Alabama Football: 5 breakout freshmen to watch in 2018

He may not be an early enrollee, but the diminutive Waddle was one of the crown jewels of Alabama’s recruiting class and figures to see the field quite a bit this fall.

Waddle makes up for his relative lack of size (under 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds) with blazing speed. He’s been unofficially timed as low as 4.37 in the 40-yard dash. The Tide had to fight off a late push from Jimbo Fisher’s Texas A&M to get the young receiver to sign, but now that he has, he’ll be a thorn in opposing defense’s sides sooner rather than later.

He’ll provide a different sort of look for the Tide’s already impressive receiving corps, as Nick Saban has talked about using his speed in the slot, as well as on jet sweeps and reverses. And when he’s not lining up on offense, it’s likely he’ll see time as a returner, too. SEC defenses, beware.

Next: Building the best college football super team

Every year Alabama finds a way to reload rather than rebuild. This group of new faces won’t be the exception. Nick Saban’s fresh faces will be making big plays on Saturday soon enough.