Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb are sorting through options for the No. 3 WR spot alongside Ryan Coleman-Williams and Lotzeir Brooks. With NC State transfer Noah Rogers sidelined, there are three options for the spot: junior Rico Scott, sophomore Derek Meadows, and freshman Cederian Morgan.
All three guys appear set to have a role on the offense, but it sounds like, based on comments Grubb made on Monday, that the true competition is between Scott and Meadows as Morgan continues to develop in the system.
“I think Rico (Scott) and Derek Meadows are growing every day. I thought Rico had a really good day today," Grubb said after practice on Monday. "Derek’s been showing up every day. He might be one of the hardest workers on the team, both in the classroom and on the field. He’s a guy that, just like any young player, sometimes they stay down when the plays are down, they struggle to get back up there. Now I’ve just seen Derek fight right back right away. Those two guys have stood out quite a bit.”
Ryan Grubb calls Derek Meadows one of Alabama's hardest workers
Working hard will get you noticed. Meadows is getting noticed. The rising sophomore WR appears set for a significant role in his second season. He was on track for a big role last season, too, before he suffered a major concussion in Alabama's road win over Missouri in October.
He got on the field early against the Tigers, and Alabama tried to hit him on a deep ball down the field. Meadows went up and got his hands on it, but a helmet-to-helmet hit dislodged the ball and knocked him out of the game.
A year later, the 6-foot-5 WR is healthy and has a full year of experience under his belt. He'll team with the freshman Morgan to give the Crimson Tide some size advantages on the outside. We saw in the A-Day scrimmage Alabama experimenting with lining those two up on the same side of the field to create mismatches. That will happen throughout the season, even when Rogers is back out there.
DeBoer and Grubb have options at WR this year. They don't have a ton of depth down the depth chart, but they do have some really talented options at the top that will make it difficult, assuming everyone stays healthy, to find playing time and touches for all the guys who deserve it.
Meadows certainly deserves it. He'll have to beat out Scott and hold off a supremely talented Morgan in order to secure a spot in the starting lineup, but regardless, he appears to be on the path to a significant role in his second season in Tuscaloosa.
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