Alabama’s opener against East Carolina is drawing closer, and the biggest personnel update out of Tuscaloosa Monday centered on freshman running back EJ Crowell. Despite missing a good chunk of practice time in both the spring and the fall, the 5-star signee is now trending toward being available for Week 1.
That’s a shift from where things stood just a week ago, when On3’s Chris Low reported Crowell was likely to miss the opener and make his debut the following week in Lexington against Kentucky. Ryan Grubb said Monday that Crowell has kept moving in the right direction.
"He's pushing every day," Grubb said. "He was out there yesterday practicing and moving.
We always leave that decision up to Jeff (Allen). You know, ultimately he's going to be in charge of that.
But EJ, I told him yesterday, he's like Wolverine. Him and Noah Rogers are on a different planet.
So it's been really, really impressive. I didn't see any setbacks at practice.
EJ was cutting off both of his feet. So we'll just see how he progresses."
Grubb said he expected Crowell to be available, though Alabama will handle him carefully. The staff knows exactly why that matters: the Tide need help in the run game, and Crowell’s talent has stood out even with limited reps.
The depth chart also started to settle in at a few other spots. Alabama already announced over the weekend that Conor Talty had won the kicking job over Marshall transfer Lorcan Quinn, and Monday brought more decisions.
Grubb said junior Will Sanders beat out sophomore Mal Waldrep for the starting left guard spot. Sanders had been dealing with injuries through the spring and summer, which had opened the door for Waldrep, but Sanders surged late and grabbed the job after what Grubb called an outstanding last couple of weeks.
Then Kalen DeBoer revealed the punter battle was over, and the outcome was a bit of a surprise. Sophomore Alex Asparuhov won the job over Adam Watford, the senior transfer from North Alabama who had been viewed as the favorite.
Asparuhov missed all of last season with an injury, so improvement there will be key. Watford brought steady production from his time at North Alabama, which makes Asparuhov’s win a notable one.
On the recruiting front, Alabama added another major visitor for its October 10 showdown with Georgia. Five-star 2028 wide receiver Braylon Clark will be on campus for a game-day visit in Bryant-Denny. Clark, the No. 12 overall player in the 2028 composite rankings, is viewed as a heavy Ohio State lean, but Alabama will get its shot to make an impression when he visits this fall.
Nate Oats also picked up another high-level basketball visitor for the fall. Four-star power forward Zion Green, a Philadelphia native, has scheduled an official visit to Tuscaloosa for September 25th. The 6-foot-9 stretch four is ranked No. 27 overall in the 2027 composite rankings and has shown real touch as a shooter, including knocking down 41% of his threes in a recent tournament setting.
Green has also lined up visits to Kansas and Oklahoma, and he plans to arrange one with Ole Miss as well.
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