Biggest Winners, Losers Midway Through Alabama's 2026 Fall Camp

Alabama football is hovering at the halfway point of its fall camp practices ahead of the 2026 season.

The Crimson Tide held seven practices before a scrimmage at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Aug. 13, and following Sunday morning's practice, Alabama has eight over the next 10 days, plus another scrimmage on Aug. 20.

A lot has happened during the first half of fall camp — both good and bad. Here's a breakdown of three position groups on the rise, two that are in some trouble and one in limbo entering Kalen DeBoer's third season as head coach.

Winner: Defensive Line Consistency

Defensive line coach Freddie Roach, Alabama's longest-tenured assistant, will have a fresh start, as all of the starters and most of the reserves from last season are no longer at UA. This unit seemed to lock in its starting trio at the very beginning of fall camp with USC transfer Devan Thompkins at Bandit (defensive end), Oregon transfer Terrance Green at nose tackle and returning sophomore London Simmons at defensive tackle. This is perhaps the most under-the-radar position group for Alabama.

Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was asked on Aug. 10 to name a couple of defensive players who are giving some trouble to his unit, and Thompkins was the first player he mentioned. He's been brought up by the coaching staff throughout the offseason, and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack has applauded his "special skillset" and "very physical presence."

DeBoer said after the scrimmage that the defensive line has "just been really consistent," and he doesn't want to take the unit for granted. On top of the starting trio, the defensive line has a wide array of depth, including Edric Hill, Jeremiah Beaman, Kedrick Bingley-Jones, Steve Bolo Mboumoua and more. This is a much bigger line from previous years, which was an emphasis for Wommack, who said, "Big bodies matter. Mass kicks ass."

Loser: Running Back Health

Let's be clear, DeBoer said after the first scrimmage on Aug. 13 that the "running backs were chewing up some yards there and got better as the scrimmage went along." That's a good sign, as Alabama's run game was one of the worst in all of college football last season and is under an immense amount of pressure to return to normalcy in 2026.

But the Crimson Tide is already down two key players in the backfield, as freshman EJ Crowell did not compete in the scrimmage due to a prior injury and sophomore AK Dear hurt his lower body during the scrimmage and is expected to miss a few weeks. Crowell will miss "a few practices," but he already missed a good chunk of the spring riding a scooter and wearing a boot on his foot, meaning the former 5-star has and currently is losing out on time to develop.

Daniel Hill entered the offseason with expectations of being Alabama's starter after splitting snaps with Jam Miller last season, and he'll really be a focal point over the next couple of weeks. He's joined by Kevin Riley, who logged 77 total touches last season, plus freshman Trae'shawn Brown and Appalachian State transfer Khalifa Keith. Brown is the wild card for this unit, as the former 3-star turned heads during A-Day, plus parts of fall practice and the first scrimmage with his shiftiness.

Winner: Playmakers at Tight End

Tight end was a bit of a question mark following the 2025 season, as starter Josh Cuevas exhausted his eligibility and then was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. Cuevas' 37 receptions last year were the most by a tight end since Irv Smith Jr.'s 44 in 2018. So, how would Alabama fill his shoes?

All signs point to sophomore Kaleb Edwards being the starting "Y" tight end as a pass-catcher after earning All-SEC Freshman honors in 2025. Oklahoma State transfer Josh Ford is expected to be the main blocking "U" tight end and has received rave reviews from DeBoer and Grubb throughout the offseason. Sophomore Marshall Pritchett should carve out a bit of a role as well, as he fully took advantage of his limited time on the field last season.

DeBoer said last Thursday that, "The tight ends, as the scrimmage went along, got better," as the depth is definitely there. Edwards, Ford and Pritchett will each have different roles this season, but all three could make a big impact as receivers and blockers on Saturdays in the fall. This unit has adapted really well entering the second half of fall camp.

Loser: The Offensive Line Checklist

The Crimson Tide's front five had expectations to be a Joe Moore Award-caliber unit last year, but run-blocking struggles spread like wildfire, and it resulted in numerous in-game substitutions and also the firing of offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic after two years at UA and replacing him with USC defensive analyst Adrian Klemm.

Grubb recently said that finding the "best five" players on the offensive line will be the strategy this year, except it doesn't seem like the Tide is particularly close to accomplishing this. Sophomore Michael Carroll, the lone remaining starter from last season, will all but certainly start at right guard, while fellow sophomore Jackson Lloyd fits at left tackle and Cal Poly transfer Racin Delgatty lines up at center.

There's a battle at left guard between junior Will Sanders and sophomore Mal Waldrep Jr. Additionally, the right tackle spot is up for grabs between transfers Jayvin James (Mississippi State) and Nick Brooks (Texas), but there hasn't been any indication that any of these four have separated themselves. It's resulted in DeBoer and Grubb saying multiple times that the unit is "definitely not there yet," but the cohesion of the group is improving.

Winner: Maurice Linguist and Jason Jones' Secondary

When DeBoer was asked which position groups stood out during the first scrimmage, the secondary was the first unit he named: "I mean, there were times we had a couple tipped balls, so the DBs did a nice job making a play because they're picking it right up off the ground and those plays aren't always made — it wasn't just gimmes."

Alabama's secondary really can't improve much more under cornerbacks coach Maurice Linguist and safeties coach Jason Jones. Zabien Brown and Dijon Lee Jr. will be the cornerbacks, Keon Sabb and Bray Hubbard will take the safety spots and Red Morgan is very likely to start at the Husky position. A trio of these players earned spots on the three Preseason All-SEC Teams and the other two have a good chance at making the prestigious postseason rosters.

Sabb said in the spring that the Tide has the best secondary in the country, and he might be right. They're set at every position and even have a plethora of talented depth options like Carmelo O'Neal, Ivan Taylor, Zavier Mincey, Chuck McDonald III, Jireh Edwards and more. It's important to note that 5-star freshman Jorden Edmonds is among the talented reserves, however, he's expected to miss a few weeks with a lower-body injury during a recent practice.

In Limbo: The Quarterback Battle

The competition between Austin Mack and sophomore Keelon Russell has been among the top storylines in all of college football this offseason. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb stressed in the spring that the competition is "pretty even," and he reassured that was the case last week. Additionally, DeBoer has previously said that a two-QB system is out of the question.

Scrimmages are a great way to decipher position battles, so after the first one of the fall, did DeBoer feel any closer to making a decision on who will be the Crimson Tide starting quarterback? "I don’t feel closer," he said.

Based on DeBoer's response, it doesn't seem like there's much separation between Mack and Russell. He explained that they both "could have executed better" at the start of the first scrimmage, but they improved as it went on. Including today, Alabama has three more practices before Thursday's scrimmage at Bryant-Denny Stadium. All eyes will be on these two over that span, as a starting quarterback must be named soon.

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