Alabama has had some famous pass collectors over the years. Don Hutson is considered the first great wide receiver, modernizing the position in the 1930s. Dennis Homan and Ray Perkins starred in some great teams in the 1960s. Ozzie Newsome was a tight end to the Hall of Fame in the 1970s.
But it was only in the Nick Saban Era that Alabama began to store large amounts of elite talent on the wide receiver. What started with Julio Jones continued with Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley and others. This season, there are eight Alabama wideouts on the NFL roster.
‘Bama has now reached the peak of ample weaponry. When a team can lose two choices among the top 15 choices in the NFL draft (Henry Ruggs and Jerry Jeudy), then a third star breaks his ankle in the middle of the season (Jaylen Waddle) and still have the best receiver in the country? This is Wide Receiver U.
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The amazing thing is that DeVonta Smith – the “Slim Reaper” for some and “Smitty” for everyone on the Alabama program – will leave the school as the most famous of all. The quiet, skinny guy from the small Louisiana town that Saban was shuffling his feet over to play defensive in spring training.
Friday, Smith and Crimson Tide number 1 face Notre Dame in the transplanted Rose Bowl. Next week, he will find out whether he will become the first recipient to win the Heisman Trophy since Desmond Howard in 1991. The following week, he may well be playing for the second national championship in his four years in Alabama.
Whether his college career ends this week or on January 11, Smith will go his way with entire sections of the Crimson Tide record book. He is the school’s career leader in received yards (3,620) and touchdown receptions (40), and is also 14 points from the career record in that category. He also has school records for single play for receptions (15), yards (274) and touchdowns (five).
Smith is not the biggest – at 6 ‘1 “, 175 pounds, he is three inches shorter and 35 pounds lighter than Jones was when he left school. He’s not the fastest – Waddle and Ruggs were timed at 4 , 27 on the 40-yard dash, and they organized a match race in 2019 at Alabama’s indoor practice field that was dubbed “The Race of the Century.” He’s simply the best.
“It couldn’t happen to a better guy,” said Maryland coach Mike Locksley, who was the receiver’s coach and then offensive coordinator in Alabama in 2017-18. “It is so gratifying to see how it came to pass the way it was for him. He has been able to do this on his terms and in his time. “
Locksley is just one member of a crowded hallelujah choir when it comes to praising Smith. He is as respected as any player on the Alabama program.
“He’s probably one of the most selfless guys I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach,” said Saban. “He is one of the most popular guys on the team and one of the people that players admire because of his attitude.”
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Saban tested Smith’s attitude at first by sending the four-star high school student from Amite, Louisiana, to play defense at the spring ball in 2018. Given the buildup on the receiver, it would be difficult to get everyone on the pitch. position. But Smith was the player who received the most famous pass in Alabama’s history a few months earlier, pulling a bomb from Tua Tagovailoa for a national championship victory over Georgia.
You will send That guy over to play defense?
“He did an excellent job,” said Saban. “He never asked questions, he was happy to ask. It says a lot about the type of person he is, what kind of competitor, what kind of team player. “
Smith not only had the right perspective, but Locksley said that Saban believed that Smith had the toughness to play defense. But after four or five practices, he was back in the wideout – too talented to be left out of the mix.
One solution to the overcrowded situation of talent in skill positions: perform more moves. More clicks mean more chances to touch the ball. With Locksley calling in 2018, Saban has embraced what he once hated – the quick attack.
“The goal was to run 80 games per game,” said Locksley, aiming to snap with 24 to 28 seconds remaining on the game clock. “More moves mean more opportunities to receive touches. It was like receiving the keys from a Maserati. “
‘Bama ended up with an average of only 67 games that season, because Saban wanted to “take his breath away from the ball”, as Locksley said, with a slower pace in the second half while playing with an advantage, but in the first half of Tide he was playing fast. Tagovailoa was the distributor for a wide variety of game makers.
“The best part of it [receiver] group is that everyone was altruistic, ”said Locksley. “You could connect and play them anywhere – outside, slot, outside the backfield. No one was frustrated about who had the most targets, and they were as good at blocking the perimeter as anyone I already knew. It was beautiful to see them diving and blowing people up in the racing game. “
Jeudy was option number 1, picking up 68 passes. Then Ruggs, Waddle, Smitty and tight end Irv Smith had between 42 and 46 receptions. Last year, Smitty asserted himself with 68 receptions, the second of the team, after 77 from Jeudy. This included two games of monsters: 274 yards and five TDs against Mississippi; and 213 yards and two TDs against LSU.
It certainly looked like the stage was set for all three Alabama 2017 recruiting class stars – Jeudy, Ruggs and Smitty – on their way to the NFL. But one stayed behind to have a senior season.
“I wanted to end things the right way,” said Smith. “I wanted to graduate, stay close to these guys for another year.”
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The result was a season of dreams. Prizes and praise keep coming.
“For me, he is the best college football player,” said Georgia coach Kirby Smart, whose team has been burned several times by Smith.
“He is extremely detailed on the route race,” said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly. “Everyone knows your speed and hands. Someone who is so young and has the ability to run on such exact routes … I imagine that his IQ in football is outstanding. He reminds me of a veteran in everything he does ”.
In fact, Smith said that attention to detail has been his greatest strength. He standardizes part of his route by running away from NFL stars Keenan Allen and Davante Adams. But not everything is technical – inside that slim body there is also a fierce competitor.
“He’s modest,” said Locksley. “But your competitive nature is so fierce, you don’t want to wake the sleeping bear. He doesn’t say much, but if you start, he’ll end ”.
Here’s what DeVonta Smith is ending in the coming weeks: his college career as the greatest ever at Wide Receiver U.