Was the chatter about Jaylen Waddle during the summer all hype?
This thought remained vigilant in the minds of some Alabama fans and national media personnel, until the true freshman put all rumors to bed in his performance last week versus Louisville at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
A product of Houston, Texas, one of the nation’s most sought-after talents at wide receiver earned the nickname “human joystick” for his exploits in fall practice. Waddle’s big-play abilities caught the Cardinals off guard, seeing how he recorded three receptions for 66 yards and average 20 yards per punt return on four attempts.
He managed to keep the Crimson Tide’s offense in plus territory – when discussing field position – which allowed for sophomore Tua Tagovailoa to engineer three touchdown drives.
If not for a penalty on one of his returns, Waddle would have given Alabama its first season-opening matchup since Virginia Tech in 2013, where the team scored on offense, defense, kick return and punt return. He was recognized as one of seven players of the week from the Tide’s coaching staff, while the Southeastern Conference named his as Freshman of the Week.
His teammates were won over with explosive plays. Saban, on other hand, extended Waddle an opportunity on special teams because of his fundamentals in the offseason.
“He caught the ball efficiently and effectively and we evaluate those things every day when we do punts and punt returns,” Saban said of Waddle. “He had better stats caching the ball, making good decisions and judgments as anyone else on our team. I thought if we put him back there and he struggled we would always go back to Trevon Diggs, who is good at getting the ball, fielding it, and is a really good returner… Probably not as explosive as Jaylen so, we wanted to give him an opportunity. We felt good about him and he obviously did a good job in the game.”
For someone that is being compared to former Tide standout, David Palmer, Waddle takes his talents to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday for the team’s home opener against Arkansas State.
It will be interesting to see if he scores his first collegiate touchdown this week.
Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
