Jumbo Package: Injury update, depth chart questions halfway through camp

Happy Monday, everyone. In case you missed it, we learned about the severity of AK Dear’s ankle injury over the weekend.

 Alabama running back AK Dear is expected to miss about six weeks because of an ankle injury sustained in a preseason scrimmage, according to multiple reports.

Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said Thursday that Dear was injured in the first of two scrimmages and would be evaluated. Tests revealed the severity of the injury, 247Sports and On3 reported Friday.

That would put him in line to return somewhere around the Georgia game. EJ Crowell reportedly had a minor ankle tweak that he suffered on August 9. Hopefully we see him soon, but in the meantime less heralded freshman Trae’shawn Brown is causing a stir. As Chase Goodbread notes, hitting on those types of players is how a GM builds a reputation.

Last December, Alabama was set to make running back Javari Barnett part of its 2026 signing class. But Barnett, who had vacillated between UA and Illinois in the recruiting process, dropped UA and chose the Illini at the eleventh hour. Barnett also had offers from the likes of Penn State, Miami, Tennessee and Texas A&M, but when a player like that bails on a commitment too close to signing day, the vacancy can’t always be filled by a player in similarly high demand.

The spot has to be backfilled by identifying an unknown like Brown. And whether that unknown can play at an SEC level is what makes GM’s like Morgan good, or not as good, at what they do.

On the quarterback front, the consensus seemed to be that Russell had the better afternoon. But Kalen DeBoer wasn’t ready to commit either way.

The buzz: According to 247Sports, Alabama moved the ball more effectively with Russell at quarterback as he “led the majority of scoring drives compared to Austin Mack.” It doesn’t sound like Mack had a poor showing, but Russell produced a few more “wow” plays following a slow start from both signal callers. That’s not necessarily surprising given Russell’s mobility, and his “elusiveness” could prove to be a factor in the final decision. Although it seems like Russell has an edge exiting the first scrimmage, DeBoer said he doesn’t “feel closer” to naming a starter at this point.

Colin Gay still has Austin Mack atop the chart in his updated stab at a depth chart.

Keelon Russell may have the explosion. And Austin Mack may have the experience in the scheme. Neither have enough on-field reps to solidify a top position on Alabama’s quarterback depth chart through one scrimmage and nine fall camp practices. Even if a starter is named, nothing is set in stone until either Mack or Russell prove it early on in 2026.

We’ve already covered everyone else on this next list, but Terrance Green reportedly had a fine day in addition to Devan Thompkins.

Thompkins wasn’t the only defensive lineman who helped his stock.

Oregon transfer Terrance Green also received plenty of attention coming out of the first scrimmage.

Green was identified as one of the defensive standouts alongside Thompkins, which is significant considering the amount of competition Alabama has along the defensive line.

The Crimson Tide brought Green in to provide another powerful presence up front, and his continued emergence could give Wommack plenty of options when it comes to rotating defensive linemen.

With Alabama hoping to improve its ability to stop the run and create pressure up front, Green’s development could become a major storyline throughout the remainder of camp.

It’s great to think that the defensive line might have found a couple of difference makers, but scrimmages are always a good news, bad news scenario. Is the defensive line very good, or is the offensive line very bad? Or, is it something in between? That’s perhaps the biggest question left.

When DeBoer was asked about the offensive line on Thursday, his first move was to praise the defensive line. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence up front.

Much like the rest of the offense, the group got off to a slow start.

“Definitely not there yet,” DeBoer said, when asked about the group’s cohesion. “And it’s going to be something where every day you’re just trying to take those steps. There’s things that they do really well, like there’s stuff that we can go out there, we can execute with those guys and feel really good about it.

The OL is certainly a work in progress. Ryan Grubb’s stated mission to find the “best five” is ongoing.

Loser: The Offensive Line Checklist

The Crimson Tide’s front five had expectations to be a Joe Moore Award-caliber unit last year, but run-blocking struggles spread like wildfire, and it resulted in numerous in-game substitutions and also the firing of offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic after two years at UA and replacing him with USC defensive analyst Adrian Klemm.

Grubb recently said that finding the “best five” players on the offensive line will be the strategy this year, except it doesn’t seem like the Tide is particularly close to accomplishing this. Sophomore Michael Carroll, the lone remaining starter from last season, will all but certainly start at right guard, while fellow sophomore Jackson Lloyd fits at left tackle and Cal Poly transfer Racin Delgatty lines up at center.

There’s a battle at left guard between junior Will Sanders and sophomore Mal Waldrep Jr. Additionally, the right tackle spot is up for grabs between transfers Jayvin James (Mississippi State) and Nick Brooks (Texas), but there hasn’t been any indication that any of these four have separated themselves. It’s resulted in DeBoer and Grubb saying multiple times that the unit is “definitely not there yet,” but the cohesion of the group is improving.

If the line is to be good this season, Michael Carroll will need to lead. He spoke with Emilee Smarr about adjusting to SEC life as a freshman last season.

“Our whole D-line, that kind of woke me up,” Carroll continued. “I came from IMG, so it was great, you know, work every day, but here was another level, but I’ve gotten adapted to that and prepared now that I’m a guy that, hopefully, other guys will say it’s tough going against me.”

Through 14 games playing alongside the likes of Kadyn Proctor and Parker Brailsford, Carroll made himself a sponge, and the veteran linemen’s ready-to-work mentality has motivated Carroll through his transition from playing right tackle to guard.

Offensive line coach Adrian Klemm has been a helpful addition to the staff, too.

“I’m really enjoying it because he has a proven track record of history of what he’s done, so I’m just blessed to be in a place like this with a coach like that,” Carroll said of Klemm.

Alabama lost a staffer to the Las Vegas Raiders.

For Gill, it’s the move to the NFL is a payoff on a climb that started at the small college level. He got into the profession in 2016 at Tabor College, an NAIA program in Kansas, coaching wideouts. From there he stacked stops the way a lot of grinders do, one rung at a time: Whittier College out in California from 2019 to 2021, then a jump to the Division I level as an assistant receivers coach at New Mexico State, followed by the same role at Oregon State.

That path landed him at Alabama in March 2024, working the receiver room as an assistant and analyst. In Tuscaloosa, Gill helped develop Germie Bernard, who the Steelers traded up to grab at No. 47 overall in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft. 

Ty Simpson had himself a day in his NFL debut.

Simpson, the Rams’ first-round pick out of Alabama this past April, completed 21 of 25 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Veteran Stetson Bennett started the game behind center and led Los Angeles to an early field goal before Simpson took over on the third offensive possession and went the rest of the way.

“It was great,” Simpson said in his postgame interview with Sports Central LA. “Guys did a great job, executed well. Everybody was on task and that’s where they executed the play. I just threw the ball. The guys did the rest.

“It’s progress. I’ve got a lot to learn, a lot of learning ops in that game and hopefully I’m going to keep growing. I’m not looking for perfection. And just excited about the two touchdowns.”

It was just one exhibition game, but Ty quieted a lot of haters with that one. Germie Bernard showed off his shiftiness in his Pittsburgh debut.

Last, Justin Lebron hit his first grand slam as a pro.

May there be many more.

That’s about it for today. Have a great week.

Roll Tide.