Alabama’s snap counts against Tennessee prove there might be a major disconnect between Ryan Grubb and Kalen DeBoer
With Ryan Coleman-Williams out, the Alabama Crimson Tide spent all week pointing to a pair of receivers who could pick up the slack. The snap counts from Saturday paint a much different picture, and somebody owes Tuscaloosa an explanation.
After the game, Alabama Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer broke down plenty of what went wrong for his team. He covered the offensive struggles, the turnovers, the injuries, and how Alabama gets back on track. What he didn’t address is a glaring question mark at the wide receiver position.
Mike Rodak posted on X that Noah Rogers and freshman Cederian Morgan played just two snaps apiece for the Crimson Tide. Many people, including DeBoer himself, believed those two would step up in the absence of Ryan Coleman-Williams. Meanwhile, Derek Meadows played 51 snaps.
What Kalen DeBoer said about Alabama’s receivers before the game
The on-field performance from Meadows and the wide receiver corps as a whole was proof enough that something was off. On top of that, consider what DeBoer said before kickoff, as shared by Charlie Potter:
“Guys like Noah Rodgers more than likely getting more opportunities than he’s had. This is about the week that you’re really kind of striving for to ramp up his numbers. Derek Meadows, I can see getting more opportunities as well in relief of Ryan,” DeBoer said.
Meadows certainly got his opportunities. Rogers did not. He finished with the same two snaps as Morgan, and I don’t understand why. Perhaps DeBoer’s message didn’t make it to his playcaller, Ryan Grubb, but even if it didn’t, DeBoer didn’t need to hint at other WRs getting reps. The game itself was proof.
Nobody was getting open for Keelon Russell
If you watched the live broadcast, you saw Keelon Russell take multiple sacks. Those weren’t on the offensive line. They were coverage sacks, and they happened because no one was getting open.
It didn’t matter whether it was Lotty Brooks, Rico Scott (who also had some drops), or Meadows. Alabama simply didn’t create much separation downfield. I’ll be going through the film and breaking it all down on X, but the issue was obvious even without the All-22.
To be fair, you can point the finger elsewhere. You can blame the play calling from offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. You can argue Russell never looked settled in the pocket. Those are fair criticisms, and they likely played a role.
Alabama key offensive stats vs. Tennessee
- 201 total yards
- 3.7 yards per play
- 2/13 on 3rd down
Alabama kept running into the same wall
When your offense is struggling the way the Crimson Tide was, you can’t keep banging your head against the wall and expecting a different result. At some point, you have to change something.
Alabama had two obvious options sitting on the sideline. Morgan is a 6-foot-4 receiver who can get vertical and give a quarterback a big target when nothing else is working. Rogers is a proven commodity. He was in line to be the No. 3 wide receiver before he got injured, and his coach spent the week talking about ramping up his numbers.
Instead, both watched nearly the entire game. To me, that makes no sense, especially when the staff said all week (including just hours before the game) that it expected these guys to step up.
DeBoer had plenty to say about what went wrong. He didn’t say why the plan he laid out before kickoff never materialized. Until he does, somebody in Tuscaloosa has some answering to do.
