Coach Nick Saban got a packaged deal in Alabama’s 2015 recruiting class, as wide receiver Calvin Ridley and defensive back Shawn Burgess-Becker came together from Coconut Creek, Fla.
The Monarch High School teammates both earned a national championship last season; however, one happened to grab the spotlight faster than the other. Ridley, like Julio Jones and Amari Cooper, put on a clinic in his freshman season. The 6-foot, 188-pound target set the school’s single season receiving mark, totaling 1,045 yards and seven touchdowns on 89 catches.
Burgess-Becker arrived on campus as an athlete, but possesses the size (6-foot-1, 215 pounds) to be a game-changing safety. The former four-star recruit saw action in 14 games a year ago.
He recorded his first collegiate tackle in the Crimson Tide’s season opener against Wisconsin, while finishing the season with three total tackles. His numbers throughout spring testing were solid, as he posted a time of 4.53 seconds in the 40-yard dash and bench pressed 365 pounds.
Burgess-Becker, like some of his teammates, has already started training for next season. A combination of he, Deionte Thompson and Maurice Smith could be featured a lot in the fall.
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Stephen M. Smith is a senior analyst and columnist for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @Smsmith_TDALMag.
