Hello and Roll Tide!

Preseason camp officially started this morning, one month before Alabama takes on Florida State in Tallahassee . DeBoer and company are preparing for what could be a special 2nd year under his leadership. The Tide are returning six starters on offense and nine starters on defense. Alabama also has 17 scholarship Senior on the roster who will provide veteran leadership. There’s talent all over the field yet each position group has question marks heading into camp. Below are things to look for at each position group during camp.

Quarterbacks: Both Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb have said that Ty Simpson would be the starter if the season started today. Ty clearly has the lead entering fall camp and will likely be named starter for the FSU game. Behind him are Austin Mack and highly touted freshman Keelon Russell. It will be worth tracking who takes more 2nd team reps and establishes themselves as the backup.

Running Backs: Jam Miller is back and will assume the starting running back position. But who will take the primary backup snaps? Richard Young has the most experience with Alabama and will likely get snaps in power formations. Bama brought in Senior transfer Dre Washington from the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns who will certainly compete for touches. Daniel Hill has also been mentioned as moving up the depth chart. At 6-1 244lbs he is the heaviest back since Derrick Henry.

Wide Receivers: The one-two punch of Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard are back. Isiah Horton, transfer from Miami, is expected to be the 3rd starter at wide receiver, yet there are a lot of talented players who will fight for snaps. Cole Adams and Jalen Hale are returning from injury. Cole was effective as a punt returner and in the slot. Hale missed the entirety of 2024 but showed a lot of promise during his freshman season in 2023. Lotzier Brooks is a speedy freshman and Jaylen Mbakwe moved from DB to WR during the offseason. There’s a lot of depth here so let’s look to see who stands out the most.

Tight End: The tight end group is the most mediocre positional group going into 2025. Josh Cuevas and Jay Lindsey are the only two in the group who caught passes last year (17 combined) as Danny Lewis dealt with injury. Injuries riddled the group in the spring leading to the Tide adding Jack Sammarco and Brody Dalton via the transfer portal. True freshmen Kaleb Edwards and Marshall Pritchett may get involved, but with this many new faces, it is uncertain who will be receiving the lion’s share of snaps in 2025. There’s plenty of potential in the group, but no proven track records.

Offensive Line: Alabama is returning three starters on the O-Line (Proctor, Brailsford, and Roberts) leaving two positions battles as we enter the fall. Wilkin Formby is the favorite at Right Tackle. He started 2 games a season ago and played in 9. He was benched and replaced by Elijah Pritchett (transferred to Nebraska) so it if worth noting who takes 2nd team reps behind him. The true battle comes at Left Guard between Texas A&M transfer Kam Dewberry and Geno VanDeMark. Dewberry started 8 games at A&M, playing in 32 total games during his three seasons there. VanDeMark joined the Tide last season providing depth at guard and center.

Defensive Line/EDGE: The D-Line will be led by veterans LT Overton, Tim Keenan, Jah-Marien Latham, James Smith, and Qua Russaw. With that, Alabama struggled pressuring the quarterback in 2024 as they were 13th in the conference in defensive sacks. Who will step up to get pressure? Wommack may look to depth such as Yhonzae Pierre or Keon Keeley to get pressure on opposing QBs.

Linebackers: Alabama has a lot of experience at middle linebacker, as three 5th year seniors will be taking most of the snaps. Justin Jefferson and Deontae Lawson return for their final year of eligibility, and the Tide added transfer Nikhai Hill-Green out of Colorado. The question lies beyond the experienced seniors and rather to the young depth. Who will step up and prove that they should lead the Tide in 2026? Cayden Jones, QB Reese, and Justin Hill have been getting attention this summer. At a position that has experienced injuries in recent years, depth will be very important.

Defensive Backs: Alabama’s Defensive Back group may be the strongest group on this team. Returning starters include Domani Jackson, Zabien Brown, Keon Sabb, and DaShawn Jones. Bray Hubbard was great last season when he stepped in after injury. The Tide added an experienced DB in Cam Calhoun from Utah as well as top high school prospects Dijon Lee, Ivan Taylor, and Chuck McDonald. This group it incredibly talented with tons of exciting young prospects. Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. has been getting reps at Husky. It would be great to see him get playing time, following in his father’s footsteps.

Specialists: Alabama is replacing all three specialists at kicker, punter, and long snapper. Conor Talty will take over the place kicker role while transfer Black Doud and freshman Alex Asparuhov will compete to be the team’s lead punter. David Bird transferred in from California to take over the place kicker role.

Attached is a file with roster information. As we approach the start of the season, reach out with any questions or comments you have. I will be sending a season preview once fall camp is complete. If you know anyone interested in joining, send their email to me.

Roll Tide!

-Jake