Alabama football did a solid job spreading the ball around in the passing game on Saturday in a 24-10 win over Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide had 10 receivers with at least one catch, with running back Roydell Williams leading the way with three.

The team’s leading receiver was a new name. True freshman Jalen Hale had two catches for 63 yards, including a 33-yarder that was good for Alabama’s first touchdown of the game.

He earned the praise of the Tide’s starting quarterback in the process.

“Jalen Hale has had a great offseason since he’s been here,” Jalen Milroe said Monday. “I think the biggest thing from Jalen is how hungry he’s been. And then just trying to get better. For all of us, just trying to get one percent better — Jalen Hale has done a great job for us. He’s a great component for our offense, and I’m looking forward to see what else he can do for our offense.”

Hale joined the Crimson Tide as a five-star prospect according to the 247Sports composite rankings, which also put him as the No. 6 wide receiver in the class of 2023. He played his high school football at Longview in Texas.

He also played basketball and did track and field in high school. He was a January enrollee at UA after choosing the Tide over Texas and Georgia.

Once he got to campus, he started catching eyes, including those of defensive back Malachi Moore.

“I started seeing Hale in the summer actually,” Moore said Monday. “He’s been coming along very well. I think he’s gonna be a great player for us.”

Hale made the first catch of his career against Middle Tennessee State in the season opener. However, Saturday’s game was the first time he turned heads with two big plays, the touchdown, plus a 30-yard catch in the second quarter.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban had nice things to say about Hale on Monday.

“He did a good job,” Saban said. “Made some big plays.”

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Hale will still need to fight for more opportunities. He’s low on the wideout depth chart, and only played 19 snaps on offense in the Ole Miss game according to Pro Football Focus.

But that’s to be expected for a true freshman at Alabama. Saban offered up a path for Hale to continue to improve going forward in his Crimson Tide career.

“I think the big thing with Jalen being a young player is, you’ve got to know what to do on every play so you can go play fast and do your job,” Saban said. “So we need to work hard with him to try to get him to where he needs to be and make sure that he’s out there playing with confidence and a good understanding of the overall system of what we’re trying to get done on each and every play.”

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