Alabama Defensive Line Starter Ruled Out on Initial College Football Playoff Availability Report

No. 9 Alabama travels to Norman on Friday to take on No. 8 Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoffs. Both sides are obligated to release availability reports, beginning three days before the scheduled game.

Alabama saw a number of players miss the SEC Championship Game against Georgia, but the layoff between the conference title game and the College Football Playoff has served the Crimson Tide well, leading to lighter initial availability report ahead of Friday's game.

Alabama Dec. 16 Availability Report

Defensive Back - Kameron Howard - Out
Defensive Back - Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. - Out
Defensive Lineman - LT Overton - Out
Defensive Lineman - Jeremiah Beaman - Out
Linebacker - Jah-Marien Latham - Out
Running Back - Kevin Riley - Out

Tight End - Danny Lewis Jr. - Probable
Tight End - Josh Cuevas - Probable

Oklahoma Dec. 16 Availability Report

Defensive Back - Gentry Williams - Out
Defensive Back - Kendel Dolby - Out
Defensive Back - Jeremiah Newcombe - Out
Offensive Lineman - Troy Everette - Out

Offensive Lineman - Jake Maikkula - Questionable

Running Back - Jovantae Barnes - Probable

Initial Availability Report For Alabama and Oklahoma ahead of the College Football Playoff first round game on Friday pic.twitter.com/NvkFvRtFZy
— Joe Gaither (@JoeGaither6) December 17, 2025

The Crimson Tide coaches spoke on the multiple players dealing with injuries in the Monday and Tuesday press conferences.

“Parker’s [Brailsford] doing good," Kalen DeBoer said. "He’s been practicing. Jam [Miller], he’s making good progress. Just kind of continue to see how the week goes along. You guys saw him out there doing some things today. [Josh] Cuevas, very similar to Jam. Making progress out there, doing some work. And really, I guess, you’re optimistic at this point. We’ve still got four days left. So those guys are heading in a good direction, making good progress, and continue to evaluate them moving forward. But you saw them out there doing some things today in practice.”

“Just with LT [Overton], continue to monitor him. I would say he’s doubtful for this weekend,” DeBoer continued on Monday.

Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was with the media a day later and was very optimistic about several players returning to play.

“Jam’s [Miller] always got a fire, but yeah, he looks great,” Grubb said. “He was out there running around today, did an awesome job. Feel like he’ll be full-go, ready to contribute and help us keep rolling again.”

“Josh [Cuevas] has been a huge part of the offense all year,” Grubb continued. “So for us, just in the run game, pass game, everything he can do is critical. We’ve missed him — his leadership and his presence on the field for sure. And just playmaking ability, catching the ball, breaking tackles after he gets the football, which he certainly did last time against Oklahoma."

“Parker [Brailsford] looks a lot better,” Grubb said. “He was a total warrior, man. I mean, the last couple weeks, I can’t believe he was out there, to be honest with you. I mean, he’s a tough dude, so he looks way better. This time off has really, really helped him. He’s been in that training room, relentless, just with his pursuit of getting better.

“And then as far as having Kam [Dewberry] back, I think Kam has the potential to be a big-time spark. I thought he was playing his best football right up to when he got injured, and really had built into a better part of the season for him. And so, it was kind of tough seeing him go backwards there.”