Bama’s Best: Ranking Alabama’s top players for Week 7

Every Thursday, BamaOnLine’s Blake Byler will be giving his ranking of the top 10 players on the Alabama football team. These are fluid rankings that will fluctuate each week, depending on how each player has been playing lately and how they’re trending.

So, following Alabama’s stunning upset loss at the hands of Vanderbilt in Week 6, let’s see how the top 10 has changed.

Honorable Mentions: Tim Keenan, Germie Bernard, Que Robinson, LT Overton

10. Domani Jackson (Last Week: 9)

Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt was far from the best game from cornerback Domani Jackson . Alabama’s pass defense as a whole struggled, allowing Commodore quarterback Diego Pavia to completed 16-of-20 passes on the day. Jackson was targeted five times, with four of those passes being completed. Still, Jackson has been steady throughout the season as the most experienced cornerback on the roster, and remains in the top 10 with a chance to turn it around against South Carolina this week.

9. Kadyn Proctor (Last Week: HM)

Left tackle Kadyn Proctor comes in at No. 9 for his first appearance on the top 10 this season. He’s been steadily inching towards a spot on the list each week, after having to miss the first two games of the season with a shoulder injury.

Since returning, Proctor has been stellar protecting Jalen Milroe ‘s blind side. He allowed zero pressures once again against Vanderbilt, part of another strong offensive line performance that will get a few more shoutouts before this list is over. Proctor’s jump from his freshman year to sophomore year has been incredible to see, and it’s become overwhelmingly clear why he was a 5-star talent out of high school.

8. Malachi Moore (Last Week: 5)

If you’ve paid any attention this week, you’ve seen more than enough about safety Malachi Moore . His outburst at the end of the Vanderbilt game drew plenty of eyes and a ton of criticism over the weekend and throughout the first half of this week. He’s since apologized and won’t serve any kind of suspension, however, his play on Saturday was subpar as well.

Moore was targeted twice in the passing game against Vanderbilt, both being completions, one of which was for a touchdown. He struggled in coverage, and wasn’t the sure tackler he usually is on the back end. He was far from the only problem on defense, but at the same time it was far from his best game.

7. Jihaad Campbell / 6. Deontae Lawson (Last Week: 6, 3)

I’m going to group both interior linebackers here at the No. 7 and No. 6 spots, since they both played similar games on Saturday in the loss. Sure, they were the top two tacklers on the team, but that’s to be expected. Throughout the game, Vanderbilt’s pre-snap eye candy gave both Jihaad Campbell and Deontae Lawson fits.

Constantly being unsure of where the ball was going to go in Vanderbilt’s triple option style offense, both linebackers were caught flat-footed a number of times. Instead of attacking at the line of scrimmage, they waited around and caught ball carriers, allowing them to be driven back multiple yards even when making contact.

This duo has had great moments this season, but Saturday’s wasn’t one of them. They need a bounce-back game against South Carolina this weekend, as does the entire defense.

5. Parker Brailsford (Last Week: 7)

Center Parker Brailsford continues to anchor the interior of the Alabama offensive line. Through five games, he’s still yet to allow a pressure on the quarterback. That’s quite impressive, and is one massive reason for the vast improvement the Crimson Tide offensive line has seen this season.

And on top of that, he’s had no problem with getting off clean snaps, which is a welcome sight.

4. Jam Miller (Last Week: 8)

Running back Jam Miller continues to be one of the most efficient runners in the country, despite limited volume. Against Vanderbilt he carried the ball five times for 45 yards and a touchdown, averaging nine yards per carry. On the season, he’s up to 318 yards and five touchdowns, averaging an incredible 8.2 yards per carry.

Alabama didn’t get to run the ball as much as it would have liked because of the flow of Saturday’s game, but it’s become clear what Miller can do with the ball even when it’s a small amount of touches. One can only wonder what his numbers would look like with 15-20 touches in a game.

3. Tyler Booker (Last Week: 4)

I’ve already talked about the offensive line a number of times, but can’t go without mentioning the best offensive lineman on the team, left guard Tyler Booker . You can scroll social media after any Alabama game and find more than one clip of Booker driving someone into the ground for a pancake. This offensive line is molding into one of the best in the country, and it starts with him.

2. Ryan Williams (Last Week: 2)

Once again, freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams made a play on Saturday that was borderline unbelievable. In the second half, he showcased his insane body control with a sideline catch between two defenders where he miraculously stayed in bounds and strolled into the end zone for a touchdown in his fifth straight game.

He’s doing things unheard of for a freshman in Tuscaloosa, which says a lot. He’s up to 19 catches for 544 yards and six touchdowns on the season, which ranks him No. 12 nationally in receiving yards and tied for fifth nationally in receiving touchdowns.

1. Jalen Milroe (Last Week: 1)

Alabama’s loss to Vanderbilt took away from the fantastic game Jalen Milroe played on Saturday. Milroe showed that his improvements during the Georgia game weren’t a fluke, and he followed up his second career 300-yard game with his third 300-yard game just a week later.

Milroe hit all the right throws with great anticipation and great timing, with a lot of them being over the middle of the field or in the ‘intermediate’ range. For the game, he completed 19-of-25 passes for 310 yards with a passing and a rushing touchdown. He had two turnovers, but neither were entirely his fault, with one being a tipped interception and the other being a sack fumble off a completely whiffed block in pass protection.

Milroe has firmly established himself as not only the best player on this team, but one of the best in college football as the season rolls on.

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