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Alabama football lacks a star to go with Bryce Young. But does Tide really need one? | Goodbread
The Alabama football team lacks a star offensive talent to go with Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young, and is playing like it doesn't need one.
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From a offensive play calling standpoint, unpredictability is unquestionably a good thing.
From a who-is-getting-the-ball standpoint, that's a little more debatable.
Four games into the 2022 season for Alabama football, it's unclear if quarterback Bryce Young − a star talent himself, if ever there was one − has a go-to star around him.
Wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooks took his turn wearing that crown on Saturday in the Crimson Tide's 55-3 win over Vanderbilt at Bryant-Denny Stadium. He posted a career-best night with six catches for 117 yards, including a catch on every snap of a four-play TD drive in the first half. The Commodores secondary couldn't have covered him with a blanket, and Young took full advantage. For Brooks, this came a week after playing a season-low 17 snaps, including one catch, against Louisiana-Monroe.
Meanwhile, the player who was the Robin to Young's Batman more than any other through Alabama's the first three games − running back Jahmyr Gibbs − didn't touch the ball against the Commodores until midway through the second quarter.
And on a night when the Crimson Tide rolled up 31 points by halftime, that didn't matter a bit. Spreading touches all across the spectrum of Alabama's skill-position talent can be a hallmark of an effective offense without someone other than Young who strikes universal fear in opponents. With a quarterback of Young's gifts taking snaps, it's not necessarily imperative for someone to emerge as his weapon of choice.
After all, if Alabama doesn’t know who'll be piling up big yardage from week to week, opposing defensive coordinators don't, either. Yes, it's always helpful to the supporting cast when a defense double-covers a dangerous receiver or loads the box to stop a bell-cow running back. But it's also clear that Young will throw fearlessly to any target no matter what number is on the jersey, and that could play into the Crimson Tide's hands as it begins to navigate tougher SEC games than this one. Next week against Arkansas, the hero could be Jermaine Burton or Traeshon Holden.
The week after that, watch out for Cameron Latu.
As for the running game, Jase McClellan became the first Alabama back this season to get double-digit carries, so the backfield has its diversity, as well.
For a couple of Alabama football teams in relatively recent memory, there haven't been quite as many footballs to go around. Former offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin dialed up so many targets for wide receiver Amari Cooper, he might as well have played with a bullseye on his jersey. And a year after Cooper left UA for the NFL, there was really no such thing as feeding running back Derrick Henry too many carries. DeVonta Smith? Forget it − just throw it up.
If there's a game-breaker like that on this team, he's not yet fully emerged.
And he might not have to.
