When Ryan Grubb called Alabama’s tight ends an “absolute bright spot” in fall camp, it sounded like standard coach-speak at the time. Two games into the season, it looks more like a blueprint.
Alabama has leaned hard into multiple-tight-end looks to start 2026, using two or more tight ends on 41 plays against East Carolina and 25 against Kentucky, according to tracking provided to CBS Sports. That kind of volume is a major departure from what Grubb has typically done in recent years.
Last season, Alabama only got above 23 such plays once, when it reached 30 in a win over LSU. Before that, Grubb never topped 20 in a game as the Seattle Seahawks’ play-caller with multiple tight ends on the field. During his two seasons as Washington’s offensive coordinator in 2022 and 2023, there were only five games with 20-plus plays featuring multiple tight ends, and he never went past 25.
The last time Grubb and coach Kalen DeBoer had an offense this tight end-heavy was at Fresno State in 2021. In Alabama’s case, the shift comes with a clear purpose: reviving a running game that, as Grubb said in fall camp, mostly failed in 2025.
The early returns have been real. Alabama’s tight end room has combined for 109 snaps per game across the first two games, a 34% jump from 81 snaps per game last season.
Kaleb Edwards, who was the lead option late last season after Josh Cuevas was injured, is now the main tight end and has played 93 snaps. But Alabama has also found meaningful roles for Marshall Pritchett (44 snaps), Josh Ford (41), Danny Lewis (25) and Jay Lindsey (15).
That extra size has helped the Tide on the ground. Alabama running backs have rushed 31 times this season from multiple-tight-end formations and averaged 5.7 yards per carry for 178 total yards on plays not including goal-to-go situations.
With one or no tight ends on the field, the numbers have been more modest: 21 carries, 3.9 yards per carry in those same non-goal-to-go situations.
The contrast with last season is even sharper. Alabama backs ran 90 times for 302 yards, or 3.4 yards per carry, when multiple tight ends were on the field in 2025. Without an extra tight end, they were actually more efficient, averaging 4.6 yards per carry on 198 rushes.
Grubb pushed the package even further at the goal line in Saturday’s win over Kentucky. He put four tight ends on the field, stacked three to the left, and sent the running back in motion before handing it off behind the strong side. EJ Crowell scored on the play, and Grubb came back to the same look later with Trae'shawn Brown for another touchdown.
CBS Sports tracking shows those were the only plays in the past five seasons in which Alabama used “14” personnel - one running back and four tight ends. Grubb didn’t use that package at Washington, though he did run three plays for the Seahawks with four tight ends on the field, including a similar-looking touchdown handoff to Zach Charbonnet in 2024.
The tradeoff is obvious. With more tight ends on the field, Alabama is using fewer three-receiver sets than it did a year ago.
Grubb and DeBoer’s Washington offense leaned heavily on its wideouts, and Alabama did too last season. But this fall, the Tide have gone in the other direction.
Alabama had 38 snaps with three or more receivers against Kentucky and 37 against East Carolina, both totals lower than any Alabama game last season except LSU, when the Tide had just 33 such plays.
Through two games, Alabama’s 66 snaps with multiple tight ends rank 10th in FBS, while its 76 snaps with three or more receivers rank 94th.
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