During SEC media days today, Alabama head coach Nick Saban was asked about his thoughts on rising sophomore Josh Jobe after a successful spring.
“Josh Jobe has made a tremendous amount of improvement and has matured very nicely,” said Saban during his interview. “… And we see him as a guy who is a potential starter and a guy that is playing in a way throughout the spring, that we have confidence that if he’s a starter, we can — he can be very successful and we can be very successful with him playing corner for us.”
Jobe was one of the pleasant surprises during spring football this year. With the injury to fellow defensive back Shyheim Carter, the sophomore was able to step into a situation where he would be able to showcase his skills. He saw work rotating throughout the entire secondary and showed a great deal of improvement leading up to A-Day.
The four-star cornerback out Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, made his presence felt right away during the annual spring game. His physical play right from the get-go was one of the big takeaways from the game. This sort of play even caught the attention of his fellow teammates who have given the rising star rave reviews.
“Josh Jobe is a very aggressive corner,” said junior linebacker Dylan Moses during Alabama’s SEC media days. “I can see him being a leader very soon.”
Physicality from defensive backs has been a staple of Alabama’s secondary during the Saban era. Whether it’s Minkah Fitzpatrick, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix or Shyheim Carter the amount of man to man defense that is played requires them to be solid tacklers. And Jobe has proven that he is not afraid.
The standout defensive back also showed great maturity when he was called upon to step into the College Football National Championship against Clemson, where he had to fill in for an injured Savion Smith. Despite the result of the game, Jobe was consistently in a great position and was able to record two tackles and a pass break up during the game.
Jobe is currently still in the hunt for the starting spot, but with these high remarks from his teammate and coaches, the young corner is surely trending in the right direction.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
