The new AP Polls got released yesterday, and Alabama is #6:
After losing to No. 1 Auburn at home, the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide lost their next game against No. 14 Missouri. Alabama coach Nate Oats and his team were able right the ship with a 96-83 win over No. 17 Kentucky, but how far will the Crimson Tide fall?
Skidding from #2 to #6 after losing back to back games to #1 and #15, then beating #17, seems pretty fair. It’s a brutal schedule for Alabama, and things are well within their hands to get back to a #1 seed for the NCAA tournament. The big win over Kentucky was a good start there.
In recruiting news, Alabama picked up two new commitments for the beginnings of the 2026 freshman class:
Alabama football picked up its second commitment in the recruiting class of 2026 on Thursday. Offensive lineman Chris Booker announced he’ll be joining the Crimson Tide after his senior high school season.
Alabama football scored its second recruiting win in two days on Friday. Jamarion Matthews, an edge who will play his senior season at Gainesville High School in Georgia, reportedly committed to the Crimson Tide.
Chris Booker is 4-star prospect with On3 and still a 3-star with the other services. Meanwhile, edge rusher Jamarion Matthews is the #119 prospect for On3, while he’s more in the 200-250 range with the others.
Both are Georgia natives, so don’t be surprised if there is competition for them from the in-state Bulldogs this summer – Alabama just seemed to jump on the train early.
There’s a LONG ways to go in this upcoming recruiting cycle, and it’ll be fascinating to see how Kalen DeBoer follows up on his first class.
There were several things that stood out about Alabama’s coaching philosophies during the 2024 season. One thing that stood out in particular to me was the substitutions that took place along the offensive front.
Over the course of the season, Alabama offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic used a makeshift offensive line on the right side.
Oftentimes, redshirt juniors Jaeden Roberts and Geno VanDeMark were seen rotating at the right guard position. In addition, redshirt freshman Wilkin Formby and redshirt sophomore Elijah Pritchett split time at right tackle.
However you view it, Alabama struggled to find consistency along the offensive front. At times, one player would look better. Then, another player would look better the next week. While it might be an unpopular opinion, I believe that the rotating was actually beneficial for the Crimson Tide.
Coach Kapilovic’s constant rotation on the OL – mostly at RG and RT was interesting in 2024. Was it just a function of the starters underperforming, or is Coach Kap more willing to rotate offensive linemen than most other coaches who subscribe to the historical wisdom to keep the same 5 OL?
I have always wondered if the benefits of keeping fresh big guys late in games would outweigh the potential negatives of miscommunications. Who knows, really. But I would not be surprised to see a heavy rotation with Kam Dewberry and Michael Carroll at LG, VanDeMark and Casey Poe at RG, or somebody with Wilkin Formby at RT.
As the NFL Scouting Combine approaches, two Alabama football players seem like surefire NFL draft picks.
Offensive guard Tyler Booker and linebacker Jihaad Campbell are the two Crimson Tide players that appear most on NFL mock draft boards with two months to go before the 2025 NFL draft kicks off in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
If Booker or Campbell is selected, Alabama would continue a streak of at least one first round NFL draft pick since 2008 — where no Crimson Tide player was picked.
Alabama has had multiple first-round picks in each draft since 2016 when center Ryan Kelly was the only first-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts at No. 18 overall
Tyler Booker seems almost guaranteed to be a first round pick. The NFL is desperate for competent offensive linemen, and guards are getting picked higher than they have in years.
Meanwhile, Jihaad Campbell has all the talent, production, and athleticism of a surefire first round pick but plays a position that has gotten increasingly more undervalued. I wouldn’t consider him a first round lock for that reason alone.
