Alabama’s defense is heading into Death Valley with a problem it knows all too well, only this time the challenge comes with a new twist.
Through eight weeks, Kane Wommack’s unit has already run into a string of oversized pass catchers who have exposed cracks in Alabama’s coverage. Florida State’s Duce Robinson, South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor and Georgia’s Jaden Reddell all found ways to stress the Crimson Tide, whether by winning vertically, creating mismatches or simply outrunning the defense to chunk gains.
Robinson beat Alabama down the perimeter and finished with six catches for 135 yards and a touchdown, including a 40-yard grab. Harbor followed with a 41-yard score. Reddell later ripped off a 53-yard reception that flipped field position and showed how vulnerable Alabama can be when bigger targets slip past linebackers or force safeties into bad spots.
Now comes LSU tight end Trey’Dez Green, a 6-foot-7 weapon who gives the Tide a different kind of headache.
LSU TE Trey’Dez Green needs to never geaux away (clever, right?) again
NFL Draft TE2 needs to keep rolling his way to the 1st Round pic.twitter.com/1CRQkPBw8j
- Clint Goss (@NFLDraftDome) October 24, 2026
Green isn’t just a giant body standing around the formation. LSU uses him in a high-tempo offense that hides its size well, moving him around instead of parking him outside and asking him to win isolated battles every snap. The Tigers have leaned on short crossers and quick play-action looks to get him involved, and the results have been steady: 19 catches, 272 yards and two touchdowns in eight games, with a 14.3-yard average per reception.
Wommack knows exactly what makes Green such a tough cover.
“Anytime you have big targets, they have a large catch radius. A guy like him who can run on top of that presents a number of challenges,” Wommack said.“
Then, just the way college football and the NFL work in terms of using tight end personnel, this offensive staff has had a number of guys who are really good players at the tight end position in the past. This guy is second to none in that regard.
He'll create a number of issues for us that we're going to have to find ways to match up with, both in how we attack a big body in man coverage and how we play him in zone from a bracket standpoint.”
But Green is only part of the equation. LSU’s offense has been built to generate explosives, and that’s where the real strain on Alabama begins.
The Crimson Tide have already allowed 76 explosive plays this season, a number that ranks 24th nationally. LSU has produced 79 of its own, good for 12th in the FBS.
That kind of firepower doesn’t come from one player alone, either. Green is one of four main receiving threats, alongside Jackson Harris, Winston Watkins Jr. and Eugene Wilson.
Harris is averaging 17.6 yards per catch, Watkins Jr. is at 13.2, and Wilson sits at 10.5. Together, they give quarterback Sam Leavitt a spread of options that can pull Alabama’s coverage in different directions and punish any lapse in communication.
Senior safety and team captain Bray Hubbard said the answer has to be discipline.
“I mean, we’ve just gotta play sound in our coverages,” Hubbard told reporters Tuesday after practice. “Everybody’s gotta do their job.
I’ve gotta do my job, and whoever else is in there, whatever fives is in there, we’ve just all gotta do our jobs and limit the explosives. We’ve been playing well on defense, but giving up the explosive plays can hurt you, so that’s what we’ve gotta limit.”
Alabama has seen this movie before. The difference now is the opponent, the wrinkle and the setting.
With postseason hopes in the balance, the Tide can’t afford another round of busted coverages. How well they handle Green and LSU’s other playmakers may decide more than just Saturday night.
In Other News...
Philip Rivers Could Leave Alabama For A Job That Changes Two Programs
Philip Rivers has built a second football life in Alabama, coaching at St. Michael Catholic High School while guiding his son Gunner, a committed NC State quarterback, through the next step of his career. Now the former NFL quarterback and NC State standout has surfaced as a leading candidate to take over the Wolfpack program after Dave Doeren was fired, a development that ties his current Alabama stop directly to a job with major meaning in Raleigh.
For Alabama fans who have watched Rivers settle into the high school game, the possibility carries an unusual ripple effect because it could pull him away from the state and into a role that would reshape both programs. Rivers has already shown respect for NC State and has drawn NFL head-coaching interest before, but this opening comes with a different kind of pull, one that would put father, son and alma mater on the same collision course. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama May Get A Massive Defensive Boost Before LSU
Alabamas run defense took a noticeable hit after defensive tackle Terrance Green was injured in the Georgia game, and the timing could hardly have been worse for a front that has been dealing with injuries in recent weeks. Green has been a key interior piece for the Crimson Tide, and his absence showed up in the way opponents were able to lean on the ground game as the season wore on.
Now there is at least some optimism that help is on the way before LSU comes to town. Green is reportedly expected to return in time for that matchup, which would give Alabama a much-needed boost in the middle and restore some stability to a defensive front that has been stretched thin. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Suddenly Has A Surprising Role In Alabamas SEC Drama
Alabamas playoff margin is getting thinner by the week, and Paul Finebaum said the stakes of the upcoming road trip to LSU are hard to overstate. With the Crimson Tide already carrying a weaker non-conference schedule, the value of their best early resume win has also been complicated by Florida States recent coaching change, which only adds to the pressure on every remaining SEC test.
Finebaum also pointed to Kentucky as an unexpected piece of the larger picture, another result Alabama has reason to watch closely while trying to keep its own path to the College Football Playoff alive. In a conference race where Alabama and LSU are being measured against one another, the Wildcats performance could end up shaping how the playoff conversation looks around the Tide, even before the league's biggest games finish sorting themselves out. [Read more 🡒]