What's been said about Alabama's newcomers so far in fall camp

Fall camp offers a first look at several new faces. Naturally, there has already been a good amount of interest surrounding Alabama’s incoming freshmen as the team heads into its first scrimmage Saturday. Here’s a roundup of what has been said about the Crimson Tide’s newcomers.

Kool-Aid McKinstry has easily been the most talked about freshman so far in camp. The five-star cornerback from Pinson Valley, Ala. was recently presented with the USA Today’s High School Sports Award for Male Athlete of the Year award and has lived up to that hype since enrolling at Alabama in January.

Pete Golding called McKinstry a “very talented kid,” stating that the 6-foot-1, 190-pound pound defender has the length, short-area quickness and top-end speed that Alabama is looking for at the position. However, the thing that stood out the most to the defensive coordinator is the freshman’s willingness to get physical with his older teammates.

“The one thing that I was most impressed about from Kool-Aid in the spring was the ability to come up and put his face on you,” Golding said. “So we get a lot of times those type of kids, especially in that position sometimes are hesitant to come put their face on you. … So I thought in the spring, yeah he's athletic enough. We knew that. He is what we thought he was, but I thought he was more physical.”

Here’s what McKinstry’s teammates had to say about what they’ve seen from him so far this fall.

Wide receiver John Metchie III

“He’s definitely very physical at the line. I haven’t gone against him too much. I’ve definitely watched him practice and play and it’s exciting to see we have a lot of talented young guys who will get the chance and are capable of stepping up.”

Safety Jordan Battle

“Kool-Aid is a great player. He’s very smart in the field. He’s very disciplined. He wants to learn, and he's a great player. He’s going to be a great player for us in the future, and I only see him getting better.”

Outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr.

“He’s very physical. He has fun. He likes to put his nose in. Any player we have, he flies around trying to do his job. That’s what football is about and that’s what coming to Alabama is about — flying around and hitting people.”

“I think he’s been handling it very well. He’s humble, he comes to practice hungry every day, he’s enthusiastic, he brings a lot of energy, he’s very coachable, he takes coaching, he keeps his head up high, he always goes to the next play, and he just wants to learn and get better.”

McKinstry isn’t the only five-star freshman in the mix for early playing time this fall. Offensive lineman J.C. Latham also appears to be having a productive camp as he is currently working with the second unit at right tackle.

The 6-foot-6, 325-pounder joined Alabama from IMG Academy in January as the top-rated tackle and No. 2 overall player in this year’s class. Earlier this week, starting left tackle Evan Neal said he shared some advice with his fellow IMG alum as Latham tries to break into the starting lineup during his first season.

“Something I’ve been sharing with J.C. is just to not be so hard on himself right now and be patient because things are going to come,” Neal said. “Just focus every day on getting better, focusing and fine-tuning his technique, you know, the minute things in his game that he needs to get better and I tell him to take it one day at a time.”

Despite joining Alabama as the No. 1 running back in this year’s class, Camar Wheaton currently finds himself at the backend of the Tide’s loaded unit. While the 5-foot-11, 190-pound playmaker might wait his turn to receive reps on offense, his breakaway speed may be used on kick returns this season.

Regardless of what’s in store for Wheaton in the near future, he’s a name Alabama fans should circle moving forward.

“What I’ve seen from Camar, he’s a very fast guy,” running back Brian Robinson said. “He’s paying a lot attention in the meeting room, he’s catching on to stuff fast. My advice to Camar would be just focus on just learning the playbook so that he can play as fast as he can and just continue to work and trust the process so whenever his opportunity comes he’ll be ready for it.”

Like Wheaton, Ja’Corey Brooks and JoJo Earle might have a better chance of seeing the field on special teams. Earlier this week, Nick Saban mentioned the two freshmen receivers as candidates for punt return duties.

“We’re trying to develop some punt return guys, but JoJo [Earle] has been really good at that and has shown some promise doing it,” said Saban via Zoom following Wednesday’s preseason practice session. “Ja’Corey Brooks has shown some promise doing it, fielding the ball, doing a good job.”

Brooks and Earle both come to the Tide as Rivals100 receivers but are currently behind a slew of more experienced options at their position group. Brooks, the No. 4 receiver in this year’s class, is working with the third unit at outside receiver behind Metchie and Ohio State transfer Jameson Williams. Earle, the No. 5 receiver in this year’s class, is working at slot behind Slade Bolden Thaiu Jones-Bell and Christian Leary.

Alabama brought in two Rivals100 edge rushers in this year’s class, and both have shown promise in the early stages of camp. Dallas Turner, 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, joins the Tide as the nation’s No. 1 outside linebacker and already has the body of an upperclassman. Koht, 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, still needs to add some bulk to his frame but displays plenty of burst during drills.

“They are very great players,” Anderson said. “They are taking coaching. They have been very optimistic. I think they love football a lot, they really do. They are hungry, really learning to play, and staying humble.”