate impact. In the “A-Game” Harris wowed spectators with his athleticism. He leaped over safety Hootie Jones, who stands 6-foot-2, and picked up an impressive gain.

Alabama loves bigger running backs, from Mark Ingram to Derek Henry and now starter Bo Scarborough who checks in at 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds. Najee Harris is almost identical in stature to Scarborough.

With the elite competition in the backfield it may be some time for Harris to make an impact. Damien Harris is the change of pace back who will get a lot of snaps to compliment Scarborough. Alabama also has sophomore running back Joshua Jacobs who impressed as a freshman and will likely see an increase in carries.

Scarborough is coming off a broken leg suffered in Alabama’s National Championship loss to Clemson but is considered an early Heisman Trophy favorite nonetheless. However the Tide may be a little more cautious this year with Scarborough, who in addition to the broken leg has suffered two significant knee injuries and a broken ankle since high school.

If Scarborough were to miss any time, or Damien Harris and Jacobs have a let down, Alabama has Najee Harris ready to step in and carry the load.

Freshman wide receiver Jerry Jeudy enters the program after being recruited by former Alabama assistant Mario Cristobal, who before that was the Head Coach at FIU in Miami. Jeudy hails from Pompano Beach, FL and played high school ball at Deerfield Beach High. Cristobal surely used his connection to South Florida to persuade Jeudy, who chose Alabama over programs such as Clemson and Ohio State.

He burst onto the scene early, earning MVP Honors in Alabama’s nationally televised Spring Game. Jeudy finished that day with five receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns.

Jeudy was rated the No. 3 wide receiver and the No. 21 player overall in the 2017 recruiting class according to 247Sports. At 6-foot-1 and 177 pounds, Jeudy has good height on the outside and possesses incredible athleticism. He showed off this elite skill set in a recent practice:

Quarterback Jalen Hurts will have a lot of weapons from the receiver position, the Tide possess one of the deepest wide receiver corps in the country. It will be interesting to see how Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll can find ways to get the ball in Jeudy’s hands.

Despite a lot of competition at the receiver position, Jeudy has the raw talent to make an immediate impact for the Tide this season.

Senior defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand may finally get a chance to shine this year. Hand has mainly been a reserve in his career so far in Tuscaloosa. This is his last year on campus and it could finally be his time.

He was named to the Lombardi Award watch list for 2017, the award is given annually to the top lineman in college football. His teammate Jonathan Allen took home the honor last season. Da’Shawn is definitely catching a lot of positive attention and expectations are high for the senior. In addition to the Lombardi Award recognition, Hand was also named to the pre-season all SEC team by the league’s coaches.

However, Hand got attention for all of the wrong reasons following an arrest for suspicion of DUI in July. Hand was disciplined internally by coach Nick Saban, but is on a path to be active when the season opens.

Last year Hand saw inconsistent playing time due to the tremendous depth of Alabama’s defensive line. For the season he tallied 21 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. The Crimson Tide are once again stacked on the defensive line but given his experience Hand should finally get more consistent snaps.

With the departure of Allen and teammate Dalvin Thompson to the NFL, Hand has an opportunity to be one of the next great defensive prospects from Alabama. Hand was recently ranked the No. 7 defensive lineman to watch in 2017 by NFL Draft analyst Lance Zierlein.

On a team full of incredible athletic talents, Mack Wilson may be one of the best athletes of the bunch. Coming off a freshman season where he played in all 15 games, Wilson enters his sophomore campaign ready to take off. In fact Nick Saban had these comments when speaking of Wilson’s athleticism.

"“He’s so athletic that maybe we could even develop him as a (pass) rusher because he is a very explosive guy,”"

Wilson showed his incredible versatility last year as the 6-foot-2, 236 pound linebacker made numerous big plays on special teams and even caught a touchdown as a fullback. Not only can Wilson move as evidenced by his 4.59 40-yard time in Alabama’s spring testing, he also squatted 505 pounds which tied Rahaan Evans for the best total among linebackers  His 40 time was the second fastest in  the linebacker group.

Wilson has been seeing action mostly with the second team defense in the spring, and had a solid performance in the Spring Game. He finished with five tackles including a stop for loss and also had a pass breakup. Star defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick has high praise for his teammate.

"“He’s been working hard, and he’s doing really well in 7-on-7 play. Hopefully he can continue to do that in camp and can contribute to the defense during the season.”"

Already a key special teams contributor, Wilson will continue to make an impact on that unit. With veteran depth at inside linebacker with Evans and Shaun Dion Hamilton, Wilson will have to work hard to earn a lot of snaps there. He has shown that he has the desire and all of the physical tools to earn a more prominent role in the formidable Tide defense this season.

Linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton returns for his senior season after tearing his ACL in the SEC Championship game last year. It seemed like Hamilton was a forgotten man after his injury, but he may use that as fuel to prove any doubters wrong.

Hamilton missed spring practice but returned to the team for summer workouts and by all accounts is in tremendous shape. He was selected to the All-SEC second team this year. He is expected to be a standout for the Crimson Tide defense.

Replacing Butkus Award winner and NFL first-round draft pick Reuben Foster won’t be easy, but the Tide will be counting on Hamilton to be one of the team leaders. Hamilton will pair up with fellow senior Rashaan Evans to be the two main inside linebackers, Alabama plays in the 3-4 most of the time.

Alabama lost a lot of talent on the defense last year and will count on their seniors who are stepping into enhanced leadership roles. Hamilton at middle linebacker will be making all of the defensive calls and adjustments on the field. The Tide and coach Saban won’t tolerate much of a drop-off in performance, if any, and Hamilton expects them to keep rolling.

"“At this place it’s all about competition. That’s one thing that Coach [Nick Saban] preaches when guys get here,” he said. “There’s no depth chart and none of the [recruit-rating] stars mean anything. That’s one reason we’re so successful. The younger guys come in pushing the older guys and they learn from us. Just all this great talent brings out the best in everybody.”"

Next: 2017 Alabama football game-by-game predictions

Compared to the typical season the 2017 Alabama football roster has experienced a fair amount of turnover. That leaves more opportunities for guys like these five to make an immediate impact on the field this year.