There is being a freak of nature, and then there is Caleb Odom. The 6-foot-5-inch freshman wide receiver has caught everybody’s attention this spring at the Capstone — just ask Alabama’s new offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan.
“Talented player, no doubt about it,” Sheridan said. “He is getting better each and every day. When you have a young skill player, the stamina, the endurance, the volume of running in practice, the effort. And the thing that I would say about Caleb is that he is a sponge. He soaks it all in.”
What’s even more impressive about Odom is that Alabama’s new coaching staff didn’t even recruit him, yet he’s quickly established himself as one of the most promising young players on the field this spring.
According to On3’s industry ranking, the Carrollton, Georgia, native stood out at Carrollton High School. Teaming up with fellow blue-chip recruit quarterback Julian Lewis, the four-star recruit totaled an impressive 1,869 receiving yards and 25 receiving touchdowns in his junior and senior seasons for the Trojans, setting the stage for his promising future.
Odom was named a junior All-American by MaxPreps in 2022. The Carrollton native was also a multisport athlete in high school, playing on the Amateur Athletic Union circuit and landing a basketball offer from LSU.
Odom committed to the Crimson Tide in July of 2023 over schools such as Auburn, Florida and the University of Miami.
Alabama wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard said that Odom’s experience in high school has readied him for Tuscaloosa.
“His coaches at his high school did a great job preparing him for college and the expectations placed on him at a place like Alabama,” Shephard said. “He’s been in the fire at Carrollton High School, and this right here is an environment that’s not going to shake him.”
The environment hasn’t shaken Odom thus far.
He arrived in Tuscaloosa before the Rose Bowl Game as an early enrollee, and Saban and the previous staff were still on campus. He began his Crimson Tide career as listed as a tight end, as he was the No. 2 tight end in the 2024 class, but with the arrival of DeBoer, Sheridan, and Shephard, the group promptly moved him to wide receiver.
Odom’s player profile can be considered similar to that of former Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze.
Odunze, who was selected as an AP All-American and is projected to be selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, stands at 6 feet, 3 inches and weighs 212 pounds. The All-American has been described as a player with “good size and elite ball skills,” an almost identical profile to Odom’s.
Odom’s spring has been impressive thus far; the wide receiver caught a 30-yard touchdown pass in Alabama’s second spring scrimmage, which DeBoer described as one of the “more impressive plays of the day.”
Odom’s play this spring has been recognized by the coaching staff and his teammates. Kobe Prentice said that having Odom on the team has added another formidable receiving threat to the Crimson Tide roster.
“It’s really great, kind of like a cheat code,” Alabama receiver Kobe Prentice said of Odom. “[He’s] 6-5, moving like us, getting in and out of his breaks kind of like us. It’s kind of like on Madden when you throw it up to D.K. Metcalf on the goal line. You know you’ve got a bigger guy, he’s going to come down with it.”
As the Alabama receiving group lost both of their top two wide receivers in the offseason, with Isaiah Bond transferring to Texas and Jermaine Burton leaving school for the NFL, Odom undoubtedly has the opportunity to play an important role in the receiving room this coming fall.
