Nick Saban reacts to 'important' progress of younger players, receiving unit

Many people might look at the Alabama blowout of New Mexico State and think a 59-3 beatdown of the Aggies doesn’t present any value to the Crimson Tide. However, Alabama head coach Nick Saban knew the extra playing time for some of his young wide receivers would prove to be very valuable to the roster. He spoke about the progress of his young receivers looked after the New Mexico State game in the post-game press conference.

“[Javon] Baker made some good catches. Agiye Hall got to play…made a pretty good catch on third down. Jacorey Brooks has been making steady improvements and had an opportunity. We got a holding penalty on the play, but I’m pleased with the progress that those guys are making,” Saban said.

“And I think it’s important that we continue to have these younger players that can make some progress. Because when you’ve got guys go down. We had two starters on our offensive line out today. Now we lost a couple of other guys, punt return guys, slot receiver,” he said.

“So we’ve gotta have more guys that are ready to play winning football. And I think those guys got great experience today and I think they responded well,” he said.

Alabama freshman Agiye Hall was pegged to have a breakout year

Alabama true freshman receiver Agiye Hall was pegged by many fans and media to have a breakout year in 2021. He dominated the Alabama spring game, hauling in four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown. Not only that, his jaw-dropping highlight-reel catches caught the attention of the college football world.

It’s easy to see why when you watch some of his grabs, where he displayed his remarkable body control.

Here’s one of them below.

The body control from Agiye Hall 😳 @SECNetwork pic.twitter.com/eEceTITBG5

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) April 17, 2021

The breakout season hasn’t happened yet for Hall, but surely after making catches like that, it’s only a matter of time for the talented youngster. Thus far in 2021, he’s hauled in two catches for 21 receiving yards.

Jacorey Brooks has found other ways to contribute

Saban also mentioned Jacorey Brooks in his brief discussion of his young receivers.

One of the best ways for any young player in college football to contribute to a team is on special teams and Brooks has found that niche early at Alabama. In the Texas A&M game with his team down 24-10, Brooks made a game-changing punt block that the Tide recovered for a touchdown.

Check it out below.

BLOCK.

Just when Alabama needed a big play, the special teams delivered in a big way. pic.twitter.com/UdXlPc6jEi

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 10, 2021

So far, Brooks has one catch for nine receiving yards in the 2021 season.

Saban mentioned Javon Baker

Head coach Nick Saban also talked about sophomore Javon Baker. Thus far, the Georgia native has had the biggest impact of any of the young receivers Saban mentioned in 2021. Thus far, he’s hauled in seven catches for 101 receiving yards and a touchdown. The former four-star prospect has started to contribute a bit more in his sophomore season for Alabama. His best game came against Southern Miss, where he hauled in two catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.

Alabama plays Arkansas on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. EST.