Alabama Football: Teeming with Talent, Tide's WR Depth Is Unknown Commodity

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Buried at the end of a nightmare-ish weekend for the Alabama football program was a footnote compared to the more serious allegations but still another downer nonetheless.

Wide receiver Cam Sims suffered an ACL injury in practice on Saturday and will need surgery, Nick Saban confirmed on Monday.

“It'll be a lot of hard work for him to get back at all for next season, but we're hopeful,” Saban said. “And we know what kind of person he is, and he'll work hard to do it.”

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It’s still unclear when he could or will be back given the uncertain and volatile nature of knee injuries. But it puts some strain on a receiving corps that was going to rely on him in some capacity.

The Crimson Tide are already fielding an unproven receiving group with the loss of their top three wideouts to graduation or the NFL draft. Sims’ injury only further clouds the waters of who Alabama’s top targets will be and what to expect from them next season.

Sims saw the field in all but two games last season for Alabama as a true freshman (coincidentally, those two games were also the Crimson Tide’s only losses: Ole Miss and Ohio State).

On the stat sheet, he notched just seven catches for 62 yards and a touchdown, but his value extended well beyond those numbers.

Listed at 6’4”, 208 pounds, Sims’ size made him an ideal situational player in rundowns as a blocker, as TideSports.com’s D.C. Reeves pointed out during the season:

Still, he was expected to take on a bigger role as a wide receiver, especially in short-yardage and red-zone situations given his size, like on his lone touchdown of the season.

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As it stands right now, ArDarius Stewart, Chris Black and Robert Foster all appear to be Alabama’s top three options right now at wide receiver. Those three are the top wide receivers returning not named Cam Sims and have been at the front of wide receiver drills during spring practices so far.

This isn't exactly a group of scrubs, though. All three were either 4- or 5-star talents out of high school.

But among them, they combined for just 33 catches, 381 yards and no touchdowns last season. It shows the uphill battle the group faces and how much it has to prove next season.

Behind them, Derek Kief took a redshirt as a freshman, and Raheem Falkins will be a junior but has yet to record a catch despite appearing in a handful of games during that time.

Alabama will also get some more relief when 5-star signee Calvin Ridley gets to campus following spring practice. He was rated the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2015 class by 247Sports' composite ratings and could be called upon to step up sooner rather than later.

Sims could also end up being back and healthy by the time Alabama plays Wisconsin, making the conversation about lost depth irrelevant.

Running back Kenyan Drake compared the injury to a guy who made a surprisingly quick recovery from an ACL last season.

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“I was definitely bummed out for him, but football is a game of collisions, so those kinds of things happen,” Drake said of Sims. “He was definitely in high spirits and looking forward to the season. He has an injury similar to Eddie Jackson, who was back playing in the season. So he’s looking forward to it.”

Jackson went down during a non-contact situation in last year’s spring practice and suffered an ACL tear. He had surgery right away, missed the season opener against West Virginia but started the next week against Florida Atlantic and didn’t look like he had lost a step.

It’s just yet another unknown for the wide receivers entering the season.

Drake, too, understands the mental and physical challenges of recovering from a major injury, after breaking his leg on the field against Ole Miss, and offered some advice to Sims during his recovery.

“He has to be patient and understand the injury will heal itself, but he’s got to put in the work to get back.”

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes and reporting were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Note: Players are referenced by fall 2015 eligibility. Star rankings via 247Sports.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.