The loss of Jaylen Waddle is no doubt a massive blow for Alabama’s offense.
Waddle was the team’s leading receiver through four games before going down with an ankle injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season according to Nick Saban. It’s a difficult injury to judge in terms of the specific date he will be back, but a return this season is a no go.
Despite losing the explosive receiver on the first play of the game, Alabama was still able to put up 48 points in a victory against Tennessee.
But that wasn’t enough proof for ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit and David Pollack who both believe that the Crimson Tide’s hopes of winning a national championship this season are over.
“I think it’s over for Bama,” Pollack said on the CFB Podcast with Herbie, Pollack & Neghandi.
“I think if you’re just talking about winning a national title, I don’t think they can win a national title without (Waddle),” Pollack said. “By the way, like, yes — Bama’s recruited at a high level. But you don’t have, like, 4-2 (40-yard-dash) guys — well, Bama actually last year, (Henry) Ruggs and (Waddle), the last year, last two years — you don’t have 4-2, 4-3 guys sitting around.
“And when you look at their game plan and what they do, they are — like, this is a different team than a year ago. It’s not RPO driven. It’s run the football and play action. And they stack those guys, DeVonta Smith and him, together where you can’t jam them and you can’t double them because they put them on the same side of the field — and it just makes life absolutely miserable on you. So I think this is a huge blow, man.
“And listen, every team — you can do this with every team. You take away a stud like that, but especially a team like Alabama. By the way, they’re just the most balanced and Mac Jones is one of the best deep-ball throwers because Waddle is a guy that adjusts to the football and has so much speed to stretch the defense. So it just stinks and I hate it for him, and I just think Bama went from a team that I think can win a championship and you lose a guy like that of that caliber, I don’t think you can win a championship without him.”
Herbstreit later added that Waddle’s production could not be replaced on Alabama’s offense, which is true. Even head coach Nick Saban compared Waddle’s loss to losing Allen Iverson on a basketball team. And although Alabama has a ton of immense talent on its offense Herbstreit doesn’t believe it will have the same impact when it faces better defenses.
“To say that (Alabama will) just throw in the next guy — I think we’re all going to be in agreement here — is ridiculous,” Herbstreit said. “Yeah, they have (John) Metchie and, of course, DeVonta Smith, Najee Harris, (Miller) Forristall at tight end. It looks like this guy Slade Bolden, who we’ve seen, play the slot. But if I’m defending Alabama and I’ve got 17 over there in the slot, to go along with all the other weapons, holy cow. Where do I start? And I’m not taking anything away from Bolden. He looks like he’s a solid player. He wouldn’t be at Alabama.
“But you’re talking about quick as a hiccup, hold your breath every single time Jaylen Waddle got the ball. I’m talking yards after the catch. He’s now become a vertical threat. Total package. As good as there is in college football. You can take that out. … Against most teams they play, it may not matter. But when you play teams with better defenses, they get into game where they need a dynamic play, you can’t just turn to DeVonta Smith. You can’t just go to Najee Harris, a different type of play-maker.”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
