Hello and Roll Tide!

Saturday marks the beginning of the Kalen DeBoer Era in Tuscaloosa. Today I will give you an injury briefing, talk 2024 Storylines, Week 1 Storylines, preview the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, and finalize my Alabama Depth Chart 3.0. As well, here is a link to DeBoer’s Week 1 press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2knP7LkAcc Let’s begin!

Depth Chart Notes/Injury Updates:

Kane Wommack has officially declared the defense a 3-3-5. The Wolf position is a linebacker, not a defensive lineman. Hence it is 3 DL – 3 LB – 5 DBs Justice Haynes will likely start at running back as Jam Miller has been practicing in a non-contact jersey. Jam is still expected to play Jeremiah Alexander is not expected to suit up for the season opener Jaedon Roberts is listed as day-today but is expected to start at Right Guard on Saturday

2024 Storylines:

The Kalen DeBoer “Bump”: Kalen DeBoer has had success everywhere that he’s been: From his alma mater Sioux Falls, as the Offensive Coordinator at Indiana, Head Coach at Fresno State, and Head Coach at Washington. DeBoer consistently takes stagnant offenses and injects life into their passing games. When DeBoer took over Fresno State, the quarterback threw for 2,721 yards and 17 TDs in the previous season. He quickly changed the offense and they eclipsed 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in his 2021 season. Similarly, Washington went from 2,500 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2021 to 4,641 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2022. Wherever Kalen goes, he injects life into the passing game. Last season, the Crimson Tide were a run heavy offense that only attempted 23.2 passes per game. DeBoer’s quarterbacks averaged 40 attempts per game over the last 3 years. If he is confident in Milroe’s improvement, we should look out for the Tide to pass the ball more frequently and more efficiently in 2024.

Who’s in the Secondary?: The biggest question mark going into the 2024 season is Alabama’s Secondary. Malachi Moore is the only returning player to have played starting minutes for the Tide. Wommack will rely heavily on transfers and Freshman to fill out significant roles. The expectation is that transfers Keon Sabb, Domani Jackson, and DaShawn Jones will play meaningful minutes. Freshman Zabien Brown, Jaylen MBakwe, and Zavier Mincey will be competing to start at corner. With so many new faces, it will be important to track who is playing where in the secondary all season long.

Crowded Receiver Room: It may be odd to hear that a receiver room only returning 27% of their production is crowded, but the Tide do have at least 6 receivers that can all argue to start this season. The Tide are returning Kobe Prentice, Kendrick Law, and Jaren Hamilton all of which were expected to start this season. The offseason additions of Washington transfer Germie Bernard and 5 Stars Ryan Williams/Caleb Odom made this “easy” decision much more muddy. Germie started with DeBoer last season at Washington so he’s expected to see a lot of reps with the first-team. Ryan Williams talent is undeniable, which will certainly get him snaps, but how many? Caleb Odom switched over from Tight End making him a nightmare matchup on the outside. There’s no question that all of these receivers will see the field this season. Here are questions I do have: Will the Tide have a 1,000 yard receiver? How will Jalen distribute the ball to keep everyone happy? Who is on the field for the “we absolutely need this” 3rd down plays? This is a very talented position group which will be fun to monitor all season long.

Jalen for Heisman: After a shaky start to the season, Jalen set the SEC on fire in the second half of the 2024 season. In the first 4 games, Jalen threw 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions while the remaining 8 he through 15 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. As well, his pocket presence got better as the season progressed. Jalen took 21 sacks through the first 6 games (he did not play at USF) and only 13 in the remaining 6 games. This improvement was impressive, especially with Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees who seemed to be way out of his league at Alabama. Kalen DeBoer is known for immediately improving teams’ quarterback play. If Jalen sees the improvement typically seen YoY from DeBoer quarterbacks, we may see 4,000 yards, 40 touchdowns, and a Heisman trophy. Oh, and lets not forget about his legs. Jalen rushed for 531 yards and 12 touchdowns. Expect to see him break off some incredible runs in this 2024 campaign.

Week 1 Storylines:

Who will start at Right Tackle?: In the Spring before Kaydn Proctor’s return, Elijah Pritchett looked to have the Left Tackle position locked down. Opposite of him, Wilkin Formby was set to be the starter at Right Tackle. Proctor’s return at Left Tackle forced Pritchett and Formby to start competing for the Right Tackle position. Initially, I expected Pritchett to run away with the battle. Pritchett was a 5 Star prospect in the 2022 class while Formby was a 4 Star in 2023. The additional year and higher prospect rating made it seem that Pritchett would win the battle right away, but Formby isn’t going anywhere. Formby has been practicing with the first-team offense as much, if not more than Pritchett. Right Tackle will be the first position I look at on Saturday.

