Alabama leads the country (or shares the lead) in pass plays covering 40+ yards (16), 50+ yards (11), 60+ yards (5), 70+ yards (4) and 80+ yards (2).

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — If speed kills, then Alabama’s wide receivers might be the mostly deadly in all of college football.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa gets a lot of credit and rightfully so. He’s often had perfect placement on his throws and nearly always hits the receivers in stride.

But it’s much more than that as Alabama’s players are routinely turning short passes into long gains or even touchdowns. Once the receivers catch it, it’s nearly impossible to catch them.

Look at the first play vs. Arkansas two weeks ago when tight end Irv Smith Jr. caught a pass in the backfield before rumbling down the sideline untouched for a score.

One of the best illustrations of this came on a play that didn’t count last week against Missouri. Tagovailoa tossed a quick screen pass to Henry Ruggs III, who cut outside a DeVonta Smith block and raced down the sideline for what looked like a touchdown.

Missouri’s safety appeared to have an angle to push Ruggs out of bounds, but Ruggs seemingly hit an extra turbo button and flew down the sideline. The play was called back for holding on Smith, but the point remains: Alabama’s receivers have incredible catch-and-run ability.

“When I saw Ruggs pass Smitty, I knew that he was gone,” receiver Jerry Jeudy said. “Me practicing with him I know Ruggs’ speed. When I saw him past Smitty on the block I knew he was gone.”

Jeudy is the best on the team at YAC, or yards after catch. Jeudy has caught 26 passes for 705 yards (!!) with a team-high 252 yards coming after catch, per Pro Football Focus. He leads the SEC in receiving yards and TD receptions (9).

Do defenders underestimate Jeudy’s speed?

“I’l say so,” Jeudy said. “They’ll probably say I’m pretty slow, but when you get close to me, you’ll see that speed.”

There have been multiple times when Jeudy was seemingly cut off, but found a way to close the space and outrun the defender by a good margin.

All of Alabama’s receivers — Jeudy, Irv Smith, DeVonta Smith, Ruggs and Jaylen Waddle — do it on a regular basis.

That’s why Alabama leads the country in pass plays covering 40+ yards (16), 50+ yards (11), 60+ yards (5), 70+ yards (4) and 80+ yards (2).

Per Pro Football Focus, Ruggs, Smith and Jeudy all have over 200 yards after the catch. Waddle has 147, but that number will certainly rise as he gets more touches.

“I think they have really good speed. I think all of those guys are really, really competitive,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “They have really good hands. We have a pretty good system that we’ve been able to utilize those things that they can make explosive plays. They all have ability to run after the catch. And I think that the quarterbacks have done a good job of getting them the ball when we have an opportunity to make those plays. They give them catchable balls and they’ve been able to finish plays and make a lot of big plays.

“Those guys have really good speed, they’re good getting in and out of breaks. They’ve got good hands.”

Saban said DeVonta Smith (hamstring) is the only receiver questionable for the game vs. Tennessee on Saturday.