Top 3 WRs at Bama in the Saban Era

Hall may lose points due to his attitude, not to mention not fighting for that TD pass in the Iron bowl.

1. Julio for all the obvious reasons
2. Marquis Maze, dependable, ran great routes and was tough as a nail for his size
3. Amari Cooper, based on 2012 he has all the skills of Julio and more speed.

I would not mention Hall in the same breath with these players. He was a large part of the reason we were 7-6 in 2007. He was a team cancer.

1. Julio - He's the standard for Saban WRs.
2. Coop - Bigger Freshman year that Julio. Stepped up because of injuries and made key plays.
3. Maze/Hanks/Gibson - All 3 made plays. None made the plays to be an elite WR, though.

DJ can't really be considered as a WR in the Saban era. He played for 1 Saban team.

Cooper, Jones, and Hall are the only three players in Alabama history to have 1000 receiving yards. Hall is the only one to do it more than once (2006 and 2007). Cooper is the only one of the three to have double-digit receiving TDs. Julio Jones is probably the one most likely to make All-Pro teams in the NFL.

I think JJ is undeniably #1. Cooper can take over #1 depending on what happens the next 2 years, but I'd say he is up there.

Since DJ played one year, I'll count him as a WR in CNS era. His name on records indicates he belongs in the top 3. May have had an attitude, but was extremely productive. I'd say #3 is either Maze or Cooper; best season goes to cooper, but this list is more like a "career achievement" type of thing and Maze was a quality WR and returner for multiple seasons.

If White was healthy all year last year and had a decent season similar to his freshman year, I'd put him above Cooper at this time and fairly close to Maze.

IMO, Cooper is a better receiver than Jones, but Jones was a better all around player. I would compare Cooper to your Prothro as a pure receiver. He can go up in the air with anybody and come down with the ball. Jones was not that type of receiver. Sure, he made great catches, but he also had many passes knocked away that Cooper would have brought down. Whoever you pick at #3 is so far removed from the talent shown by Cooper and Jones that I tend to believe that this player is probably a young receiver who has simply not had a chance yet. Not knocking the contributions of guys like Gibson (really clutch receiver), Maze, Hanks or Hall - but they are not in the same area code.

B1GTide said:

IMO, Cooper is a better receiver than Jones, but Jones was a better all around player. I would compare Cooper to your Prothro as a pure receiver. He can go up in the air with anybody and come down with the ball. Jones was not that type of receiver. Sure, he made great catches, but he also had many passes knocked away that Cooper would have brought down. Whoever you pick at #3 is so far removed from the talent shown by Cooper and Jones that I tend to believe that this player is probably a young receiver who has simply not had a chance yet. Not knocking the contributions of guys like Gibson (really clutch receiver), Maze, Hanks or Hall - but they are not in the same area code.

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Agreed on all points. Julio is a better athlete but Amari is one of the most naturally gifted receivers I've ever seen at that age.

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Top 3 WR? This is easy.

1) Julio Jones
2) Amari Cooper
3) Julio Jones

rgw said:

Cooper, Jones, and Hall are the only three players in Alabama history to have 1000 receiving yards.

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David Palmer.

Cooper and Julio. Number three is too far back to count.

WMack4Bama said:

Only thing I disagree with is Prothro being a pure receiver. He was not. And that's a compliment. He would have been All-SEC at any position he played full-time. He could have and did line up at QB (out of necessity and before this wildcat madness). If I recall, there was no motion. He lined up under center and everyone knew he was running. Positive yardage nonetheless. Not to get off topic but that greatest compliment that I, personally, can give anyone that plays this lovely game of ours is, "He's a FOOTBALL player." With emphasis on football for you literal Larries, meaning, as I stated, that he would have been an all-time great at any position. And Prothro was a football player's player

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Sorry - I should have been more clear. I was simply talking about Prothro's hands. They were amazing - he could catch anything that he touched, even when he went up in the air with much bigger defenders. That was my comparison to Cooper.

RTR91 said:

1. Julio - He's the standard for Saban WRs.
2. Coop - Bigger Freshman year that Julio. Stepped up because of injuries and made key plays.
3. Maze/Hanks/Gibson - All 3 made plays. None made the plays to be an elite WR, though.

DJ can't really be considered as a WR in the Saban era. He played for 1 Saban team.

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Brandon Gibson? The only play I remember him making was running the wrong route in the LSU game. I like the rest of the list though, probably would just Maze there instead of Hanks.

C Earl said:

David Palmer.

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You're right. He was the first to do it.

For now Julio is number one...
I'l put DJ at number two, because he still holds records not even Julio matched...
Coop is three, and by the end of this year could arguably take over as 1..

I never really answered the order:

1. Julio Jones: physical freak, played at a time when he was really the whole passing offense (especially in 2008).

2. Amari Cooper: He plays in a deeper WR corp and better QB than Julio Jones but the pure numbers as a true frosh are impressive. Something would have to go terribly bad to keep him from smashing the career yardage and receiving TD records in three seasons.

3. DJ Hall: Love or hate him on how he went out, he was THE playmaker in the last two Shula seasons and really the only star on offense in Saban's first season.

Maze is close to the list but, frankly, he thrived mostly as a counter to the interest Julio drew from the defense. I think Hanks and Maze were really a limiting factor in our 2011 offense because they struggled beating off press coverage. McElwain kinda had to scheme the whole offense around working these guys into situations they could win.

I have no problem with the inclusion of D.J. Hall here above Maze, Hanks, and others. Off-field and work issues aside, he was a dynamic player, and he could take over a game in ways that guys like Maze and Hanks could not, and as an aside he never played with half of the talent that a lot of his successors did either.

If the 3rd receiver is a slot guy, yes, Maze

Yeah, got to go with Jones, Cooper and Hall.

And sad thing about Jones - we never scratched the surface of how good he will be in the NFL. Can you imagine him with AJ at QB?