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Two recent tweets from former Alabama Football wide receivers agree on the Crimson Tide’s best five. In ranking the top five, there was some disagreement. The recent sources of rankings were DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle.
Waddle named Smitty as the Crimson Tide’s No. 1 of all time. DeVonta did not name himself No. 1, but instead ranked himself as No. 5. The guys chosen in the two tweets are certainly responsible for Alabama claims of being WRU.
Devonta Smith published the first list, with Julio Jones No. 1, followed by Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley, Jerry Jeudy and Smitty. Waddle saw Smith’s list and responded with his own top five ranking. Waddle had DeVonta No. 1, followed by Amari, Jeudy, Ridley and Julio.
Alabama Football ‘Best of All-Time’ or in the Saban Era?
A few years ago Bama Hammer published Top 10 Wide Receivers in Crimson Tide history. It was no easy task. ‘All-Time’ means going back to the early decades of the 20th century, when the forward pass was invented or some would say, evolved. One player on the earlier Top Ten list was an end back when formations were tightly compacted. He was never described as a wide receiver. Wallace Wade used Hoyt ‘Wu’ Winslett as a pass catcher, a runner, a passer, and a blocker. Winslett became Alabama’s first All-American in 1926.
When thinking of Smith’s and Waddle’s rankings, along with long-ago Alabama Crimson Tide greats, avoiding Recency Bias is perhaps needed. The core problem is it is so hard to compare players from different eras. Joe Namath and Kenny Stabler were outstanding passers, but in Namath’s three seasons in Tuscaloosa, he threw only 374 passes. Stabler attempted even less at 303 passes.
To compare, Tua Tagovailoa had 684 Crimson Tide pass attempts. Bryce Young, just a two-season starter, attempted 949 passes. Simply, in the Saban Era of Alabama football, receivers have had far more opportunities to shine.
In the Top 10 list from a few years ago, Jerry Jeudy did not make the list. A solid counter-argument is any of three Tide receivers on that Top 10 could have been deleted to make room for Jeudy. But, at least for those of us who saw certain earlier players in live action, any Top 5 list without Ozzie Newsome and David Palmer is flawed.
To be clear, the feats of some of the ‘newer’ players leave no room for debate. In my previous Top 10 ranking, I had Smitty No. 1, followed by Coop and Julio.