Ja'Corey Brooks wants Alabama receivers to be a complete group

Alabama is hoping that experience is the key to unlocking the Crimson Tide wide receiving corps potential heading into 2023 after an inconsistent season from the group last year.

Spearheading that effort is junior wideout Ja’Corey Brooks, who detailed the skills that his wide receiving corps have been honing in on this offseason. Even at his level, it always goes back to the basics.

“We all play receiver, so our first skill set is working on our hands, catching the ball,” Brooks said Friday. “As a receiver, if you can’t catch the ball, you really can’t be on the field. That’s one thing we’ve focused on, getting on the jugs before practice, and another time we can really on the jugs is after practice. That’s how we really develop that skill set.”

Aside from Brooks, Alabama’s top playmakers out wide are Jermaine Burton and Malik Benson, along with the three sophomores, Kobe Prentice, Isaiah Bond and Kendrick Law.

Burton and Brooks, Bryce Young‘s No. 1 and No. 2 wideouts from a year ago, combined for 79 receptions for 1,351 yards and 15 touchdowns for Alabama last season. The former true freshman trio of Prentice, Bond and Law combined for 56 receptions, 665 yards and three touchdowns. Other than Burton and Brooks, Prentice was the only other wide receiver to log more than 30 receptions in 2022.

Still, four of those six wideouts that Alabama is going to rely on are in their first or second year playing in the Crimson Tide’s system. They’re all still young as only two veterans in that group are Brooks and Burton — both of whom have eligibility to return next season.

More important than the personnel out wide is knowing who is going to throw them the ball? The QB battle to replace former Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young has come down to a three-man race. Jalen Milroe, former five-star recruit Ty Simpson and Notre Dametransfer Tyler Buchner, but we likely won’t know for sure until the week leading up to the Crimson Tide’s first game of the season.

If this wide recieving group is as talented as their high school rating suggest, coupled with experience in Nick Saban’s system — who is under center might not ultimately matter for Alabama. As long as they can manage the game and put the ball where Brooks, Burton and the other wideouts can catch it, they should be able to do the rest.