Alabama WR Christian Leary becomes next Tide player to enter transfer portal
Alabama wide receiver Christian Leary is now the next Crimson Tide player to announce that he’ll be entering the transfer portal. On Wednesday, the sophomore pass-catcher broke the news via his Twitter account, making him the sixth to enter the portal this season.
“I want to thank The University of Alabama and the coaching staff for an unforgettable 2 years,” Leary tweeted. “Thank you for the opportunity and the knowledge I have gained throughout that time, in saying that I will be entering the transfer portal.”
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Coming out of Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater in 2021, Leary was rated as a four-star prospect. In the On3 Consensus rankings for that cycle, he checked in as the No. 59 overall player, No. 8 wide receiver and No. 14 player from the state of Florida.
Alabama brought in a total of five receivers in that signing class, however.
Four of those came from the high school ranks. In addition to Leary, Ja’Corey Brooks, Agiye Hall and JoJo Earle were all top-60 recruits. Brooks, Hall and Earle were even included amongst the top-45 players. Then, the Tide brought in Ohio State transfer Jameson Williams. He turned out to be one of the top wide receivers in the country last season.
Leary will now join Hall as transfers from that class. Hall left Tuscaloosa after just one season, electing to sign with former Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns. So far, that move hasn’t worked out for the former blue-chip recruit. He currently has one seven-yard catch in 2022.
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After only see 19 snaps as a freshman in 2021, Leary saw a slight uptick in snaps in Year 2.
And when we say slight uptick, we mean it. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound receiver has only played 45 snaps in five games this season. That only led to one reception for six yards. Last year, Alabama needed him to move to running back due to a slew of injuries at the position, and he actually saw more valuable snaps in that role.
Probably his biggest contribution came on this touchdown against Arkansas:
We have to give Leary a lot of credit for being willing to make that temporary switch, as it slowed down his development at receiver.
There was hope after the A-Day game back in the spring that Leary might be ready to take that next step. He led all receivers in catches (five) and receiving yards (106) while also scoring the only receiving touchdown. Unfortunately, that next step never came to fruition.
Leary will now try to get his career going elsewhere. There’s still plenty of potential here. I believe he’ll land on his feet somewhere. Stay tuned for more updates on Leary and other Alabama players choosing to enter the transfer portal.
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