This time last year, Jerry Jeudy was among a trio of Alabama sophomore receivers looking to improve on fabulous freshman seasons.
Jeudy is now the top receiver in all of college football, having won the Biletnikoff Award last season, when he made 68 catches for 1,315 yards and 14 touchdowns. His eye-popping 19.3 yards per reception set a single-season Crimson Tide record, but Jeudy doesn't believe this spring should be any different from a year ago.
"I still want the mindset that I need to keep improving and get better," Jeudy said during a recent news conference. "No matter what, there is still somebody competing for your spot. I've always just wanted to be the best I could be and do what I was supposed to do to help my team win.
"Last year I wanted to make plays, win my routes and win my one-on-one matchups, but if it wasn't for the other guys doing their jobs, it would have been very difficult for me to do mine."
Alabama held its seventh spring practice Thursday afternoon. The Tide are scheduled to scrimmage for the first time this spring on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Henry Ruggs III, DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle also are popular targets for junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, with each of those three having made at least 40 receptions and gained 16 yards a catch last season. Ruggs and Smith are classmates of Jeudy, while Waddle is only a sophomore.
The three junior receivers are playing for their third position coach in three springs, with new assistant Holmon Wiggins coming over from Virginia Tech, where he spent the past three seasons. Josh Gattis was Alabama's receivers coach last season, and Mike Locksley occupied that role in 2017.
"You would like to have the same receivers coach," Jeudy said, "but I'm taking it as someone else who can help me get better."
Jeudy, a 6-foot-1, 192-pounder from Deerfield Beach, Florida, wants to become bigger, faster and stronger this spring. There is also the desire to improve his ability to read coverages and his blocking skills.
Asked how fast he would like to get, Jeudy said, "Fast enough that I won't get caught."
Safety De'Rickey Wright commits
Alabama received its 14th commitment for the 2020 signing class and its seventh within the state when it landed a nonbinding pledge from Attalla safety De'Rickey Wright on Thursday. The 6-3, 220-pounder is a three-star prospect on the 247Sports.com composite rankings and the No. 390 prospect overall. The Tide had six in-state signees in their 2019 class.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.