The SEC Conference always boasts a lot of talent, and you can be sure that Calvin Ridley will be one of the top players to watch this coming season.
Ridley had a historic freshman season hauling in 89 receptions for 1,045 yards and 7 touchdowns. His production on the field decreased some as a sophomore, but he still put up solid numbers last season.
The 6-1, 188-pounder out of Coconut Creek Fla., is going to be an important factor on offense in 2017. This coming season, Alabama will be opening up the season playing at Florida State in a nationally televised game, and then later in the mid season, they’ll face a hungry Texas A&M squad who’s been excelling in the SEC since switching from the Big 12, and LSU at home.
There will be a lot of new faces at the receiver position and it’ll be quite interesting to see who will start opposite of Ridley.
Cam Sims, a 6’5″ receiver is one guy who’s been around the program for awhile, but hasn’t fully reached his potential and have the opportunity to showcase his talents because of injuries and a reserve role in 2016.
Now that he’s a senior, he’ll look to take the slot position with Gehrig Dieter’s graduation.
Robert Foster hasn’t been much of a factor during his time at Alabama, but did shine in the spring game, and prove to his coaches that he could be the number two receiver on the depth chart after having 2 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Ridley may have played well this spring, but it’ll be important that he stays healthy this season to take pressure off receivers who have limited game experience. First-year offense coordinator, Brian Daboll has proved to Nick Saban he can run the offense, and that the program will continue to play at a high level as always.
Michael Cannady is an intern for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at: @mike_can21
