Star Alabama Transfer Making Veiled Statements About Another Possible Transfer

Eli Ricks may be regretting his Alabama transfer

Getty LSU transfer Eli Ricks is making veiled statements about possibly transferring once more out of Alabama (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

It doesn’t appear as though third-year cornerback Eli Ricks is pleased with the lack of playing time he has received thus far in his first half-season with the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2022. Ricks, the No. 14 overall prospect in the country out of IMG, was a part of Ed Orgeron’s final two seasons with LSU. Both campaigns ended on the Bayou with losing records.

While Ricks arrived in Baton Rouge a season after the team won the College Football Playoff National Championship and only saw the Tigers struggle, the 6-foot-2 corner comes to Alabama during a season in which the Tide entered the season as the No. 1 team in the country. Though Alabama remains undefeated through 6 games, they fell to No. 3 in the polls after barely escaping Texas A&M at home as a 3-touchdown favorite on October 8.

Ricks was not instrumental in a Week 6 win over the Aggies nor has he been during any game this season. Despite coming into the 2022 season as a preseason-All-American, Ricks only saw game action during a 55-0 nothing season-opening romp of Utah State. That has led him to make some veiled statements about a potential transfer on his social media via 247Sports’ Charlie Potter:

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Nick Saban Praised Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold

Eli Ricks was injured to start the season and was promptly usurped by freshman Terrion Arnold, who has teamed with sophomore Kool-Aid McKinstry to help lead the SEC’s stringiest secondary alongside the rest of Alabama’s pass covers at just 166.3 passing yards per game.

While Haynes King went for over 250 yards against Alabama on October 8, KJ Jefferson being held to 155 yards arguably took the Arkansas on October 1 eliminated a Heisman contender to defending winner Bryce Young’s repeat hopes, as well as Jahmyr Gibbs and Will Anderson’s dark horse candidacies. All other quarterbacks were, for the most part, thoroughly dominated by Alabama’s pass coverage.

Nick Saban praised McKinstry and Arnold during an October 10 press conference for their ability to cut off big plays with their tackling. “I think both guys have played well,” Saban said, “Haven’t given up a lot of big plays. I think that’s the key to the drill: keeping people cut off in the deep part of the field, playing the ball in the deep part of the field. They’ve been good tacklers, they’ve played the ball in the deep part of the field and they play man-to-man fairly well. So those are probably the most critical factors for them to be successful and the other guys are doing fine, too, but these guys have been the most consistent.”


What Nick Saban Said During A-Day 2022 About Eli Ricks

Back in April, Nick Saban made it somewhat clear during the 2022 A-Day Spring Game post game presser that Eli Ricks would need time to get acclimated to Alabama’s system after being accustomed to how things were under Ed Orgeron at LSU.

“The biggest thing for Eli is learning the system,” Nick Saban said. “He’s like a guy that just got here. So for him to be able to learn the system, and sometimes it’s even more difficult for guys that have played in a system, alright, because they knew a system and now they have to sort of intercalate some of the things they we doing with some of the things we are doing. They might have been told something different, so you have to work through that learning curve with them.”

Saban did say that he sees Ricks as a player willing to put in the work to become familiar with Peter Golding’s defensive schemes. “He’s a very consciousness guy and works hard at it, he takes coaching well and wants to please.”

Let’s hope that Ricks still wants to improve and isn’t giving up on Alabama just yet.