Alabama nearly landed a superstar true freshman WR and it has fans thinking what if

Alabama's wide receiver room is in great shape. It features a couple of exceptional upperclassmen (Germie Bernard, Isaiah Horton), a sensational sophomore (Ryan Williams), a stud freshman (Lotzeir Brooks), and talented depth filling out the room (Rico Scott, Cole Adams, Jalen Hale, etc.).

It's one of the best wide receiver rooms in college football. It was almost even better.

Star Miami freshman WR Malachi Toney has been a revelation for the Hurricanes. He's been one of the breakout stars in college football this season. At one time, Toney decommitted from Miami during the recruiting process, and Tide WR coach JaMarcus Shephard aggressively pursued the Ft. Lauderdale native.

Toney has been an instant star for Miami, producing 29 catches for 375 yards and three touchdowns as a receiver. He had the best game of his young career last week when he produced seven receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns in Miami's road win over Florida State.

Toney was one of the most underrated prospects in the country. He ranked as just the No. 359 overall player and 49th-best WR in the 2025 class, per the 247 composite.

Alabama missing out on Toney is a little easier to swallow, considering they landed their own underrated stud freshman who is due for a breakout any game now.

Alabama has a stud freshman who is ready for a Malachi Toney-like breakout

Speaking of underrated wide receivers from the 2025 recruiting class, Alabama has its own in Lotzeir Brooks. 247 ranked Brooks as a 3-star recruit. It was clear in spring practice that he would outperform that ranking, and even after a fall camp injury slowed his development, Brooks has emerged as Alabama's No. 4 WR and effectively a co-starter.

Brooks is on the precipice of a breakout. He's caught nine passes for 158 yards so far this season. After seeing limited playing time against Florida State, Brooks has been a major part of the offense every week since.

He's just missed a couple of big plays that would have people talking about him in much the same vein as they are talking about Toney. He's just as talented and just as capable of making game-breaking plays.

OC Ryan Grubb has called Brooks a "missed tackle forced machine." We saw it during the Georgia game when he made a critical catch-and-run late in the first half that helped set up a touchdown:

It's only a matter of time before Brooks gets into the endzone. He's a future star at the position. He lessens the sting of missing out on Toney, but it's also hard not to imagine what the future would look like with him and Toney playing together.