The preseason All-SEC teams gave Alabama the kind of nod you’d expect: a bunch of familiar names, a few obvious omissions, and enough room for the Crimson Tide to spend the fall proving the list wrong.
The coaches put CB Zabien Brown and S Bray Hubbard on the first team. WR Ryan Coleman-Williams and OL Michael Carroll landed on the second team.
LB Yhonzae Pierre and S Keon Sabb made the third team. There’s room to argue Coleman-Williams and Pierre should have been higher, but the bigger point is that Alabama already has plenty of recognition baked into the preseason conversation.
Still, there are other Tide players who could end up looking like the real misses when this season is done.
One of the most interesting is LB Caleb Woodson, the Virginia Tech transfer who has quietly become a key piece for Kalen DeBoer’s team. Woodson arrived in Tuscaloosa and wasted no time taking over the starting job at Mike linebacker for Kane Wommack. He’ll be the green dot in the middle of a defense that has a chance to be one of the best in the country, and if that unit lives up to the hype, Woodson won’t stay under the radar for long.
The same could be true for DL Devan Thompkins. There’s real confidence inside the Alabama building that the Crimson Tide made major gains along the defensive line this offseason, and Thompkins is part of the reason why.
Along with Terrance Green and Kedrick Bingley-Jones, he gives Alabama an experienced front with depth behind it. All three have flashed in fall camp, but Thompkins has drawn the most buzz and looks capable of turning that attention into a huge season for Wommack’s defense.
Up front on the other side of the ball, C Racin Delgatty has already claimed his spot. The former FCS transfer locked down Alabama’s starting center job in the spring, and he did it quickly.
He may be a little undersized, but he still checks in bigger than Parker Brailsford, who held the position for the last two seasons. Delgatty brings the kind of edge and mentality Alabama wants as it tries to run the ball more effectively and change the story from last year.
He could be right at the center of that shift.
CB Dijon Lee is another name worth circling. As a freshman last season, he was a part-time starter and even pushed senior CB Domani Jackson out of the lineup for stretches.
Now he’s fully established opposite Zabien Brown, giving Alabama what looks like one of the nation’s best cornerback pairings. Brown is already getting plenty of attention, but Lee is still flying a bit below the radar despite having the kind of upside that could make him one of the top corners in college football this season.
And then there’s QB Keelon Russell, who may end up being the biggest swing of all. He hasn’t officially won the job yet, but the competition appears to be moving in his direction for Alabama’s starting quarterback role in 2026.
The rising sophomore has stood out in fall camp and brings a different kind of juice to the offense with his ability to create off-script and make plays with his legs. It’s no slight that he wasn’t on the preseason teams - he’d be a first-time starter and still hasn’t officially locked the job down - but if things break the right way, he could finish the year looking like one of the country’s top quarterbacks.
In Other News...
Alabama Fans Will Have Strong Reactions To Keelon Russell's SEC Ranking
Bud Elliotts early look at the 2026 SEC quarterback race put Alabama fans in a familiar spot: plenty of hope, and probably a little debate. In his CBS Sports ranking, the college football analyst slotted Texas star Arch Manning at No. 1, then filled out the top five with Ole Misss Trinidad Chambliss, LSUs Sam Leavitt, Alabamas Keelon Russell and South Carolinas LaNorris Sellers.
For Alabama, the noteworthy part is not just Russell cracking the list, but where he landed in a conference that rarely leaves much room for error at quarterback. Elliott also weighed recent performance and future potential in making his selections, which only adds to the intrigue around Russell heading into next season. Crimson Tide fans have spent plenty of time waiting to see what the next quarterback era will look like, and this ranking is another reminder that the conversation around Russell is already starting to get serious. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Scrimmage Left One Big QB Question And Fresh Injury Concern
Alabamas second preseason scrimmage gave the staff a better look at where things stand across the roster, and it also offered a reminder that the most important battles in camp are still unresolved. The quarterback race between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack remains the headliner, with some around the program already viewing Russell as the favorite, while other young players such as wide receiver Derek Meadows and running back Traeshawn Brown helped themselves with encouraging work in the session.
There was also a more concerning note on the injury front, as true freshman EJ Crowell sat out while continuing to work back from an ankle issue. In a camp where every rep matters, Alabama is still sorting out both its top competition and its early health picture, and the final shape of the depth chart will depend on how those pieces come together over the next stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Former Alabama Player Just Won A Massive Case Tied To 2023 Shooting
A former Alabama basketball player has now won a major legal battle that reached far beyond the court. An Alabama jury ordered The New York Times to pay $9.25 million in damages to Kai Spears after finding the paper defamed him by wrongly reporting that he was at the scene of a fatal 2023 shooting, a claim Spears challenged in a lawsuit filed in 2023.
The nine-day trial ended with the jury siding with Spears, putting a sharp spotlight on how a mistaken report can follow an athlete long after his playing days. The Times had acknowledged the error in its original story and said it is reviewing its legal options after the verdict, leaving the case with another chapter still possible. [Read more 🡒]