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Alabama Football: 5 bold predictions for 2019 season

By Shelbie Warr

SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide is escorted off the field after his teams 44-16 loss to the Clemson Tigers in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi's Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide is escorted off the field after his teams 44-16 loss to the Clemson Tigers in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi's Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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SANTA CLARA, CA – JANUARY 07: Jerry Jeudy #4 of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts after making a first down reception against the Clemson Tigers in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi’s Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA – JANUARY 07: Jerry Jeudy #4 of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts after making a first down reception against the Clemson Tigers in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi’s Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

4. Alabama will have nation’s top receivers

There are a lot of talented receiver rooms across the SEC and across the country, but Alabama certainly ranks way up there if not at the top of the list.

There are quite a few guys on this roster that will be game-changers for Nick Saban and his staff. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is excited to have four fast guys to really open his field of play. A snippet of an interview with Tua can be seen below.

We start with junior Jerry Jeudy. He finished 2018 with a team-leading 68 catches with an average of 19 yards per catch and 14 touchdowns. He won the Biletnikoff Award in 2018 as the nation’s best wide out and many think that he could compete for a Heisman Trophy in 2019 on top of his quarterback being the front runner — or at least one of the front runners — for that award. He is coming back from a meniscus injury sustained in late March but seems to be in top form as the season nears.

That moves us to fellow junior Henry Ruggs III who hauled in 46 catches for 741 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore. His freshman season he had twelve receptions for 229 yards, six of those receptions going for a touchdown. He also returned 13 kickoffs for 239 yards and eight punts for 46.

Continuing on, there is junior DeVonta Smith. He is speedy, elusive and has many Alabama fans chomping at the bit to see what he can put up this season. This is the guy that caught the game-winner in the 2018 National Championship. He had eight catches for 160 yards and three touchdowns that season.

In 2018, he became a bigger part of the offense. He amassed 693 yards on 42 catches for a 16.5 yards per catch average, also contributing six touchdown receptions to his sophomore stat line. Look for 2019 to be even bigger for Smith.

On top of those three juniors, there’s sophomore Jaylen Waddle who was one of the most prized recruits for Alabama. He was the SEC Freshman of the Year a season ago as voted on by the conference’s coaches. He led the SEC freshman wide outs in receptions per game and receiving yards per game. Overall, he caught 45 passes for 848 yards and seven touchdowns. Add in 16 punt returns for 233 yards and a score and you’ve got quite the freshman who is now gunning to have an even better sophomore year.

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