Alabama wideouts ready to ‘make plays’

By Ken Rogers

Published: August 5, 2008

TUSCALOOSA — Alabama’s top three wide receivers from last season are gone.

DJ Hall, Matt Caddell and Keith Brown combined for 129 catches, 1,816 yards and 13 touchdowns.

But talk to Crimson Tide players and there’s little doubt that one of the strengths of the team will be at wideout.

“People are going to say what they want to say, but we know we can make plays,” senior wideout Nikita Stover said. “They (coaches) give us opportunities to make plays (in practice) and that’s what we do.”

Freshmen Julio Jones and B.J. Scott are going to grab the most attention, particularly early, but the returning players are eager for a chance to prove themselves, too.

Mike McCoy, Stover, Darius Hanks and Earl Alexander combined for 43 receptions, 384 yards and three touchdowns in 2007. Stover is confident offensive coordinator Jim McElwain’s new approach and a new attitude in general will provide John Parker Wilson with plenty of open options.

By now, Stover says, the scheme itself doesn’t matter. It’s in the execution.

“I’ve gone through three of them, it don’t matter to me,” said Stover, who averaged 13.1 yards per catch last season. “We can play any kind of offense, I’ll run it, it doesn’t matter.”

He is comfortable with McElwain’s approach.

“It’s just to get the ball in the playmakers’ hands,” he said. “It’s not that much of a difference, just some quicker passes.”

McCoy is the leading returning receiver, with 28 catches for 207 yards in 2007. He is convinced this is not a rebuilding year for Alabama receivers.

“Every receiver we have is gonna make an impact,” he said.

He even discloses a mini-scouting report.

“A lot of people haven’t mentioned Earl (Alexander), but Earl has been working tremendously hard,” McCoy said. “Julio looks great.
Tremendous athlete. God blessed him with some amazing talent.

“B.J.? Fast. Looks real good. (Marquis) Maze, speedster. Hanks, great route runner. Brandon Gibson, great blocker. I can keep going on and on about every receiver we have.”

Asked about the 6-foot-4 Jones, Wilson shook his head and said, “He’s a special guy. We’re gonna take advantage of that. He can stretch the defense and catch it and do stuff with the ball afterwards.”

With the veterans craving the chance to fill Hall’s prolific shoes and the freshmen eager to make an impression, it would be an awkward camp for those teammates.

But they’re at least saying the right thing.

“You can’t take that personally because we are all on the same team,” Stover said. “We are like a family. I look out for them and they look out for me. And whoever helps us win the games we have to put out there.

“We had a speaker last night … He said to have each other’s parachutes. That’s the way I look at it. We have to pack each other’s parachutes.”