Slade Bolden has filled multiple roles for Alabama this season.

On Saturday at South Carolina, the redshirt freshman was one of the first wide receivers off the bench and caught a pass for 14 yards in the fourth quarter. Covering kickoffs and punts, Bolden made a key tackle on the Gamecocks’ fake punt try in the second quarter. And he lined up in the Wildcat formation in the third quarter and carried the ball to pick up a first down on 3rd and 2.

That was just his Week 3 workload, however, which doesn’t include his pivotal role at practice.

“He’s a core special teams guy and has really developed nicely for us,” head coach Nick Saban said. “He’s done a really good job in that regard.

“He also was a high school quarterback, who we just thought maybe there’s something that we could utilize him in in short yardage, and he does a good job of that. Every time we play a running quarterback, he’s the scout-team quarterback for us on all these kind of things, so just something we thought we could take advantage of. He’s done a nice job at receiver, as well.

“We’re pleased with his development.”

Bolden has seen a lot more of the field in his second year in the Crimson Tide program. He saw action in the 2018 season opener against Louisville as a reserve but remained on the sideline for the remaining 14 games. This fall, he has appeared in every contest in the first three weeks.

His increased involvement was noticeable during the spring when Bolden caught a lateral pass and tossed it to tight end Cameron Latu, who turned it into a 31-yard gain in the A-Day Game.

The 5-foot-11 wideout that teammates call Julian Edelman every day has made great strides.

“He’s come a long way,” junior wide receiver Henry Ruggs III said. “I mean, he’s been a team player. He does a lot of things on the scout field for the defense. But when he comes to our field, he practices hard, he works at full speed, tries to get better.”

Junior wide receiver DeVonta Smith added, “Slade’s smooth. Slade is kind of like -- he’s not the fastest, but Slade is precise with everything he’s doing, and he’s got great hands. Slade is just a smooth person, just goes out there and does all the right things. He’s going to run his route at the right depth and do it how he’s supposed to do it.”

Following Alabama’s 47-23 win over South Carolina, Bolden was named a Player of the Week on special teams by UA’s coaching staff for his heads-up tackle on the fake punt. But it was one offensive snap at the 5:24 mark of the third quarter that stood out from a game-plan standpoint.

Bolden lined up behind center with fellow wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to his left in the backfield. Starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was split out wide. On 3rd and 2, Bolden received the direct snap, faked the hand-off to Waddle and ran forward for a 2-yard gain and a first down.

“We were excited for that,” Ruggs said. “We’re always excited for anybody in that group to get in and have a chance to make a play. Even after he got out of the Wildcat, he came in and caught a pass. We said he should have scored, but he said he slipped. But that’s exciting just because one of our brothers is going out there and making a play when we’re not out there.”

It was the first time we had seen that Wildcat look from the Crimson Tide this season. Running back Josh Jacobs filled a similar role last year and was extremely effective, although the current Oakland Raider always kept the ball. So, what went into the decision to use Bolden on Saturday?

“I think you want to feature the players that you have, so if you have players that are capable of doing something, we’ll ask him to do it, which Slade can in this case,” Saban said.

“We usually decide how we want to do short-yardage from week to week, even though you have some basic things that you always do. If there’s some specialty thing that can create an advantage, you obviously want to try to do that in game-planning. And I do think that when you have diversity and players that can do multiple things, whether you’re playing offense, defense or special teams it always enhances your chances of scheming things that can help you be successful.”

It was a new wrinkle that the offense showed in Columbia, S.C., but it wasn’t new for Bolden.

Bolden was a quarterback in the eighth grade, and the first time Jerry Arledge, head coach at West Monroe (La.) High School, remembers seeing him was during a summer 7-on-7 session. Much like this year at Alabama, Bolden lined up all over the field, including as a slot receiver.

“We flipped him the ball out there, and he goes into the end zone from about 30 yards out untouched,” Arledge said. “I said, ‘My gosh, who is that kid?’ ‘Well, he’s a ninth-grader that’s coming up.’ And normally, those guys don’t even get involved with us until their sophomore year, but he wanted to get out there as an incoming freshman and work with the varsity that summer.

“And I think before that year was over, he ended up being the starting quarterback for us as a freshman, and we made it all the way to the semifinals in Louisiana 5A football.

“The next year, he kind of split time with a kid who could throw the ball pretty well, and we ended up playing quarterback, Wildcat, slotback. There were times we played him at cornerback a little bit. I think, maybe, his senior year, we may have put him in in 2-3 critical situations. He probably played less than a half a dozen plays and had a couple of interceptions. He’s just a very gifted athlete. He was for us, and evidently, he’s doing the same thing at Alabama.”

His junior year, a coach from the University of Washington traveled to Louisiana to see Bolden. After he watched film of him and saw him in person, he called head coach Chris Petersen and told him, “I’ve found the next Christian McCaffrey,” Arledge recalled during a phone interview.

“He saw a lot of similarities in their running style,” Arledge said.

Bolden wore many hats as the nation’s No. 14 all-purpose back in the 2018 recruiting cycle, per the 247Sports Composite. He was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Louisiana and was also rated as one of the top baseball players in the Bayou State. As a senior at West Monroe, he passed for 1,622 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 1,460 yards and 20 more scores.

While he split reps with a quarterback who was a better passer, Bolden excelled in the option.

“Sometimes Slade would throw, sometimes he’d catch it,” Arledge said. “And we also ran the option some out of the I, and he’s a great option quarterback. That’s probably the most impressive thing is to watch him run the option.”

A native of Amite, La., Smith agreed when asked about Bolden as a scout-team quarterback.

“Knowing Slade and the school that he went to, Slade was doing that since high school,” Smith said. “Slade played every position there was. So, it’s great to have somebody that can contribute to our team and help our defense at the same time during practice, and then come Saturday and contribute to the team.”

So, whether it’s giving Alabama’s defense a look, sprinting down the field on kickoff coverage or taking a direct snap as out of the Wildcat, Bolden is happy to do anything that is asked of him.

“He will certainly do anything that they want him to do to get on the field,” Arledge said. “You want to participate, you want to be a contributor for the football team in whatever capacity you can. And when you have enough of those unselfish guys, usually you’re going to be a pretty good team.”

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).