There has been plenty of speculation about Jaylen Mbakwe's future after he decided - foolishly, some said - to change positions from CB to WR for his sophomore season.
It was a decision the coaching staff allowed him to make to prevent the talented sophomore from transferring in December. Mbakwe is a former 5-star recruit, but he threw away a year of developmental progress to start back from scratch at a position he's never played.
Mbakwe made significant progress at CB last season, and although Alabama has a crowded depth chart in the secondary, he would have been in line for an even bigger role this season. Now, he's likely fighting for, at best, the No. 5 spot in Alabama's WR rotation.
Ryan Williams, Germie Bernard, and Isaiah Horton are firmly entrenched as the top three. Sophomore Rico Scott has had a tremendous offseason and seems to have solidified his spot as the No. 4 WR.
Playing time for Mbakwe, at least offensively, will be hard to come by. I specify offensively because I do expect him to factor in at both kick and punt returner this year to get the ball in his hands.
But everyone needs to remember how talented Mbakwe is. If he puts the work in, he's going to be a factor for the Crimson Tide at some point down the road, perhaps as early as this season. Kalen DeBoer was highly complimentary of Mbakwe following Sunday's practice.
Kalen DeBoer says Jaylen Mbakwe has made big plays in practice
Though he didn't provide context of the setting or which defense he was facing, DeBoer told the media that Mbakwe had made some big plays so far in fall camp.
"Bak's made some nice plays here," DeBoer said. "He's actually gotten practice kicked off in a good way from an offensive standpoint with some big plays early on."
Mbakwe is a player that DeBoer trusts already, but he has to continue learning the offense, and learning the ins and outs of a position he's never played until bowl practices last December. Mbakwe was a QB in high school.
But he's clearly putting the work in to get there, and with his talent level, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Mbakwe make some plays this year on offense when he gets an opportunity.
"I feel like any player, you're always looking - can you trust him to get lined up?" DeBoer asked. "Can you trust him to do his job? Those are really things that I'm not worried about with Bak, so now it's just getting comfortable more and more with the offense and the timing, and working with the guys around him. That growth I would hope for is what I'm seeing."