The 2016 Alabama football defense is believed by many to be the best Crimson Tide defense of the Nick Saban era, and Josh Jacobs feels this group helped propel him to success.
Jacobs played at Alabama from 2016 to 2018 before getting drafted by the Raiders in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. His freshman season gave him an opportunity to compete against the talented defense at practice.
“The whole defense my freshman year got drafted,” Jacobs said during an interview on the “Bussin with the Boys” podcast. “You got to think Marlon (Humphrey) Eddie Jackson, Reuben (Foster) Rashad Evans, Daron Payne. You got Jonathan (Allen) and Levi Wallace on the other side. I feel like they prepared me because going against them, that type of caliber, either you’re going to figure it out or you’re going to be like, this is not for me.”
It didn’t take long for Jacobs to earn the respect of the talented group after not being a big-name recruit when he signed with the Tide.
“Everybody used to come up to me and was like, ‘Who is this little dude with the afro?'” said Jacobs. “Because I came in, I had a afro. They used to call me the little boy from across the street. It was like, ‘Who is this dude?’ They were like, ‘Nobody’s heard of you. None of us know who you are.’ Then we had a camp practice. I’m with the twos, so I’m going against the ones. We scrimmage, and I’m going against the ones. I’m the only person that scored at running back the whole day. So, they were like, whoever this little dude is, he might be nice. And then it got to the point where the veteran players like Reuben Foster, Daron Payne start coming up to me was like, ‘bro, you gonna be good, you gonna be special.’ And then when I start having all the vets believe in me that’s when I was okay. I could do this shit for real.”
Jacobs is now one of the best running backs in the NFL as the featured back for the Green Bay Packers.
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