As goes an offensive line, so goes a team’s success. A weak blocking unit will doom even the best QB and WR pairings and make the best RBs look mortal. For Alabama, the Tide has struggled since 2020 to field a line to play with the same prowess that many of the teams before them.
They cycled through OL coaches Doug Marrone and Eric Wolford before settling on Chris Kapilovic last season. The Wolford years saw Alabama look to beef up and roll with 350-lb zone blockers, whereas Kapilovic wanted to do more gap scheme blocking with leads and pulls to get linemen downfield and into space. It was an adjustment for the first year, but Alabama should be looking to match player types to scheme more in 2025.
With guard Tyler Booker off to the NFL, Alabama has only one spot up for grabs in 2025. However, RT Wilkin Formby is far from a lock, and RGs Jaeden Roberts and Geno VanDeMark never truly won full spots last year either, and Coach Kapilovic seemed content to rotate linemen in more than some other coaches.
So while it may be a little of a long shot that we see any true freshmen in big roles this year, it’s definitely within a realm of possibility. And Coach Kalen DeBoer definitely put a big focus on the position in his first recruiting class – this is likely the best position group, and hopefully the backbone of his team for years to come.
Micah DeBose
As a hulking interior player out of Mobile, many fans will likely be hoping for DeBose to be the next Alphonse Taylor for Alabama. He was a UGA commit all the way back as a sophomore, but wound up jumping on the DeBoer train and stayed in-state. ESPN is a bit higher on him than the other three services, ranking him at #118 overall and the #3 interior lineman in the country. Listed at 315, he weighed in at 335 for the AL-MS All-Star game in December.
Playstyle
He’s huge.
And more than that, he doesn’t just push on defenders and fall on them – he strikes them. The main thing here is that he plays mean, and he has the size to back it up. He played left tackle in high school (like most everyone Alabama recruits, really), but is absolutely suited to be a guard at the college level. Line someone up in front of him, and he’ll put them in his warpath as he explodes forward.
For the most part, DeBose tends to win with his initial contact, rather than having to continue to work and adjust for positioning. It’s an impressive trait… But one that he won’t be able to rely on every snap at the college level. So being able to develop his technique and balance to hold his ground while keeping leverage will be important for him.
He’s likely not going to be the best blocker in space, and while he had a few nice reps pass blocking, his foot speed will likely be an issue there.
Scheme Fit and Prediction
DeBose would have been a perfect fit for Eric Wolford. I do worry that he may not have the nimbleness to run the pulls and counters that DeBoer/Grubb/Kapilovic seem to prefer in a run game. Still, having him for short yardage and inside zone plays would be a big boon, and that may outweigh his limitations in space.
I don’t believe we’ll see DeBose on the field in 2025. He’ll need at least a season in Alabaama’s S&C program to get to where he needs to be athletically, but I think he’ll be in the mix of things in 2026 to compete for a guard job.
Michael Carroll
Originally a Pennsylvania native with parents who were collegiate athletes at Penn State and Michigan State, Carroll shot up the recruiting rankings as a junior before transferring to IMG Academy in Florida as a senior, where he jumped from a “high potential” prospect to a sure-fire 5-star and the top interior lineman in the country after dominating the best competition in the country.
Playstyle
It’s hard to find anything not to like about Carroll. He’s 6’6” 315, but moves like a defensive end, not a massive OL. He’s so fast it looks out out of place watching OL tape, and he combines that with exceptional balance and an aggressiveness on every play that is going to make him a coach’s dream. Get him pulling in space, and he’ll keep pace with a running back before twisting to make a downfield block on the fly.
He’s a former wrestler, too, so his ability to get leverage, despite his height, and continue to push and drive blocks in a small area is impressive.
The biggest unknown for him will be pass blocking, as his team barely passed the ball in PA, and while he did show some good reps in pass blocking at IMG, he was also surrounded by other great blockers. Again, it may be just as much of a strength for him, but to this point, we haven’t seen enough.
Scheme Fit and Prediction
Carroll is the best pulling lead blocker in the entire class, and that’s going to be right up Ryan Grubb’s alley as an OC that absolutely loves counter run plays. Don’t be surprised if we hear Carroll talked about quite a bit this spring and summer, and if he doesn’t outright win the left guard starting job, I think he’ll rotate in and eventually take it over full-time during the season.
Mal Waldrep
Waldep is something of a swing player, with 247 and ESPN listing him as a tackle, while On3 and Rivals view him as a guard. On3 and ESPN both have him as a 3 star prospect, while Rivals is the highest on him, ranking him at #199 overall.
He hails from Central High School in Phenix City, long a pipeline to the SEC as a 7A powerhouse. Waldrep’s dad, also Mal Waldrep, was a center for the Crimson Tide back in 1998-2002, so who knows, maybe there’s a little bit of residual from rubbing elbows with Chris Samuels.
Though he played left tackle at Central, there’s plenty of talk that he may be a guard, or even a big center at the next level.
Playstyle
Waldrep is one of the more polished players you’ll see at the high school level. His footwork is astoundingly consistent on every snap, and that helps him to be able to backpedal and mirror in pass blocking while always staying a step ahead and never having to reach to make a block. He stays balanced and in control, whether he’s dropping back to pass block or moving up field to seal off defenders in the run game.
