Jumbo Package: Might Jaylen Waddle make it back for the playoff after all?

Happy Monday, everyone. We should not, under any circumstances, get our hopes up, but there appears to be a slim chance yet that Jaylen Waddle hasn’t played his last play in Crimson.

Waddle, who suffered a fractured ankle against Tennessee Oct. 24 that was announced as a season-ending injury, is set to have his cast removed this week, sources told AL.com. There continues to be a lot of optimism regarding his recovery that, while still unlikely, there’s at least a small chance he could be back for the College Football Playoff should the Crimson Tide make it there, according to sources. The CFP semifinals are currently scheduled for Jan. 1 with the national championship set for Jan. 11 in Miami.

If Waddle does indeed get the cast off this week, that leaves six weeks before a semifinal game for rehab work, should Alabama get there. I don’t think anyone needs to sell you on how big that would be for the team. Hope for the best.

In the meantime, Alabama is heavily favored on Saturday.

Kentucky’s biggest loss this season was 16 points to Auburn in the season opener. Alabama is getting a ton of respect here, especially on the offensive side.

As Cecil notes, things feel precarious anyway after so many cancellations.

Things are in day-to-day mode. The best hope for the SEC and for Alabama football, which was in good enough shape to play but lacked an opponent last Saturday because of LSU’s problems, is that the coming weekend will be better.

Perhaps the weekend surge of cancellations was caused by Halloween parties and several off weeks that allowed players to go home. If so, perhaps a week of more stringent monitoring and the semi-bubble that most teams have built will help.

And again, we hope for the best.

Coach Boom got canned in Columbia.

South Carolina became the first SEC school to make a coaching change when the school fired fifth-year coach Will Muschamp on Sunday.

There were questions about whether South Carolina was willing to pay a $13.4 million buyout to fire Muschamp, but after a 59-42 loss to Ole Miss to drop the Gamecocks to 2-5 this season, the school made its move.

South Carolina fans are clamoring for Hugh Freeze to get the chance to coach the Cocks, which I support just for the potential memes. You will hear Steve Sarkisian’s name here too, so be prepared.

Damien Harris ran all over Baltimore last night.

Two Alabama runners in the top four, eh? Good stuff

Tua Tagovailoa is now 3-0 as a starting QB.

It wasn’t a massive day for him, with 64% completions, 169 yards and two scores, but it was a win and he made some great plays.

Last, the latest installment of “the rich get richer.”

This has been my argument in favor of NIL. How much worse can the talent gap get? Not much, it seems.

That’s about it for today. Have a great week.

Roll Tide.