The Alabama Crimson Tide are about to get a chance to quiet a few of the loudest worries hanging over Kalen DeBoer’s team.
Over the next four or five weeks, Alabama can start stripping away the doubt that has built up in Tuscaloosa. Plenty of fans are ready to move on from the concerns that have followed DeBoer through his two seasons there. Others still want to see more before they buy in.
The biggest talking points are the same ones that keep coming back: the offensive line, the run game, and whether Alabama is physical enough. There is also the word DeBoer keeps using - “intentional” and, even more often, “intentionality” - which has become its own source of irritation for some fans.
That one may sound minor, but it has clearly stuck. Merriam-Webster defines intentional as “being conscious of intending.” The complaint is simple enough: if Alabama players are not already conscious of their purpose, why are they on the team?
Physicality is a more serious issue, and for obvious reasons. Indiana pushed Alabama around last January, and that game left a bad taste for Tide fans. A stronger showing against East Carolina would not settle everything, but Alabama does need to look meaner as it heads toward Georgia.
The offensive line has its own set of questions, and early games will matter for Will Sanders, Racin Delgatty, and Jayvin James. East Carolina will not be enough to prove those concerns are gone. Kentucky and FSU should tell more, and South Carolina should tell even more than that.
Then there is the run game, which has been one of the most talked-about subjects around the program. Last season, Alabama’s rushing attack was inconsistent at best. At its worst, it fit Merriam-Webster’s secondary definition of “anemic”: “lacking force, vitality, substance and quantity.”
DeBoer, Ryan Grubb, and Adrian Klemm have all said the offense has to be able to lean on a dependable rushing attack. A powerful start on the ground against ECU would help. And if Alabama can keep that going against UK, FSU, South Carolina, and Mississippi State, the Tide would head into the Georgia game with a much better setup.
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Ryan Coleman-Williams Enters A Defining Alabama Season With One New Focus
Ryan Coleman-Williams heads into his junior season at Alabama with a different voice guiding the wide receivers, and that matters for a player trying to keep building on a productive year. Derrick Nix takes over the group this fall, giving Coleman-Williams a fresh set of eyes as he prepares for an important stretch in Tuscaloosa after putting up 689 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 49 catches last season.
For Coleman-Williams, the timing adds weight to every rep. He is eligible to enter the NFL Draft after this season, and he has already talked with Nix about the coaching changes and the areas he wants to sharpen. With a new receiver coach in place and a pro decision looming, Alabama will be watching closely to see how he handles a season that could define the next step in his career. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Enters Season With Its Toughness Under Fire
A familiar preseason spotlight has landed on Alabama again, and this one is less about star power than about edge. With Kalen DeBoer entering the season under pressure to get the Tide moving in the right direction, the outside conversation has already started to circle around how this team looks when the competition tightens and the margins shrink.
The schedule will do plenty to shape that answer, with difficult road trips and key home dates against SEC opponents that should reveal plenty about where Alabama stands. For a program that measures itself by how it handles physical football, the question hanging over this season is whether the Tide can turn that scrutiny into something sharper on the field. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Just Gained A Roster Opening Alabama Fans Need To Watch
A federal ruling has opened the door for a wave of roster movement across the SEC, and LSU appears positioned to be one of the first programs to test it. Judge William Jorden granted an injunction making more than 40 athletes eligible for NCAA and SEC competition, a group that includes former NFL players Zxavian Harris and DaeQuan Wright, creating an immediate wrinkle for teams in the league that have spent the offseason building with the old rules in mind.
For Alabama, the significance goes beyond LSU simply gaining more bodies. Any added depth in Baton Rouge changes the competitive picture, and it comes at a time when the SEC is already preparing to push back hard. The league plans to appeal the ruling and has filed a separate lawsuit aimed at enforcing new punishments against teams that add former professional players, leaving the issue far from settled as roster decisions begin to play out. [Read more 🡒]