Alabama football saw a lot of attrition at the WR spot this offseason. In all, the Tide saw six receivers from last year's team enter the Transfer Portal and ultimately defect to other programs.
Despite the attrition, it's pretty obvious from early returns in spring practice that Alabama has significantly upgraded the WR room. The Crimson Tide's top two WRs from last season - Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard - both return. Alabama has talented young receivers like Rico Scott, Jalen Hale, and Jaylen Mbakwe to go along with a two-man WR recruiting class of Lotzeir Brooks and Derek Meadows.
Brooks has generated buzz as a freshman. Scott received praise from former Alabama safety Malachi Moore. But there's been one guy generating more buzz than any others, and that's Miami (FL) transfer Isaiah Horton.
Horton brings a different dynamic than Williams/Bernard as a bigger receiver. At 6-foot-4, he's a perfect complement to those two. He was productive with the Hurricanes last season, catching 56 passes for 616 yards and five touchdowns.
The stuff we're hearing about Isaiah Horton ... big season loading at Bama. 👀
— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) April 3, 2025
According to sources, Miami transfer Isaiah Horton (@isaiahhorton14) had a solid showing in Alabama’s first scrimmage that was held this morning.
— Brody Smoot (@BrodySmoot) March 28, 2025
Here is a clip that @AlabamaFTBL provided of Horton breaking free and finding pay dirt. 👀 pic.twitter.com/g4wTz7tgsJ
Alabama's WR room will give the new QB plenty of talent to work with
Alabama has arguably the best WR coach in the country in JaMarcus Shepherd. With Jalen Milroe moving on, the Alabama offense should look a lot more like what Kalen DeBoer/Ryan Grubb offenses have looked like in the past.
If that's the case, then Alabama should have three or four super-productive wide receivers. The top three seem to comfortably be Ryan Williams, Germie Bernard, and Isaiah Horton. The most exciting thing, however, is that the Tide has plenty of talented players beneath them on the depth chart who will be able to step in at a moment's notice.
The depth and talent of the WR room will make life easier as Alabama breaks in a new QB. Ty Simpson seems to be the leader in the clubhouse as spring practice nears an end. Simpson is certainly a talented player, but growth will continue for freshman Keelon Russell and redshirt sophomore Austin Mack over the summer, and the battle will continue into fall camp.
Whichever QB is able to run the offense more effectively will be the guy DeBoer and Grubb hand the keys to. There's too much talent at the skill positions for the Crimson Tide to not take advantage of. They need a guy who can spread the ball around and put it in the hands of the talented playmakers.