Alabama Football: Studs and duds for Alabama vs. LSU Tigers

Studs and duds for Alabama football vs. LSU

Dud: Daniel Wright

Daniel Wright has struggled as a starting safety this season. To be fair, he has some big shoes to fill with the loss of four members of last year’s secondary. He can’t be expected to play as well as Xavier McKinney. However, he can certainly play better than he has so far.

His first issue was misalignments and poor tackling. He gave up crucial yards due to bad tackling earlier this year. He has improved there, but his coverage still has flaws. His biggest mistake against the LSU Tigers was a targeting penalty that disqualified him from the rest of the game.

You can’t make mistakes like that as a starter. Your best ability is availability, and Wright kicked himself out of the game because of one bad play. He is seeing more and more snaps being taken from other safeties, and he is at risk of losing his starting role if he keeps this up.

Dud: Young wide receivers

This was just a question at first, but this is growing to be a huge concern. Alabama football almost always plays freshmen receivers if they earn a spot. However, Javon Baker and Thaiu Jones-Bell are losing reps each and every week. Alabama is instead using Slade Bolden and 12-personnel.

This isn’t an issue in 2020, but Alabama needs wide receivers for the future. Slade Bolden needs to improve, and John Metchie can’t do it all on his own. Thankfully, there are multiple receivers in the 2021 recruiting class who will compete for time. It’s definitely a situation to monitor.