Alabama Football: The gap between the Crimson Tide and everybody else

Five weeks is too soon to talk about the gap between Alabama football and everybody else. That has not stopped the national chatter.

Some legitimate college football experts already suggest there is a gap between Alabama football – and everybody else. Everybody else means more than the SEC, it means all of college football.

Other than we are only five weeks into the 2018 season, it is hard to find fault in the gap premise. Alabama football is by no means perfect. No team ever is. What it is, is stunningly good on offense and better on defense than had been expected.

A valid counterpoint is this Alabama football team has not been tested. Perhaps equally valid is the lesser experienced members of the Crimson Tide will continue to improve. Among those less experienced are 18 players who continued improvement could make the Tide, Saban’s best.

All of the 18 are already good to great players. They will be better by November and the post-season. Check out our list below.

Defense

• Trevon Diggs – The junior cornerback has only started six games in his career. He gets better every week.
• Xavier McKinney – The sophomore safety has only five starts and though he makes mistakes, he makes more big plays.
• Patrick Surtain Jr. – The true freshman cornerback is progressing at a rapid pace.
• Deionte Thompson – The junior safety is one of the top secondary players in the nation. He only has five career starts and will continue to improve.
• LaBryan Ray – The sophomore with zero starts is another who gets better every week.
• Eyabi Anoma – The true freshman outside linebacker is being brought along slowly. He shows huge upside potential every time he plays.
• Dylan Moses – The sophomore is already impressive physically. Every game he improves mentally in reads and reactions.
• Mack Wilson – Although a junior, Mack has never been asked to assume a leadership role until this season. Similar to Moses, he is growing with the expanded responsibility.

Offense

• The sophomore wideouts: Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III and Devonta Smith are already solid but they still have plenty of upside. Because they were targeted so infrequently last season, these guys will continue to improve with more catches throughout this season. Add downfield blocking to their improved performance as well.
• Jaylen Waddle – The true freshman is already elusive and has great speed. He will get even better with more touches.
• Najee Harris – The sophomore is loaded with talent and is still learning. The only thing holding him back is the loaded backfield.
• Josh Jacobs – Jacobs may already be the Tide’s most complete running back. He too will benefit from more games.
• Alex Leatherwood and Jedrick Wills – The sophomore offensive linemen have so much athletic ability, they just need game experience to fully develop their talents.
• Jalen Hurts – Jalen has improved as a passing QB. It is now evident, Jalen, Nick Saban and Dan Enos are determined that improvement will continue.
• Tua Tagovailoa – Yes, Tua can and will get better. He has been so good since the second half against Georgia, but he will continue to develop his skills.

Eighteen players, all on a path to improved play. Some will improve more than others. Teammates not on the list above may even overtake some of them. There are no guarantees. All will have to remain committed to putting in the work required.

Given their individual situations and considerable skills, this group of players can make Alabama football a much-improved team as the season progresses. The result could be a true gap between the Alabama Crimson Tide and every other team.

Late Saturday night the FBS was down to only 12 Power Five undefeated teams. If Oregon held on and beat California, that number became just 11, after only five weeks of play. The Bama Hammer staff will offer our ranking of the top eight teams each Monday until the Selection Committee releases its first ranking.