Alabama’s decision to bench freshman standout vs. Georgia looks even worse following his All-American acknowledgment
Alabama’s decision to start Domani Jackson is even more questionable at this point.
The Alabama Crimson Tide made a prudent decision ahead of the SEC Championship to start CB Domani Jackson. In all honesty, the move panned out as he was already warm and ready to go when Zabien Brown went down. Jackson also played with an intensity and rallying nature that was largely missing from the rest of Alabama’s defense on Saturday.
But the decision to start meant someone had to be benched. That someone was a standout freshman, Dijon Lee. He had been coming on strong over the past few weeks, showing his exceptional length, ball skills, and heady play for a freshman. So it wasn’t a surprise to see him named to On3’s freshman All-American team, but it makes you wonder what he did to get benched, and if he will start in the rematch against the Oklahoma Sooners.
Dijon Lee named to On3’s Freshman All-American team
Lee finished the regular season with 29 total tackles, four pass breakups, and two interceptions across five starts and 12 games played. When he first stepped in for Jackson, you could immediately see his 6-4 frame make a difference in the pass game and as a tackler.
Kalen DeBoer won’t divulge why Domani Jackson started over Dijon Lee
“The thing I’ll say about Domani [Jackson] is, it was a slow start this year,” said DeBoer when asked about the decision to start Jackson via the Alabama Crimson Tide YouTube channel. “And just coming off of a lot of things that he was taking care of physically. I’ll give Domani a ton of credit. The second half [of the season] here, there’s a lot of guys that, the rotation that we’re working with, with Dijon [Lee Jr.] coming in and playing more snaps. A lot of guys could’ve handled it a different way, and he just had the right mindset.
“He just went back to work. I couldn’t be more proud of the way he responded. Knowing that he would be heavily involved, he knew that this was a great opportunity. I’m sure there’s things, again, that we’ll get to, that you can do better. I think that would be the case any time you have for sure a loss, but really proud of the way he has responded this latter part of the season, the second half here. He’s been in the rotation and [will] continue to stay in it. I’m proud of him.”
Maybe Alabama thought it had an advantageous matchup with Jackson against the Georgia Bulldogs. As stated, he certainly played well, but well enough to justify benching a freshman All-American and potentially keeping him on the pine for the CFP?
I don’t think so.
Alabama Crimson Tide News
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