The number may cause some double-takes from University of Alabama fans, not just because 13 isn’t the most popular choice for jerseys, but also due to ArDarius Stewart’s limited opportunities thus far.
Yet with junior running back Kenyan Drake out with a leg fracture the redshirt freshman has been trying to fill the speed void his absence created. Playing more against Mississippi State last week, senior quarterback Blake Sims looked to him four times, twice deep, resulting in two receptions for 25 yards.
“ArDarius Stewart is a fast, explosive guy who got to play a little bit more in this game, and we’ve been trying to play him all year long,” Coach Nick Saban said. “He is a guy to me who can make explosive plays, and hopefully the experience that he gets and that he is getting is going to help him realize the importance of paying attention to detail, doing the little things right that he needs to do to be able to have success as a player, because he certainly can be a guy that could make plays for us and be a great complement to some of the other players that we have who are making plays for us.”
Perhaps the light’s gone on a little bit, which happens with a lot with players during their second year, but the talk behind the scenes with the Crimson Tide has been that Stewart has been making more plays during practice.
He’s not the only one as Alabama figures to get more reserves involved against Western Carolina on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network). It could be especially important at wide receiver and running back considering that DeAndrew White and T.J. Yeldon are two players coaches want as healthy as possible for next week’s showdown with rival Auburn.
Additionally, all three primary starters at wide receiver could be playing their last games for the Crimson Tide. White and Christion Jones are both seniors and junior Amari Cooper figures to be a very popular draft selection should he leave early for the National Football League.
“Just looking forward to them,” Jones said. “I think I feel better because the last home game will be played against Auburn. When we get to that point, it’ll probably hit me once it’s all over with.”
However, the next wave of Alabama receivers may already be in place, even though they haven’t had too many receptions this fall. Stewart leads them with seven catches for 98 yards, but sophomore Chris Black, redshirt freshman Robert Foster and true freshman Cam Sims have all played in nearly all of the Crimson Tide’s games this season.
“Cam has done a real nice job all year long, we have lots of confidence in him as a receiver,” Saban said. “I know as a young player he had a drop or two early in the season, but he makes a lot of catches in practice. He’s a big guy, he’s a little bit of a mismatch guy that way. He is physical, he is tough, that’s not why we put him in the game, we’re just trying to give Coop a (break) with him.
“Robert Foster has made some nice progress, we probably ought to try and get him some reps too in terms of what he does. But you know the three young receivers that we have – ArDarius Stewart, Robert and Cam, as well as Chris Black – have all really made a lot of progress this year. They haven’t gotten to play maybe as much as we would like, and hopefully their time will come in which they can all make contributions.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
