Tag: Qua Russaw

Jalen Milroe among this week’s Alabama football Student-Athletes of the Week

Jalen Milroe headlines this week’s Student-Athletes of the Week!

The Alabama football team kicked off the fourth quarter program this week and is now just a handful of days away from the start of spring practice.

As the players begin to prepare for spring football, their classroom duties remain the same and the football program has officially announced this week’s Student-Athletes of the Week.

Headlining this week’s recipients is Crimson Tide redshirt junior quarterback Jalen Milroe. Joining Milroe is a pair of second-year players. Offensive lineman Olaus Alinen and linebacker Qua Russaw.

Milroe is the current clubhouse leader to be the Tide’s signal caller in 2024 while Alinen and Russaw will most likely be providing solid depth for Alabama in Kalen DeBoer’s first season as Alabama’s head coach.

Congratulations to these three young men for their accomplishments both on the field and in the classroom!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on X (Twitter) @Blackwood89.

Alabama releases this week’s Student-Athletes of the Week

Take a look at this week’s Student-Athletes of the Week!

The Alabama football team has nearly wrapped up its bye week and will soon shift its entire focus to their Week 10 opponent, the LSU Tigers.

Even with the bye week going on, the Crimson Tide continued their weekly tradition of releasing their Student-Athletes of the Week, and on Thursday, this week’s recipients were announced.

Taking home the honor this week are a trio of first-year Alabama players, freshman defensive back Caleb Downs, freshman linebacker Qua Russaw, and redshirt sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner.

Downs is a star for the Alabama defense and actually leads the team in tackles after eight games. Russaw is a five-star linebacker prospect who has not seen any action this season and will likely redshirt. Buchner transferred from Notre Dame and started the South Florida game, but has not appeared in a game since.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on X (Twitter) @Blackwood89.

10 underclassmen that Alabama fans should know heading into fall practice

There are a handful of underclassmen that Alabama fans be unaware of. Roll Tide Wire breaks down 10 underclassmen that Alabama fans should know before fall practice begins next week.

The Alabama football team will begin fall practice on Aug. 3. After an 11-2 finish to the 2023 season, the Crimson Tide are looking to improve that record in 2024.

Alabama signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country in 2023. In 2022, the Crimson Tide finished with the No. 2 recruiting class in the country. Needless to say, Alabama has a number of talented underclassmen that can contribute in 2023.

Several true freshmen and sophomores are poised to have breakout seasons for the Crimson Tide. Roll Tide Wire breaks down 10 underclassmen that Alabama fans should be aware of as fall practice begins.

Alabama football countdown to kickoff: 49 days

We are just 49 days away from the start of Alabama’s 2023 football season!

The Alabama Crimson Tide will take the field for the 2023 college football season in 49 days, as Middle Tennessee State visits Bryant Denny Stadium on Sept. 2.

Here at Roll Tide Wire, we will be counting down the days until Nick Saban and his team take the field.

Today, with 49 days remaining, we will take a look at former standout defensive back, [autotag]Rashad Johnson[/autotag].

Johnson played for the Crimson Tide from  2005-08 before being selected in the third round of the 2009 NFL draft.

Johnson finished his Alabama career with 216 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, two sacks, and 11 interceptions.

Freshman linebacker Qua Russaw currently wears No. 49 for the Crimson Tide!

Rashad Johnson’s Photo Gallery

Post-spring depth chart projections for Alabama’s outside linebackers

Projecting Alabama’s outside linebacker depth chart post-spring!

Now that spring football has officially wrapped up and the 2023 NFL draft is complete, it is time to shift our focus to the offseason.

Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have a ton of questions marks exiting spring and fans are chomping at the bit for answers.

So as we dive into the dog days of summer, I thought we could take a look, position by position, and project the possible depth chart for the 2023 Alabama football team post-spring.

We have already taken a look at the quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, offensive line, and defensive line. Today we will keep it along the defensive front and look at the outside linebacker!

Friday Night Notes: Early signing period winners, 2023 rankings reset and more

In this edition of Friday Night Notes we examine the biggest winners from the early signing period and reset the 2023 recruiting rankings.

USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.

It’s not hard to figure out the biggest winner of the 2022 early signing period. Alabama went into this week already having the best recruiting class of the 2023 cycle, and it only got better over the last few days. Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide added five-star prospects at four crucial positions for the modern game, securing their place at the top of this recruiting cycle.

Here’s who came on board.

Alabama

Five-stars DL James Smith & EDGE Qua Russaw – Carver (Ala.)

These two five-star teammates from Carver (Ala.) were a package deal, having sold themselves as being joined at the hip when it comes to recruiting.

