Alabama Crimson Tide: 5 Players to Watch in 2026
By George Somerville
It’s year three in charge of the Alabama Crimson Tide for Head Football Coach Kalen Deboer. With a recently announced contract extension making DeBoer higher paid than Nick Saban was during his time in Tuscaloosa, the pressure is most definitely on DeBoer.
Crimson Tide fans’ expectations are generally high. However, with no playoff berth in year one and an unceremonious and humbling dispatch from the playoffs in year two by Indiana, Crimson Tide fans expect huge improvement in year three.
Does DeBoer now possess the strength of roster required to progress to a National Championship game? There has been criticism of DeBoer’s teams for lacking the same winning mindset and tough physicality which characterised Nick Saban’s championship-winning teams during his long tenure in Tuscaloosa.
All Change
With 10 players drafted to the NFL in 2026 and another 20 entering the transfer portal, there will be changes to the starting lineup this year in Tuscaloosa. While Alabama fans demand success, they also understand the need for a roster overhaul. DeBoer is still building this team, which is not made easier by the demands of the transfer portal and NIL.
Can the Crimson Tide deliver that National Championship? Time will tell, but here are five reasons why the Alabama Crimson Tide will be challenging at the end of the season.
With Ty Simpson off to the Californian sunshine to play Sunday football with the Rams, the Crimson Tide will have a new starter at Quarterback. The smart money is with Austin Mack who has spent three years immersed in the Deboer offense. First in Washington with the Huskies before transferring with DeBoer to the Deep South.
Like Ty Simpson before him (and Mac Jones before that), Mack has bided his time and is expected to take up the role under centre in his and DeBoer’s third year in Tuscaloosa.
not so fast
But as a wise man once said, not so fast, my friend. This suggests Mack has a load of experience under his belt. Not so much. In three seasons at Washington and Alabama, Mack has 35 pass attempts to his credit, 16 of which came in the Crimson Tide’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal loss to Indiana at the 2026 Rose Bowl, where he led the team with 103 passing yards.
So Mack might not be the slam-dunk starter we think, which made Alabama’s Spring game fascinating to watch.
Daniels Comparison
Of all the storylines which came out of that first public scrimmage of the year was the performance of sophomore Keelon Russell.
Russell was recruited out of Texas, where he had a 42-2 record at Duncansville High School. At 6’3″ and 192 pounds, Russell draws comparisons to ex LSU Tiger and Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. Russell enters his sophomore year in Tuscaloosa, but as a true freshman, Russell appeared in two games against Louisiana-Monroe and Eastern Illinois. In these two games, he completed 11 of 15 pass attempts for 143 passing yards and two touchdowns. Add this to the standout performance during Alabama’s spring game, which caught everyone’s eye, and Russell is a real contender to start at QB this season.
TUA time
And for those thinking that DeBoer will start with the guy who knows his offense best, it’s worth noting that Russell’s route to season 2026/27 spookily mirrors that of Tua Tagovailoa, who didn’t do badly during his time in a Crimson jersey.
Russell is the very definition of one to watch.
If you haven’t heard of Keelon Russell yet, you can’t have missed Ryan Coleman-Williams’ explosion onto the scene two seasons ago. In 2024, Williams was the bright new hope for Alabama fans, living up to his 5-star reputation. Everyone nationwide knew that he was only 17 years old.
Now, however, Coleman-Williams has a different problem on his shoulders. While he arrived on the college football stage with an explosion, Coleman-Williams’ star has waned since. Last season, he was a shadow of the player we saw in his freshman year.
old head, young shoulders
Now the then 17-year-old superstar freshman is a 19-year-old junior and has quickly become one of the elder statesmen and leaders of this Crimson Tide team.
