When Jaheim Oatis first arrived at Alabama, the 400-plus pound freshman appeared to be a longer-term project until he could make an impact on the field.
But Oatis proved to be quite the opposite as he was on the field immediately for the Crimson Tide proving to be one of its best young defensive players. What led to Oatis’ impressive freshman campaign was an astounding weight-loss journey as he shed himself down to 348 pounds prior to the start of the season.
In 2022, Oatis was a co-starter alongside DJ Dale and finished the season with 29 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and two pass deflections.
“I didn’t think I was going to play because I weighed so much,” Oatis said. “So when I came in, they were helping me with the weight, and then DJ Dale talked to me, helped me out during the season, and for the first three games told me how the game was going to move and play.”
Today, Oatis has continued to get lighter on his feet and revealed on Tuesday that he now weighs 316 pounds which means he has lost roughly 100 pounds since arriving in Tuscaloosa.
He made sure to credit Amy Bragg, the director of performance and nutrition at Alabama, for helping shift his diet to further aid his efforts.
“In high school, I ate what I wanted,” Oatis said. “Ms. Amy though, she (gave me) a lot of baked (food), she took away the bread, the rice. So I eat a lot of vegetables, salad, baked chicken, shrimp a lot of grilled food.”
Funny enough Oatis is now looking to get his weight back up to 330 pounds ahead of the season as he looks to take the next step in his development.
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