After getting courted by Auburn, Florida and Georgia and Texas A&M, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday afternoon they announced that they’ve signed their letters of intent with Alabama.

Smith is ranked second among defensive linemen in this class and No. 18 overall, while Russaw is ranked third at edge and No. 22 in the nation.

5 star OT Kadyn Proctor – Southeast Polk (Iowa)

The Tide also pulled off a huge flip, stealing five-star offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor from Iowa. Proctor (6-foot-7, 330 pounds) is the No. 2 OT in this class and No. 12 overall. Asked why he chose Alabama, Proctor says it wasn’t about NIL money, but about challenging himself, per Hawk Central.

“I thought I was settling at Iowa and when I went down there (Alabama), I saw all the guys that are as big as me and have the same mindset as me and worked like me… That’s just what I wanted to do. I don’t want to come into this school and everybody thinks I’m one of the best players there already. I want to grow. That’s not how I grow. I’ve got to get hit in the mouth before I can grow..”

5-star CB Desmond Ricks – IMG Academy (Fla.)

Saban wasn’t done yet, though. He also managed to sign the No. 2 cornerback in the 2023 class in Ricks (6-foot-1, 170 pounds). A rare athlete, Ricks has a 4.5 second 40-yard dash time and a 39″ vertical. Ricks had offers from 35 other schools, including SEC rivals Florida, LSU and Auburn.

Alabama’s 2023 recruiting class tops out at 17 points higher than the next-closest school…

Montgomery’s Qua Russaw, James Smith officially sign with Alabama

Auburn made a strong push for these high school teammates all season but ultimately lost the battle to Alabama.

Auburn Football and Hugh Freeze have had a busy, yet successful beginning to the Early Signing Period, as the staff has managed to flip two four-stars in Keldric Faulk from Florida State, and Kayin Lee from Ohio State.

Those two flips are two of seven that have happened over the last week. But, as Mick Jagger once sang… “you can’t always get what you want.”

Auburn was in the running to land two highly-rated defensive linemen from Carver High School in Montgomery, [autotag]James Smith[/autotag] and [autotag]Qua Russaw[/autotag]. Despite several visits to campus, the push from Freeze and staff was not strong enough to keep them away from Tuscaloosa, as they have officially signed with Alabama.

Smith and Russaw, who are the state’s No. 1 and No. 2 overall prospects from the 2023 class respectively, are two of six five stars that Nick Saban and company have been able to sign this cycle. The Crimson Tide currently holds the best class according to 247Sports.

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2023 5-star LB Qua Russaw officially signs with Alabama

2023 five-star linebacker Qua Russaw officially signed with Alabama on Wednesday. He chose the Tide over Auburn, Georgia, and Florida.

On Wednesday, 2023 five-star linebacker Qua Russaw made things official when he signed his national letter of intent to sign with Alabama. He will join the Tide alongside high school teammate James Smith.

The Alabama native chose the Tide over other programs such as Auburn, Florida, Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama State.

Russaw is listed at 6 feet, 2 inches and 230 pounds, according to 247Sports. His size is relative to the size of prototypical outside linebackers in college football. He could play either inside or outside linebacker in Alabama’s defensive scheme. It will likely depend on what he prefers to play. 247Sports’ Cooper Petagna projects Russaw as a future ‘Day 2’ pick in the NFL draft.

He is the fourth Alabama linebacker commit of the ’23 class. He joins Yhonzae Pierre, Keon Keeley and Justin Jefferson.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to cover the early signing period and which prospects will be joining the Crimson Tide.

Early Signing Period: Tracking Wednesday’s major recruiting moves

See where the top 2023 recruits land as the early signing period kicks off

The early signing period runs from Wednesday to Friday, and several college football teams have jumped out ahead and gotten some huge recruiting wins already. Oregon got themselves a five-star recruit, while Alabama got two.

Here’s our tracker of the most-important signings/commitments of the day.

More recruiting stories

Every ’23 Colorado commit under Coach Prime

The top 20 undecided recruits in the 2023 class

Early Signing Period: 5 names Alabama fans should know

5 names that Alabama fans should be watching when early signing day arrives on Wednesday.

Bowl season is underway but maybe the biggest headline across the sport of college football this week is the early signing period has nearly arrived. On Wednesday some of the nation’s top talent will begin signing their national letters of intent with their school of choice.

Currently, [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Crimson Tide have the top-ranked class in the country, according to most recruiting services, and should have a strong Wednesday.

Alabama has 25 commitments heading into the week with several high-level prospects still on the board and within reach for the Crimson Tide.

Here are the top five names that Alabama fans should be watching come Wednesday: