Alabama Football: Freshman LB Jaylen Moody could contribute early

Jaylen Moody was little-heralded and a late addition to the Alabama football 2018 class. Before the 2018 season ends, he could be one play away from a key role in the defense.

Star ratings, especially in the 5-star haven that is the Alabama football program, can be tricky. Across the football landscape, former 2-stars like JJ Watt, Randall Cobb and Ed Reed proved how toothless the ratings can be.

As Nick Saban continues to attract blue-chip recruits to the Capstone, one tends to forget that he helped turn former 3-star Javier Arenas into an All-American cornerback.

What about former 3-star Eddie Jackson? Some recruiting sites didn’t even have him listed as a defensive back and we all know how he performed in his final season-and-a-half with the Tide.

Chance Warmack, Marcell Dareus, Terrence Cody and Levi Wallace? All 3-stars and under and all became stalwarts for their respective teams with Alabama football.

Which leads us to Jaylen Moody

Moody’s a gifted athlete out of Conway, SC who, according to his former high school football coach, Carlton Terry, began to blossom as a football player more than halfway through his junior season.

This is possibly a reason that, according to the 247Sports Composite, he was only rated a 3-star.

As Hudl and YouTube have made it easier for scouts to access high school athletes’ highlights, it gives a late bloomer like Moody only a finite amount of time to make Power 5 schools see what Terry and his staff all along.

This is one of the reasons that Ole Miss and Arkansas, according to Terry, were the two major schools before new Alabama assistant Pete Golding swooped in. Bama Hammer spoke with Coach Terry who said, “Jaylen is a heck of an athlete and a great person.” Before settling in at middle linebacker, the Conway coaches tried the particularly agile Moody at tight end, tailback and even wide receiver.

It seemed obvious by his junior year, though, that Moody would be “the quarterback of the defense” as Terry calls it. Moody would make all the calls and if the offense made an audible, Moody was the one to shift the defensive line.

This is something that seems to be a prerequisite for any defense, certainly one coached by Nick Saban. The middle linebacker damn well better have a good head on his shoulders.

As fall is approaching its first full week, Moody is most likely feeling a bit overwhelmed, but Terry seems confident that while it will take a lot of hard work to break the two-deep at middle linebacker, Moody could see the field immediately.

“I think he could possibly be a contributor on special teams this year.”

And when asked about his best qualities as a player, Terry was emphatic,

"I think as a football player, his best quality is his speed and his nose for the ball. When he gets to the ball carrier, though, he finishes the play."

Moody has a talented redshirt freshman in Markail Benton and a seasoned fourth-year junior in Josh McMillon to compete with for a spot on the 2nd team and as Bama Hammer wrote about yesterday, a former Washington signee as well.

It remains to be seen how Moody will contribute his freshman year. In fact, it’s probably unfair to thrust any expectations on any 18-year-old kid trying to learn the complexities of Saban’s defense.

Still, Carlton Terry seems to believe Alabama football has a good one on their hands and with playing time always an injury away, Moody’s day might be arriving sooner than later.

This profile of Jalen Moody and the one on Shyheim Carter linked above are two in a series. Bama Hammer will continue to profile other lesser known players throughout August.