In 2024, Coleman Williams had 48 receptions for 865 yards, averaging 18 yards per catch. In that impressive freshman season, Williams scored 8 Touchdowns. He had arrived. However, in 2025, while he had 49 receptions, he produced only 689 yards, averaging 14.1 yards per reception and only 4 Touchdowns. It is probably the latter stat that has Alabama fans wondering where Ryan Coleman Williams disappeared to last season.
In what is likely his last year in Tuscaloosa, the 2026-27 season is a huge one for Williams – as a wide receiver, leader and NFL prospect.
The job of the new Offensive line coach, Adrian Klemm, cannot be overstated enough. Last season, Alabama’s O-line just wasn’t up to the job and, at times, was flat-out bullied in games. This culminated in a humbling Rose Bowl loss at the hands of an Indiana team that went on to win a National Championship.
Whether it is a blessing or a curse, four of Alabama’s five starting offensive linemen aren’t in Tuscaloosa for this season.
However, Michael Carroll returns after his impressive freshman season at Right Tackle. Carroll is proving his worth to DeBoer and Klemm as a Swiss Army knife-type player who is reliable enough to switch positions.
Swiss army knife
At 6’6″ and 321 pounds, Carroll split time at right guard and right tackle during Spring practice. This is vital for Klemm as he pieces together the jigsaw puzzle, building this season’s O-Line. And as much as we can salivate about Keelon Russell at quarterback, he’s not going to do anything if he spends the 60 minutes on his backside.
So, with Racin Delegaty (from Cal Poly), Jayvin James (Mississippi State), Kalen Strayhorn (Michigan), and Nick Brooks (Texas) all transferring in and new to the system, Michael Carroll’s role and leadership will be key to success in the trenches this year.
Hubbard arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2023 as a freshman and broke into the starting XI only in 2024 after an injury to Keon Sabb opened the door for him. Hubbard has never looked back since.
Now in his Senior year, Hubbard is a leader of this team and will almost certainly be appointed a Captain. This is great news for DeBoer as he looks to build his secondary around Hubbard.
This season, Hubbard looks to improve upon his 2025 season when he led the SEC with four interceptions and two sacks. Hubbard is another player who has the skills and flexibility to move around the defense, proving invaluable for defensive coordinator Kane Wommack. Last season, Hubbard played at free safety but was also utilised at times as a Linebacker. With 79 tackles across the season, Hubbard was a first-team All-SEC and second-team All-American, demonstrating how vital he is to this Crimson Tide defense.
There was no position on that 2025 Alabama football team under more scrutiny than the running back room. Alabama, a team built on the run game seemingly forgot how to “run the damn ball” and this irritated Crimson Tide fans. It also placed more pressure on QB Ty Simpson and on a wide receiver room which was already struggling. So bad was the run game last season that the Crimson Tide ranked 125 out of 136 FBS teams. The inability to run the ball in the SEC is, well, disastrous.
So this year, the number one question surrounding the Crimson Tide is: How will DeBoer solve the running back situation?
While Jam Miller is off to the NFL to play Sunday football with the New England Patriots, Alabama returns three running backs from last season.
run the damn ball
Daniel Hill returns as a junior and at 6’1″ and 236 pounds is by far the most physical of the three. Hill also has the most experience and is the presumptive starter and RB1 at this stage of the year. Last season, Hill led the Crimson Tide in rushing touchdowns with six. He had 75 carries for 284 yards, underscoring the telling statistic of fewer than 4 yards per carry. This is something that DeBoer and running backs coach Robert Gillespie will be prioritising during summer practice. Put simply, Alabama needs better production out of its running backs room.
It is difficult to know at this stage if Hill has what it takes to carry the weight of the Crimson Tide run game on his shoulders. But Kalen DeBoer should be warned that another season without a run game to speak of will put him under severe pressure. And that feels like an understatement at this point.
George Somerville
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Writer
George is a long standing fanatic of life in the Deep South and writes his weekly column titled “It’s only SEC” for the touchdown.
He is also co-host and one third of the College Chaps Podcast, the UK’s original podcast dedicated solely to the college gme.