Alabama Football: Report card for win vs. Arkansas

Alabama football’s report card vs. Arkansas

Wide Receivers: A

DeVonta Smith only had a couple of targets on Alabama football’s first few drives. He was struggling to have an early impact. What did he do? He scored a touchdown on a punt return instead. It’s dangerous to use your best player on special teams, but that play is why Nick Saban does it. Smitty can shift momentum with one punt return, and he did just that against Arkansas. He was so dangerous on punts that the Hogs tried to injure him just to slow him down.

While Arkansas did a good job of stopping DeVonta Smith, the other receivers stepped up in this one. John Metchie had a few catches that made him look like an NFL receiver, and Bolden dominated on underneath routes. Alabama finally showed its versatility with receivers, and fans should be excited.

Running Backs: A

Najee Harris had a slow start against the Arkansas front. It was obvious that the Razorbacks were committed to stopping the run, and it worked early. This caused some third-down situations and made it harder for the Tide to succeed in the first quarter. Harris also had a drop on a catch, which is very uncharacteristic. The turf was also wet, and he slipped multiple times.

However, he got comfortable with the field over the course of the game. The offense dominated in the red zone, and that was mostly because of Najee Harris and Brian Robinson.