Will Anderson provides glowing endorsement of Jaheim Oatis

The Alabama Crimson Tide defense continues to further deepen their front seven, and true freshman Jaheim Oatis is no exception – just ask star linebacker Will Anderson.

“I’m very happy for him, he’s one of the freshmen, like I said, he came in, he worked hard, he didn’t complain. He did exactly what he said he was going to do,” Anderson said. “I remember I was on Twitter and he was telling me he was – it was a tweet – and it was like, ‘I’m going to come in, I’m going to lose weight and I’m going to compete for a spot.’ And I remember I went to Coach Roach, I said ‘these are the type of players that we need in that locker room,’ and he stuck to exactly what he said.”

Once sitting at 416 pounds, Oatis was 342 with just over a month remaining until his true freshman season, and has lost even more weight since. Over 75 pounds shed in college football’s Mecca will have anyone take notice. Despite his size, he was a highly-touted defensive lineman out of hight school and many schools vied for his services.

“Just watching him develop every day, and get better, and not complain, not cry, notmoan or anything like that,” Anderson said. “It has been really great to watch him step up and help his defense, so I’m excited to watch it.”

Oatis was a four-star player who, in the On3 Consensus, ranked as the No. 81 overall prospect, No. 11 defensive lineman and No. 2 player from the state of Mississippi. Prior to committing back in April of 2021, Oatis had held his offer from Alabama since his eighth-grade football season.

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After being rated as a top-100 prospect coming out of Columbia High School in Mississippi, the 6-foot-5, 340-plus pound interior defensive lineman is now set to add depth to the Crimson Tide’s defensive front, an is now rated on the Crimson Tide depth chart at nose guard as a true freshman despite a litany of upperclassman talent in front of him.

Now, Oatis has been endorsed by the nation’s best – something that doesn’t come around every day in Tuscaloosa.