Bradley Sylve might be a backup cornerback at Alabama who is still battling for playing time as a fourth-year junior, but don't ever forget he was a state-champion track star in Louisiana.
He won't let star wide receiver Amari Cooper forget, anyway.
Cooper is considered one of the top wide receiver prospects in the nation, and will be NFL draft-eligible after the season if he chooses to declare early eligibility. Coach Nick Saban has even suggested that Alabama's young cornerbacks can't stay with the gifted junior in coverage. One can only assume Sylve doesn't exactly blanket Cooper when the two draw one another in practice. But Sylve's jab is strictly speed-based. Given his April indication that he and Cooper were going to toe the line side by side to settle the matter, a reasonable person might presume the race was run, and won.
That would be awfully impressive even for Sylve, who won the 100-meter and 200-meter state titles in Louisiana at South Plaquemines High. Cooper, after all, has set a high bar for himself by claiming a 4.31 in the spring, complete with an accompanying video on social media. It's the sort of thing that creates expectations when money is on the 40-yard-dash finish line at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, and subsequent pro-day workouts.
The way Alabama has recruited skill talent, for Cooper to even be the guy Sylve targets for a challenge says all that needs be said about Cooper's wheels.
If he's not 4.31 fast, he's fast enough.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter *@ChaseGoodbread.*