'Who Wants to Tackle That Guy?' Why Alabama Gave Kadyn Proctor Ball vs. Georgia

The Crimson Tide left tackle nearly scored on an 11-yard run in the win over the Bulldogs.

Sep 27, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor (74) runs against the Georgia Bulldogs in the first half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

ATHENS, Ga. — Alabama left tackle Kadyn Proctor making a play with the ball in his hands probably wasn't on your bingo card during the Crimson Tide's win over Georgia.

The final score was 24-21 and Proctor helped add to that total after he was inches away from scoring. Yes, you read that correctly. The junior is tied for the tallest (6-foot-7) and is the heaviest (366 pounds) Alabama player by more than 20 pounds.

Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb ran a ton of interesting plays and sets against Georgia, but with 46 seconds remaining in the first half on Georgia's 13-yard line, Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson made a backwards pass to Proctor on the left side of the field and he sprinted straight for 11 yards. Simpson scrambled for a two-yard score one play later to end the half in style.

Nevertheless, the idea for this play came quite some time ago.

"That went in during fall camp," head coach Kalen DeBoer said during the postgame press conference. "It was going really well, and they we had one that didn't go well. It got shelfed a little bit, but brought it back out. He made a catch earlier in the week that gave us a lot of confidence.

"Middle of practice, sweaty hands, not a great throw, pulled it right off the ground. Pretty impressive seeing a big guy like that do what he did. He's been pretty consistent on it.

"He's done his part and our guys are excited for him. Who wants to tackle that guy? He's such a great athlete and he's worked hard to improve that in other ways."

Proctor said after the game that he had not carried the ball since his junior high school. As a big ball carrier, how does he approach runs?

"I'm trying to go through people man," Proctor said after the game. "That's the biggest thing for me—power. I have the ball, you see it, I've got it, clutch the ball. That's what I do. I run through people. I already knew what I was going to do.

Of course, Proctor didn't do this alone, as wide receiver Germie Bernard and running back Jam Miller were key blockers on the play.

"They've been doing an excellent job all week of doing that and it showed out [on Saturday] too. I had to run Jam over to me, that's just how ball goes.

Overall, Proctor was very happy with how the play was run. But he wasn't 100 percent satisfied.

"I've got to finish with a touchdown," Proctor said. "That's all that was running through my mind. That's it."