The headline originally read ‘Could the Tide Finally Stop Hunter Renfrow?’ but I quickly realized that would have been a simple one word article: no. The idea of slowing him down, however, is a much more realistic one and could end up being a key to Alabama’s success.
Watching a wide open Renfrow catch a last-second, game-winning touchdown pass in last year’s national championship will be ingrained into the thoughts and nightmares of Alabama fans or years to come. While he did push that final dagger into the Tide’s coffin, it was only an exclamation mark on an even longer list of success he has found in the face of the Tide defense.
In the 2015 National Championship game that Alabama ultimately won, Renfrow was still just a true freshman walk-on. No matter, he still lit up Minkah Fitzpatrick, Marlon Humphrey, Eddie Jackson and Co. for 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns on seven catches.
His first score of that night was as impressive as any, completely turning around to snag the ball from the air over a future first round pick in Fitzpatrick and a current NFL starting safety in Jackson:
His second one was equally as impressive as he had to fully extend in the back of the endzone to make the catch:
Last year – when you thought he couldn’t possibly do it again – he topped his freshman year’s preformance. This time around he managed 92 yards and another pair of scores on 10 catches including his walk-off. Some of the catches he made in Clemson’s win were even more incredible than in the year prior:
Now, not to over simplify it, but there is a moral to this story. We will get to that, but first re-watch the last play and the walk-off score but keep your eyes on Tony Brown (#2) covering Renfrow in the slot:
Notice how Tony Brown is shaken off by Renfrow before the notorious uncalled pick takes place. The silver lining here is simple and is the most important thing to note here: Tony Brown absolutely cannot be asked to cover Renfrow.
That is not to say that Fitzpatrick or Averett have had much better success in doing so, but Brown struggles with the entire idea of technique despite his athletic gifts, and when placed against a guy with such great footwork, he always seems to struggle.
So, besides covering him with somebody else, what exactly is the answer?
Regardless of who else covers him, they will have their hands full and they know it. He burns people in man-to-man coverage with his technique and footwork meaning the best way to defend him is to play off of him. For Jeremy Pruitt – who is well-known for his extensive repertoire of man-to-man blitzes – this is more idealistic than realistic. Pruitt is certainly not one to tell his DB’s to play off of their receivers, a strategy which backfired in the the game against Auburn when Alabama absolutely could not stop Ryan Davis on crossing and slant patterns.
Should the defense find a sustainable pass rush, stopping Renfrow and Co. becomes a much less difficult matter. If the pass rush remains as inconsistent as it has been all season, Pruitt has to pull in the reigns of his blitz-happy scheme instead of continuing to roll with what is not working the same way he did in the Iron Bowl. Should they fall back into that pitfall of faux pas pocket pressure, Renfrow will have another heyday against the man-to-man coverage he would be sure to see.
