How every Alabama football freshman played in 2017

The big story exiting the national title game was the major contribution from Alabama's true freshmen. This, remember, was considered Nick Saban's best top-to-bottom recruiting classes in his time in Tuscaloosa. Ultimately, 17 saw playing time while nine redshirted.

There were 178 combined appearances, though only three starts. Let's take a look at how the 2017 Alabama signing class fared as true freshmen in the national championship season.

By Michael Casagrande, mcasagrande@al.com

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OLB Christopher Allen: 7 games

Was forced into action Week 2 after injuries sidelined outside linebackers Christian Miller, Terrell Lewis and Anfernee Jennings. He made seven total tackles and recorded a quarterback hurry in his debut against Fresno State. The next week was a five-tackle game over Colorado State. Playing time trailed off in SEC play, though he'll be a name to watch in the future.

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OLB VanDarius Cowan: 7 games

A redshirt candidate until Week 8, Cowan came off the bench against Tennessee in his debut. The Palm Beach Gardens product had a quarterback hurry against LSU in his second game and recorded his two tackles o the season against Mercer in the home finale.

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LS Thomas Fletcher: 14 games

The scholarship long snapper was on the punt team while Scott Meyer handled the field goal snaps. Fletcher was selected team special teams player of the week for the Florida State and LSU games.

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RB Najee Harris: 14 games

The former five-star recruit was Alabama's leading rusher in the national title game. He ran for 64 yards on six second-half carries during Alabama's comeback win over Georgia. The California product finished as the team's fourth leading rusher with 370 yards on 61 attempts with three touchdowns.

Before the title game, Harris had a few highlights against Fresno State (13 carries, 70 yards) and Vanderbilt (10 carries, 70 yards) in a game that featured another of his signature hurdles of a defender. Rushing attempts trailed off at the end of the year before playing a major supporting role in the championship win over Georgia.

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TE Kedrick James: 5 games

James saw practice time at defensive line before settling at tight end after the injury to 2016 starter Miller Forristall. He saw action in five games beginning with the Week 4 trip to Vanderbilt.

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WR Jerry Jeudy: 14 games

The latest star receiver from South Florida will be Alabama's top returning pass catcher next season. He was No. 3 as a rookie with 14 catches and 264 yards with two touchdowns. That trailed just Calvin Ridley's 967 receiving yards. Jeudy's first big game came at Vanderbilt with 68 yards on three receptions that included a 34-yard touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa. He had at least one catch in the next four games.

Then against Auburn, the Deerfield Beach product had one of the few offensive highlights with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts. In the title game, he had a key 20-yard reception on the game-tying fourth quarter drive. With Ridley moving on to the NFL, Jeudy is the receiver to watch in Alabama's offense.

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LT Alex Leatherwood: 7 games

The five-star left tackle had one of the quietly crucial performances of the national title game. Starter Jonah Williams went down with a leg injury on the first series of the second half. In came Leatherwood who hadn't played many meaningful snaps.

The Pensacola product helped stabilize the offense for the comeback. Before that, Leatherwood saw snaps against Fresno State, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Tennessee Arkansas and Mercer (where he graded out at 88 percent). It'll be interesting to see where his role evolves with Williams, and fellow freshman Jedrick Wills developing at tackle with starting right tackle Matt Womack also set to return.

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DB Xavier McKinney: 13 games

A second-team safety, McKinney finished the season with 8 tackles (1.5 for loss) while seeing significant special teams action. He made two stops Week 2 at safety against Colorado State. He'll be a player to watch with Minkah Fitzpatrick and Hootie Jones departing from the safety position this season.

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LB Dylan Moses: 11 games/2 starts

The former national high school player of the year was starting to hit his stride when a season-ending injury hit in Sugar Bowl practice. After injuries to Shaun Dion Hamilton and Mack Wilson, Moses (No. 8 above) found himself starting against Mercer and Auburn. He led the team in tackles both times with 11 stops against Mercer and 10 at Auburn.

