Nick Saban praises Eli Ricks for growth throughout season

Amid a loaded secondary, learning a new system, and injuries, Alabama CB Eli Ricks hasn’t seen the field as much as some anticipated. The transfer out of LSU was expected to be one of the Crimson Tide’s best defensive backs. Before their last appearance, though, he hadn’t seen significant time this season. That changed in their 30-6 win over Mississippi State before their bye week.

Nick Saban spoke about Ricks’ development within the program during the SEC Teleconference earlier this week. He said Ricks had to pick up some things as he learned Alabama’s system and left LSU’s behind. Now it’s about building off that growth and his most recent appearance to have a great end to the season.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“Eli just had to go through a lot of transitions here in terms of what he’d learned before, trying to learn our system, and getting confident in it. We always thought he could be a really good player,” said Saban. “I thought he played well in the last game. Hopefully he’ll be able to build on that and stay focused on the things he needs to do well to execute at his position.”

Ricks had only had a handful of chances to play his position during the course of Alabama’s season so far. He’d even rotated in on special teams as well just to see the field. Against the Bulldogs, though, he saw his first real-time at corner of the SEC season. Ricks made the most of it too. He finished with two tackles and four pass deflections against the pass-heavy Mississippi State offense.

As one of the nation’s top corner prospects coming into college, Ricks has just needed the time to figure it out and put things together. After two seasons at LSU, the transfer set him back again. However, this performance seems like a positive step towards Ricks becoming more of a staple on Saban’s defense. His next chance to impress will come against his former team as Alabama heads to Baton Rouge this weekend to face the Tigers.