Alabama Football: 7 True Freshmen and 2 JUCO’s Likely To Play in 2017
By Ronald Evans
Chadarius Townsend: Athlete – True Freshman, Early Enrollee
Looking for another Ardarius Stewart. Tide fans may not have to look too far. He is already on campus and he may become the biggest surprise of the 2017 signing class.
Chadarius is a 4-Star recruit from the small town of Tanner, Al, just north of the Tennessee River. Maybe you have not heard of him. Tanner High School is a 2A school and doesn’t garner much attention.
Chadarius Townsend was a touchdown scoring machine playing quarterback at Tanner High School. Alabama Football has plenty of position options with Chadarius. He could play on either side of the ball at Alabama. And he will remind Alabama fans of Ardarius Stewart.
Townsend visited Auburn prior to committing to Alabama in July 2015. Florida offered Townsend last summer, but Townsend never seriously considered any other schools.
He made numerous visits to Alabama before enrolling in January. Chadarius’ father, Dale Townsend never really plugged into the normal recruiting whirlwind. Josh Bean, Josh Bean | jbean@al.com wrote a funny Townsend recruiting story:
"“Chadarius laughs about a visit to Alabama in which his dad referred to Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin as “Coach Lashley” in a face-to-face conversation, mistaking him for Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashley. “He started turning red,” Dale said. “I took a picture and thought, ‘Why is he turning red?”"
It didn’t matter. Chadarius was all-Alabama and Alabama was sold on him. Take a look at this exciting player in action:
Townsend will not play quarterback at Alabama, It will be some time before it is determined if he is primarily an offensive or defensive player. If Trevon Diggs does not make big improvements as a returner, don’t be surprised to see Chadarius Townsend take over that role.