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Crimson Power Rankings: Week 5

How about Calvin Ridley, though?

Kentucky v Alabama Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Another week has gone by, and for yet another week, I want to extend the power rankings to include more than 16. Though I’m not usually one for participation trophies, just participating in an Alabama football game is enough for each of these players to be some of the best in the entire nation.

Due to his injury, I won’t be including ArDarius Stewart this week. He’s easily a top-16, possibly top-10 player on this team, and once he gets back onto the field, he’ll regain his spot with little doubt.

The Crimson Power Rankings

  1. DE- Jonathan Allen (1)
  2. WR- Calvin Ridley (4)
  3. WLB- Reuben Foster (2)
  4. JACK- Tim Williams (3)
  5. S- Eddie Jackson (6)
  6. P- J.K. Scott (5)
  7. LT- Cam Robinson (9)
  8. CB/STAR- Minkah Fitzpatrick (8)
  9. CB- Marlon Humphrey (7)
  10. SLB- Ryan Anderson (10)
  11. DE- Dalvin Tomlinson (13)
  12. QB- Jalen Hurts (NR)
  13. MLB- Shaun Hamilton (15)
  14. DT- Da’Ron Payne (11)
  15. RB- Josh Jacobs (NR)
  16. CB- Anthony Averett (NR)

The Core Four

The top four players on this team haven’t changed in weeks. Jonathan Allen has held on to the number one spot all year, and shows no signs of relenting it. Reuben Foster and Tim Williams also had a huge impact this week, but Calvin Ridley had such a huge game (it was a career night for him) that he vaulted up to the number 2 spot. Ridley is a superstar, and we still have him on this team for one and a half more seasons.

New faces

I’ve caught some flak from you guys for not putting the quarterback in the rankings, but I’ve been hesitant to crown Jalen Hurts thus far. He’s getting closer and closer every week to putting everything together. He made some throws yesterday that no Tide QB since A.J. McCarron could have made, despite his occasional misfires deep. Though he still locked on to his first receiver more often than not, I saw a new dedication to working through his progressions and even saw him look off the safety once. Because of that, Hurts has vaulted up to 12th in the rankings.

Josh Jacobs has been absolutely sensational, showing a speed and elusiveness not seen in any Alabama running backs in the Saban era, save Kenyan Drake— who was injured for most of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he supplants Damien Harris as the full time starter even after Harris returns to full strength.

How about Anthony Averett? After being the Tide’s weak link of defense the first two weeks of the season, we’ve barely seen him since. Ole Miss targeted him once or twice for no results, and I don’t think he was targeted a single time in the last two games.

The curious case of O.J. Howard

After a great game last week, Howard all but dropped off again this week. He whiffed a couple of blocks and though he was targeted more often than usual, he had almost no production... including a drop (which would have been a tough catch, granted) on third down.

Honorable mentions

Ross Pieschbacher and Jonah Williams have both played pretty well for the most part, and probably should be in the top-16, but I couldn’t pull any of the players already there off for them.

Rashaan Evans is finally healthy, and he really made an impact yesterday. If he continues on that trajectory, he’ll be on the list in no time.

What do you think?

Are you finally happy now that Hurts made it? Should Josh Jacobs be even higher based on only two games of play time? Am I underrating the offensive linemen?