Former five-star recruit still fighting for snaps at wide receiver after a promising start to his career on defense

Alabama is loaded at wide receiver. The Crimson Tide were already returning it's top two pass-catchers from a season ago in Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard. There were also two other expected contributors, Jalen Hale and Cole Adams, returning from injury. Throw in the additions of Isaiah Horton from the transfer portal and Lotzeir Brooks from the high school ranks, and it was easy to understand why many expected this to be one of the more talented units on the roster.

There's another player though. One who Alabama fans are already familiar with, and one who brings a top athletic profile. Of course, that player is sophomore wide receiver Jaylen Mbakwe, the former five-star, instate recruit out of Clay-Chalkville in Pinson, Ala. He's now entering Year 2 with the program, but he's still makin g adjustments to playing on offense after spending his first year at corner.

Mbakwe had a promising start to his career on defense. He played 221 defensive snaps for the Crimson Tide as a freshman, including a career-high 45 snaps against Tennessee. Through the first seven games of the season, he was averaging a healthy 23.9 snaps per game, but that number dipped to 10.8 snaps over the last five regular season contests before Mbakwe made the switch to offense.

Now, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound pass-catcher is competing with all of those other guys -- and more -- at wide receiver. Earlier this week, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was asked about Mbakwe's progress during fall camp. And while DeBoer didn't get into specifics, it does sound like the young talent is trending towards being a part of the mix.

“He fits into the mix with some other guys,” DeBoer told reporters. “I think that room, there’s some guys at the top, and another pack of guys that are going to be important to us throughout the entire year. They might be in certain packages, and Bak would be certainly be one of those guys who is just going to keep fighting, keep scrapping. He’s doing the things he needs to do every day to just k eep focusing on him and getting better. That’s what I appreciate about him.”

A lot of Alabama fans have criticized Mbakwe for making the switch to offense after a promising start to his career at cornerback. To some extent, those criticisms may be warranted, but that doesn't ignore the fact that he has tremendous upside on both sides of the football. This is easily one of the best athletes on the roster, and while there's stiff competition at receiver, we also have to remember that things wouldn't have been much different on defense.

Not only does Alabama have its two starters returning at corner in Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown, but five-star freshman Dijon Lee feels like a guy who will be too good to keep off of the field. You've also got Utah transfer Cam Calhoun in the mix at both perimeter cornerback and Husky. So while Mbakwe did have a promising freshman season, there's no guarantee that he would've been in the mix for significant playing time at cornerback either.

Don't give up on him just yet. There's still a lot of upside once Mbakwe gets more comfortable with the nuances of playing wide receiver. Let's see how he makes an impact as a return specialist and with his limited touches on offense.