The Alabama Crimson Tide received some tremendous news on Wednesday afternoon when their leading receiver from this past season announced his intention to return to school rather than declare for the NFL Draft, something many though was a high possibility.

Germie Bernard transferred to Alabama from Washington when Kalen DeBoer took the job in Tuscaloosa. Though he was only the fifth leading receiver for the Huskies in 2023, DeBoer believed in him enough to prioritize bringing him over in the transition and the results paid dividends.

Germie Bernard makes it official.

He’ll be back at Alabama in 2025. pic.twitter.com/LdCpSvGeED

— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) January 8, 2025

Bernard led the Tide with 50 receptions on the season and was second only to Ryan Williams in yards with 794, averaging nearly 16 yards per reception. In what is a fairly weak draft class at the wide receiver position, Bernard likely would have had a chance to be drafted within the first day or two, but the upside of coming back was enough for him to stay.

In year two under Kalen DeBoer with a quarterback who will be more geared towards the air raid type offense DeBoer ran at Washington where Bernard caught 34 passes as the fifth leading receiver, the sky could be the limit for him next year. With Bernard and Williams leading the receiving core again and continuity from year one to year two in the DeBoer system, this is a massive development for the Crimson Tide.

With still a ton of questions headed into next season, wide receiver does not appear to be one of them for Alabama.