Before going down in December, Moses showed flashes of potential as Alabama's next star middle linebacker. With Hamilton and Rashaan Evans graduating, he'll have an opportunity for a major role in 2018.

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DE LaBryan Ray: 6 games

A broken foot ended Ray's season prematurely after the Mississippi State game. The five-star from James Clemens High saw his first action Week 5 against Ole Miss. A week later came the highlight-reel moment at Texas A&M. Ray had a textbook sack for a loss of 14 yards. Ray finished the year with five tackles -- 2.5 for loss. The graduation of Da'Shawn Hand should mean an increase in playing time after Ray arrived last summer.

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RB Brian Robinson: 11 games

The Tuscaloosa native showed flashes in reserve duty playing in a crowded backfield this fall. Robinson (No. 24) ran for 165 yards on 24 attempts (6.9-yard average) with two touchdowns. A season-high 51 yards on five carries came at Vanderbilt in his SEC debut. That included a 17-yard touchdown, his longest run of the year.

Robinson added a 50-yard game against Mercer with his second touchdown of the season. The surprise return of Damien Harris doesn't free up as many carries as expected for the versatile Hillcrest graduate who was known for catching passes from the backfield in high school.

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WR Henry Ruggs III: 14 games

The former track star from Montgomery had quite a streak going. Each of his first five collegiate catches went for touchdowns including a 60-yarder against Tennessee. That ended with a 47-yard scoreless catch against LSU but he caught No. 6 in the third quarter of Alabama's comeback win over Georgia in the title game. Ruggs finished with 12 catches for 229 yards and the six scores. He's part of the freshman triumvirate of Jerry Jeudy and DeVonta Smith that'll figure to be a big factor in the Tide offense moving forward.

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WR DeVonta Smith: 14 games

Regardless of what happens from here, DeVonta Smith will forever own a piece of Alabama history. His 41-yard game-winning catch to clinch the national championship was a piece of football art that'll live on forever. It was actually his second game winner of the season after pulling in a 26-yard touchdown in the closing seconds at Mississippi State.

Smith totaled eight catches and 160 yards as a rookie with three touchdowns.

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QB Tua Tagovailoa: 9 games

Not much more can be said that hasn't been already. The lefty from Hawaii rescued Alabama's flat offense to lead the second-half turnaround that won the national championship. The three touchdowns on 14-for-24 passing made Tagovailoa an instant Alabama hero. The threw for 166 yards in the second half in Atlanta.

For the season, Tagovailoa was 49 of 77 (63.6 percent) with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. He's also a mobile threat (27 runs, 133 yards and two touchdowns) who made would-be sackers look bad at Vanderbilt and again against Georgia. The final act was a compelling argument for the No. 1 QB role when spring practice opens in March.

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TE Major Tennison: 5 games

The reserve from Flint, Texas caught two passes with a long of 21 against Mercer. Tennison's role increased somewhat after the injury to Miller Forristall.

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RT Jedrick Wills: 10 games/1 start

Wills had one of the rare freshman starts when he got the nod against Ole Miss. The Tide opened with a jumbo package that brought the Lexington, Ky., product off the bench. Wills will have an opportunity to compete for playing time in his first spring practice beginning in March after an impressive rookie season.

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DB Daniel Wright: 13 games

The hard-hitter from South Florida made an immediate impact Week 1. Covering a kickoff, Wright delivered one of the hardest hits of the season against the Florida State program to which he was once committed. All 10 of Wright's tackles came on kickoff coverage including four against Ole Miss.

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Redshirted

The newcomers who did not appear in game action in 2017:

QB Mac Jones (above)

WR Chadarius Townsend

WR Tyrell Shavers

DB Kyriq McDonald

LB Markail Benton

OL Hunter Brannon

OL Kendall Randolph

DL Phidarian Mathis

PK Joseph Bulovas