'He's earned it': Freshman Jaheim Oatis shines in first season with Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Jaheim Oatis couldn't stay indoors.

When the weather cooperated long enough for the Columbia, Mississippi native to escape the confines of his home, Oatis bolted out the front door but slowed down just long enough to tell his aunt, Porsche Owokunle, where he was off to.

Once that last word escaped his lips, Oatis galavanted off and wouldn't be seen or heard from for hours.

"My husband, Lawal, would say 'Where's Jaheim?'" Owokunle said. "Then he'd have to get on his bike and go find him to tell him to come eat. He'd say 'No I want to keep having fun.' He'd be playing football in the streets with some of his friends, or he'd be at the park playing basketball, or he'd be somewhere hitting a baseball.

"... When he left, he'd come back sometimes when he was hungry or needed a drink of water. Then he'd say 'I'm gone' but he always knew that he had to be back when the street lights came on."

Life was simple for Oatis. As long as he was outside doing something, whether it was playing sports or mowing the lawn, he was happy.

With all of that time spent outdoors, you may assume Oatis was working on his three-point stance or his block shedding, but you'd be wrong. Despite coming from the same city as NFL legends Walter Payton and Jim Dunaway, football was an afterthought behind baseball and basketball.

Throughout his adolescence and into middle school, Oatis' focus was on the baseball diamond, but no one could deny how naturally gifted he was at football by the time he got to high school.

After receiving an offer from Alabama as an eighth-grader, Oatis dazzled at Columbia High School as a freshman prompting Wildcats head coach Chip Bilderback to call him "one of the greatest athletes I've ever coached." Even as an underclassman, Bilderback could compare Oatis to some of the most talented players he's ever seen strap-on shoulder pads, even some guys that are playing on Sunday.

"There was a guy by the name of Javon Kinlaw who I coached at Jones Community College. He went on to play at South Carolina and was drafted No. 14 by the San Francisco 49ers. Jaheim was every bit as good as (Kinlaw) when we got him in high school. He was just a more natural pass-rusher."

Despite not focusing most of his time on football before he got to high school, Oatis' size and stature were a force to be reckoned with even in high school.

During practice, Bilderback said he'd have to tell Oatis to "take it easy" because no one could block him. Even when he weighed more than 400 pounds, Oatis' hand speed and ability to shed blocks led him to become one of the top players in Mississippi. Prior to the start of fall camp, Oatis shared he lost 74 pounds which grabbed the attention of his coaches and teammates.

While the weight loss is impressive, Bilderbeck said the transformation overshadows just how athletic Oatis is.

"That's what gets lost in all of this," Bilderback said. "He was whatever he weighed and he still could do a backflip and he could still dunk a basketball. People can't fathom that because they don't see it."

"... I think he's learned to be more just more physically dominant snap-to-snap. I think that's because obviously he's lost the weight and his stamina is better. He can last longer and go harder. It's a credit to the staff at Alabama, but it's also crediting him in the end and doing all those little things that you have to do."

His freakish ability has already paid dividends while at Alabama as he became one of five true freshmen to start along the defensive line in the Nick Saban era. While rotating in with DJ Dale, the last true-freshman defensive lineman to start at Alabama, Oatis has tallied 15 total tackles including the first sack of his collegiate career against Arkansas.

Oatis isn't just playing when the games are in hand, a time when most underclassmen get their first action of the game. The true freshman has played 172 snaps through seven games, the third-highest among all defensive linemen.

"The thing that has really impressed me the most is his growth and him being as far along as he is," Byron Young said. "I tell him all the time, he's 10 times better than I was when I first got here. I wouldn't say I was awful, but I wasn't where he is. He's impressed me with his maturity and his work ethic."

Saturday, Oatis will face a team from the Magnolia State as the Bulldogs travel to Tuscaloosa to face the Crimson Tide. Mississippi State was one of 10 schools to offer the 6-foot-5 lineman and while that may distract others Saban said it doesn't shake Oatis' focus.

"No moment’s been too big for him, and as a freshman, you’d never know he’s a freshman," Saban said. "I don’t think the other players on the defense look at him as a freshman because of his maturity and the way he goes about his business. He’s done a really good job for us this year."

Even with his transformation, Oatis is still the same boy from Columbia that cannot stand to be inside and wants to go out and play.

"He earned his starting position," Owokunle said. "Nobody gave it to him. A lot of people said that (the team) gave it to him because they like him. I say that he worked for it because Jaheim had to drop more than 100 pounds. He really worked for it."