He doesn’t play with a lot of ferocity like DeBose and Carroll, but is much more of a technician that just does a great job of always staying in between the ball and the defender, even if he’s not getting the juicy pancake blocks.
Scheme Fit and Prediction
I actually do think there’s something to the prediction that he could wind up at center. His ability make decisions on helping his line mates, picking up blitzes, and keeping his feet moving around could make him a great center, even if he’s built more like a tackle.
I think he’ll be a guy who is a multi-position backup for a couple of seasons, and we likely won’t see him much as a freshman. However, he’s the kind of guy that could slip into a game after a starter gets hurt in 2026, and by 2027 he’s the entrenched starting center.
Jackson Lloyd
While 247, ESPN, and Rivals all view Lloyd as a high-end 4-star player, On3 has been adamant since last spring that Lloyd is one of the best overall players in the country, ranking him #16 overall and a 5-star prospect.
He’s a fairly dominant defensive tackle, a big-time basketball player, and a baseball player to boot, so Lloyd has generally kept his weight trimmed back for the other sports, and many view him as the kind of guy that could really explode once he focuses fully on playing offensive line
At 6’7”, he’s a towering, athletic prospect who’s got all the upside of a first-round NFL left tackle, but will have a ways to go as he steps up from the competition level in Carmel.
Playstyle
Lloyd is probably the least polished of the quartet of freshmen coming in, but he’s built like a wall with the nimbleness of a cat – which is fascinating to watch. Most of his blocks are really just him running into someone and continuing to push forward until they fall down, but the speed at which he gets into his blocks catches defenders by surprise, and then they have 6’7” vulture arms locking them up and driving them away.
In pass blocking, he does a great job mirroring his defender and making sure he’s in a good position before uncoiling into a two-armed punch that stuns them in the middle of their pass rush.
Scheme Fit and Prediction
Lloyd is definitely going to be a tackle at the college level, and while he likely needs to add some size to become an SEC run blocker, he has the potential to be an elite pass blocker there. I think he’ll have a bit of a longer road to adjust to the game, though, so I think 2025 will be a redshirt year for him, and he’ll start looking to compete to replace Kadyn Proctor at left tackle in a season or two.
Kam Dewberry
Once a top-100 recruit, Dewberry made it onto the field as a true freshman for Texas A&M, stating 5 games and getting named a freshman All-American. In 2023, he played almost full-time for the Aggies, but then in 2024, his playing time got cut back down quite a bit. He still played, but was a rotational left guard, rather than a full-time starter.
Dewberry will be in his final season of eligibility this year, so he transferred with the expectation to win the starting job.
Playstyle
Dewberry is a big guy. At 330 pounds, he’s a nasty run blocker on the inside zone runs, and he excels at spinning his DT around just a little to make a big gap for running backs coming behind him. With that size, though, comes limitations on his ability to get into space. Once he tries to get downfield to the second level, he’s often a step slow and winds up getting left blocking nobody past the line of scrimmage.
As a pass blocker, he shows a good awareness for picking up stunts and prioritizing when to double team, but again, his lack of foot speed often leaves him twisting and letting speedier rushers get inside of him.
Scheme Fit and Prediction
Dewberry brings nearly 1000 snaps of SEC experience to Alabama, and that kind of veteran experience is nothing to sneeze at. He’ll likely have the first crack at the starting job at left guard, and I think he’ll enter the season there. I also think he’ll rotate with the freshman, Michael Carroll, there throughout much of the season.
Arkel Anugwom
Arkel Anugwom moved to Tennessee from Nigeria as a high school junior, and only picked up the sport of football for the last half of his senior season after playing all basketball and soccer in high school. He never had any recruiting rankings, and wound up joining Ball State in 2023, where he redshirted as a freshman. He then played 100 snaps for the Cardinals in 2024, and is now transferring to Alabama.
Former RBR staffer, DrWhosOnFirst, actually had an email exchange with his high school coach, and I definitely recommend giving it a read on some of Anugwom’s background.
He’s got the body type and athleticism of a future NFL first rounder, but has a lot of learning to do before that’s even a remote possibility.
Playstyle
There’s extremely limited tape out there on Anugwom. I found a few snaps from his game against Ohio last season, and then a few games from his senior season of high school. Ultimately, though, he’s still such a blank slate and a major unknown.
In any case, in a lot of ways, he’s similar to Jackson Lloyd. He’s huge, and he’s fast. He’s good at getting out in space and will run into and through anyone out there in his way. He struggled some blocking straight up and the line of scrimmage, but when he had room to get moving horizontal or downfield, he can bury someone.
I found almost no pass blocking snaps, so that’s pretty much an unknown.
Scheme Fit and Prediction
Anugwom’s speed and downfield blocking could give him a leg up for Ryan Grubb’s offensive scheme, as the counter runs will be right up his ally. Still, I think Anugwom is a couple of years from even being in contention to getting on the field. We probably won’t see him in 2025, and it’ll be a long shot to see him in 2026. However, if he does wind up being a hit, he could very well be a superstar.