Ryan “Hollywood” Williams: In December, Ryan Williams announced that he would reclassify to the class of 2024, forgoing his Senior year at Saraland. A year younger than the rest of the class, Williams was still ranked 8th Nationally in the class. This monster talent has been the talk of town since he was DeBoer’s first 5 star commitment at Alabama. We should expect to see Williams on the field Saturday, but the question is at what capacity? Will he start? Will he return kicks on Special Teams? Keep an eye out for #2 when the Alabama Offense takes the field.

Kane Wommack’s 3-3-5 Defense: New year, new coach, new scheme. While the scheme and terminology may seem foreign to us, at its base, the 3-3-5 defense is similar to Nick Saban’s 4-3 Nickle package that we saw a lot of last season. The edge rusher was considered a DL, hence the 4. The Wolf (Edge) in Wommack’s defense is part of the linebackers group. The primary difference between Saban and Wommack’s defenses is the Husky position. While this is similar to the Star role from a season ago, the Husky tends to play closer to the line of scrimmage. Their responsibilities are heavily run support and blitz, rather than slot man coverage. I am also curious to see how the Bandit and Wolf will line-up together. What will blitz packages look like? How will Wommack disguise Man vs Zone coverages? The 3-3-5 allows for a lot of creativity pre-snap. We should look to see if Wommack uses these disguises or saves them for SEC play.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Preview:

The Crimson Tide have the privilege of hosting the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers to start the 2024 season. Last year, the Hilltoppers went a respectable 8-5 and capped off the season with a win over Old Dominion in the Famous Toastery Bowl. This is a high powered offense that has sent their last two starting quarterbacks to the NFL (Bailey Zappe - New England Patriots; Austin Reed - Chicago Bears). Their Air Raid style gives the quarterbacks many opportunities to throw the ball downfield. In 2023, the Hilltoppers attempted 41.5 passes per game, 44.5 in 2022, and 49.8 in 2021 when Bailey Zappe broke Joe Burrow’s single season touchdown record. Week 1 we will really start to answer our question of Who’s in the Secondary? The secondary will be tested all day long so we will want to pay attention to who rotates in and out. Even with this high powered passing attack, the Hilltoppers average over 100 yards on the ground per game. This prolific offense has led the Hilltoppers to three 8+ win seasons in a row. Kane Wommack faced off against Tyson Helton’s Hilltoppers in 2022 while Kane was the Head Coach of South Alabama. Kane is familiar with the air raid scheme which should help prepare the young secondary to face this challenge.

Leading this Hilltoppers Offense is a familiar face in TJ Finley. Originally an LSU commit in 2020, Finley started his Freshman season and led the LSU Tigers to an abysmal 3-5 record. During that season, Finley did start against Alabama where he completed 50% of his passes in a losing effort. After the season, Finley transferred to the Tigers of Auburn in 2021. Finley was the starter for the Tigers on November 27, 2021 when the Tide defeated Auburn in 4 Overtimes. Finley returned to Auburn for the 2022 season but was plagued with injury. After the season he transferred to Texas State. Finley had a productive 2023 season throwing for 24 touchdowns and 3,287 yards. TJ attempted only 32 passes per game as opposed to the Hilltoppers’ typical 40+. Finley will certainly attempt a lot of passes against this Tide defense on Saturday. Alabama will look to make TJ 0-3 lifetime vs the Tide with three different schools.

The WKU defense was prolific turning the ball over last season. They forced 13 fumbles in as many games, and picked off the ball 15 times. The Tide will need to focus on ball security, as the Hilltoppers rely on turnovers. Though they do create many turnovers, the Hilltoppers allowed 28.7 points/game, ranking 94th in the country in that category. The biggest issue in 2023 was run Defense. WKU allowed 190 rushing yards per game and just under 2 rushing touchdowns per game. Justice Haynes and Jam Miller behind Captain Tyler Booker on the Offensive line should fend well for the Alabama Offense.

As always, feel free to reach out with any questions or comments. If DeBoer releases an official Depth Chart I will send an update this week.

I will be in Tuscaloosa this weekend for the game so reach out if you will also be in T-Town!

Roll Tide!