Ryan Grubb Names Alabama Player Who Sets 'The Gold Standard'

Alabama didn't have many bright spots in Saturday's 31-17 season-opening loss to Florida State on the road.

However, Crimson Tide wide receiver Germie Bernard shined from start to finish as he hauled in eight receptions for 146 yards. Coming into this game, the former Michigan State (2022) and Washington (2023) transfer's most receiving yards in his collegiate career was 111—which he accomplished for the Crimsion Tide last season.

Alabama's arguably next-best pass-catcher on Saturday was Josh Cuevas, who had three receptions for 31 yards and a touchdown. Preseason All-American Ryan Williams tallied five catches for 30 yards before sustaining a concussion midway through the fourth quarter. In other words, Bernard was by far and away quarterback Ty Simpson's top option and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was thrilled with his performance when comparing it to the rest of the receivers.

“How I look at it is, I just start with Germie Bernard, and that’s what it’s supposed to look like if you’re watching the game," Grubb said on Monday. "I mean, the guy’s running in and blocking their Aztec player that’s running down the middle of the field and smoking that dude.

"Then he’s running down the sideline and catching a play-action pass. His desire and passion for the game, you just see how he plays, whether it’s a run block or a pass play. We just set that as the gold standard, and if it’s not what Germ’s doing, it’s not good enough."

"Germ’s going to stay out there as long as we’ve got enough Gatorade in him. He’s going to be rolling the whole time."

Simpson also praised Bernard's career day after Saturday's loss.

"That dude's a dog, man," Simpson said. "He works hard in practice. He earns everything he gets. I'm excited for him having a good game. I think he had over a hundred yards on [eight] catches. That's what that guy deserves. He could have gone to the NFL Draft last year, but he came back and worked hard.

"He pushes me to make sure that I understand what he sees. I push him to make sure he understands what I see. That guy is the ultimate competitor. I'm really proud of him and he understands we're going to get this thing right."

Grubb also evaluated the performances of the rest of the Crimson Tide receiving corps against Florida State. Bernard and Williams are the only returning wide receivers who logged more than six catches last season.

“Ryan, as far as him, is certainly one of our better playmakers, so you’re trying to highlight him with the ball. From there, sometimes the ball just doesn’t find guys, depending on the coverages. Throughout time, our offense has shown that the ability to get the ball to the X, the Z or the H typically balances out depending on what the defenses are trying to take away.”

“I know we’ve got some young guys. I thought Lotzeir [Brooks], it didn’t show up necessarily on the stat book, but I thought he was in there flying around. Derek Meadows was stretching the field a couple of times. Those are guys that will continue showing up.

"And then Rico Scott, I thought, played really, really hard. His catapult numbers, as always, were just really, really high— his player load, just how hard he plays. So I think those guys are doing a really good job flying around. I think that room understands what it takes to win a football game.

"I know Isaiah [Horton] got banged up a little bit early on, so it was a little tougher for him to get out there and play like he normally does. They know what it’s supposed to look like.”