Spring Practice Storylines We’re Keeping Up with for the Crimson Tide’s Offense

Alabama football spring starts one week from Monday, on March 9, as head coach Kalen DeBoer enters his third season in Tuscaloosa after a 20-8 record over his first two seasons in Tuscaloosa, including an SEC championship appearance and a victory in the College Football Playoff.

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The 2026 edition of the Crimson Tide will be inexperienced on offense, but it remains highly talented, with Alabama expected to have the fifth-highest blue-chip ratio in college football for 2026 at 81 percent. While the Tide has a top-five blue-chip ratio, it has the third-highest in the SEC, behind the Georgia Bulldogs (85%) and the LSU Tigers (83%). Ohio State has the highest blue-chip ratio in college football for 2026, with 89%.

The expectations are always high at Alabama, no matter the experience on the roster or who the head coach is. As we enter the third year of the Kalen DeBoer era, that hasn't changed, despite the landscape of college football changing almost daily. As spring practice approaches, here are three storylines that we're tracking for the Crimson Tide's offense throughout March and April.

The Quarterback Battle: Can Mack or Russell Separate Early?

Kalen DeBoer will have a new starting quarterback for his third straight season to begin his Alabama tenure. This quarterback battle is different from his previous two seasons, as DeBoer recruited both quarterbacks. Austin Mack (left) was an early enrollee with the Washington Huskies in 2023, and followed DeBoer to Alabama when the Crimson Tide hired him in January 2024. Mack has served as the backup quarterback to Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson in 2024 and competed for the starting quarterback job in 2025 before serving as the backup to Ty Simpson. Mack has thrown for 267 yards and three scores in his collegiate career. Keelon Russell (right) was a five-star quarterback signee with the Crimson Tide's 2025 recruiting class and was DeBoer's first quarterback he signed from the high school ranks at Alabama. He appeared in two games last season for Alabama as the Tide's third quarterback on the depth chart, throwing for 143 yards and two touchdowns.

Can either quarterback separate early in this quarterback competition? Last spring, after A-Day, Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said that if Alabama had to play a game immediately, Ty Simpson would be the starter. Simpson still had to win the job outright in fall camp, which he did after the Tide's first fall scrimmage, but Grubb's comments provided direction for the team and the fanbase through summer workouts and the start of fall camp. Can Mack or Russell earn the same endorsement?

The Offensive Line: Who Steps Up?

Alabama's offensive line struggled last season, allowing 32 sacks, and 28 on starting quarterback Ty Simpson. The Tide overhauled the offensive line from 2025, with five players heading to the NFL and six entering the transfer portal, marking 11 total losses up front for Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb's offense. Alabama did add 11 new linemen via the transfer portal and the 2026 recruiting class, and hired Adrian Klemm to replace former offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic. The Tide returns just one starter from the 2025 season: right tackle Michael Carroll, who was a true freshman last season and only started five games. Alabama will have four new starters, with a mixture of players already on the roster and transfers competing for the available positions.

Who steps up early will be a point of emphasis. Alabama brought in three players who should compete for the open guard positions: Kaden Strayhorn (Michigan), Ethan Fields (Ole Miss), and Nick Brooks (Texas). The Tide also returned William Sanders, who saw an increased role at left guard last season behind Kam Dewberry and Geno VanDeMark. Who steps in at guard? Racin Delgatty (Cal Poly) is expected to be the early frontrunner for the opening at center after Parker Brailsford's departure, but Michigan transfer Kaden Strayhorn and redshirt freshman Mal Waldrep Jr. are both expected to take reps at center in the competition.

Arguably, the second biggest position battle on offense is the Tide's left tackle vacancy following Kadyn Proctor's declaration for the NFL. The Tide has added two players with experience at left tackle via the transfer portal in Michigan transfer Ty Haywood and Mississippi State transfer Jayvin James. James, a redshirt junior, has appeared in 26 career games with 21 starts, and was Mississippi State's starting left tackle in all 12 regular-season games in 2025, where he allowed three sacks. Haywood, a redshirt freshman, is a former four-star signee with Michigan, appearing in three games for the Wolverines during the 2025 season. Can either Haywood or James push redshirt freshman Jackson Lloyd for the starting position? Lloyd was listed as the second-string offensive tackle behind Proctor last season and appeared in five games for the Crimson Tide, but he only charted 41 snaps.

Running Back Room: Can the Tide Find Juice at RB Again?

Alabama's running back room was largely underwhelming in 2025, with the leading rusher, Jam Miller, only having 504 yards after missing four games due to various injuries. Only four other rushers eclipsed 100 yards all season long, including wide receiver Germie Bernard with 101 yards, who is off to the NFL. Daniel Hill was the second-leading rusher with 284 yards, Kevin Riley was third with 224, and AK Dear rounded out the top four with 140. Alabama had the 15th-ranked rushing offense in the SEC last season, eclipsing 100 yards in just seven games last year, and over the final three games of the season, Alabama had -3 rushing yards against Georgia in the SEC championship, 28 yards and one rushing touchdown against Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff, and 23 against Indiana in the Rose Bowl.

Hill is the early favorite to secure the Tide's starting running back spot, with a career total of 345 yards and seven scores. The 6-foot-1, 244-pound junior can provide power to Alabama's run game, where redshirt sophomore Kevin Riley or sophomore AK Dear can provide speed and finesse. Riley started two games for Alabama last season against ULM in week two and Wisconsin in week three, where he put up 69 rushing yards and 45 receiving yards against the Warhawks and 20 yards on the ground and 28 receiving against the Badgers. Dear saw action in five games for Alabama, with 140 rushing yards and three scores. All three will try to hold off true freshman early enrollee EJ Crowell, who reclassified from the 2027 to the 2026 recruiting class and signed with the Tide as a five-star from Jackson, Alabama. Crowell was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Alabama after rushing for 2,632 yards and 35 scores en route to a second consecutive state championship.

The Tide has not had a 1,000-yard running back since Brian Robinson Jr. in 2021 rushed for 1,343. Jahnyr Gibbs was the closest in 2022 with 926 yards. Alabama's offensive line and running back rooms, which both will feature new faces, will need to complement one another if the Tide wants to take pressure off of a new starter, regardless of whether it's Mack or Russell.

Alabama will start spring practice on Monday, March 9.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.