While ending the regular season left out of the playoffs isn’t the best thing, we do get to jump into the offseason activities with a little more gusto early on this year.

This is going to be what I consider the defining offseason of Kalen DeBoer’s tenure at Alabama. A year ago, he was inheriting an already somewhat broken roster, trying to keep anyone he could on campus, and working with the pieces he had.

This offseason, though, we get to see what DeBoer’s actual vision for a team is through the moves he makes.

“Last year, we were really just in full retention mode,” said DeBoer on a Sunday night Zoom call with reporters. “There was no portal to take any guys from, I guess other than programs that lost head coaches, and that’s the situation we were in.”

“We’re going to build our program with the freshman class, which I’m really excited about the signees,” DeBoer said. “We’re going to retain and we’re going to develop the guys we have here and fill in the areas that need some numbers or maybe just need to be a little bit better on the football field on Saturdays. That’s a fluid thing, and I feel like communication is where it all starts.”

It’s been a very long time since Alabama fans have wondered what the coach would prioritize. We knew Nick Saban’s preferences for positions for 15 years, and though he made tweaks over time, we were all familiar with what he wanted to prioritize. So this will really be the first time that we get to truly begin to judge DeBoer.

The interesting part of the whole thing is the impending rule change – teams may be allowed to distribute up to 105 scholarships, rather than 85.

For now, we don’t totally know how this is going to work, so for the sake of a roster-tracking exercise, we’ll continue to assume that the coaching staff is going to target 85 recruited scholarship players and just extend monies to the walk-ons that fill the remaining 20 slots. It seems unlikely that a program would be able to hold on to many more recruited players than that anyway.

Including Jehiem Oatis, who quit mid-way through the season, Alabama had 84 players on scholarship, plus long snapper Kneeland Hibbett, who was a walk-on awarded a scholarship in August, to make 85.

Alabama also has a number of players (5) who are out of eligibility: Malachi Moore, Tim Smith, Jah-Marien Latham, Que Robinson, and James Burnip are all 5th-year players. For the 4th year seniors, you also have (5) Graham Nicholson, Justin Jefferson, Robbie Ouzts, Kneeland Hibbett, and CJ Dippre. I think, technically, all of these except Jefferson could still use their Covid year, but for now, let’s assume they all graduate and move on like the world is normal again.

Next, take out the (10) players who have already entered the transfer portal:

• Kendrick Law
• Keanu Koht
• Danny Lewis
• Kobe Prentice
• Jahlil Hurley
• Hunter Osborne
• Miles McVay
• Naquil Betrand
• Jehiem Oatis
• Caleb Odom

There will likely be more before the portal closes up on December 28th. While none of these guys have shown any indication that they are thinking about leaving, here are a few players who have been passed on the depth chart by younger players, making them a decent candidate for transferring (this was the case even before the portal)

• Damon Payne
• One of Dylan Lonergan or Austin Mack
• One of Keon Keeley or Jordan Renaud
• DaShawn Jones

Next, we have the NFL departures. There are three (3) “for sure” players:

• Tyler Booker
• Deontae Lawson
• Jihaad Campbell

There is also a large grouping of possible NFL departures, though some of these seem pretty unlikely. In order from most likely to leave to least likely:

1. Jalen Milroe
2. Parker Brailsford
3. Domani Jackson
4. Tim Keenan
5. Germie Bernard
6. LT Overton
7. Jam Miller
8. Jaeden Roberts

In my opinion, Milroe is most likely gone. Brailsford probably should go as the 2nd or 3rd center off the board, but could stay because he wants to play for DeBoer still. Tim Keenan is a late round pick, but he may go ahead and go as a graduated senior anyway. Domani Jackson seems the most likely to be a surprise after quietly having a great year, but for now, we’ll assume he stays. For this group, I’ll assume (3) leave.

So, let’s do some math:

(85 players) – (10 graduating seniors) – (10 transfer portalers) – (6 NFL departures) = 59 returning players. I’d say there are up to about 9 more who might go, and we can safely take out half of those – ultimately about 55 filled roster spots.

Now, we add in the 2025 recruiting class. Alabama signed 21 players, pushing the estimated roster up to 76. This leaves room for about 9 additions through the transfer portal.

Now, what positions is the Tide likely to target?

Quarterback

Alabama has 3-4 players here already. Unlikely to take any transfers

Runningback

Already 6 deep. Unlikely to take a transfer

Wide Receiver

With only 11 players for a 5-person rotation, Alabama likely wants one to two WRs here. Kevin Concepcion is all the talk right now, but don’t be surprised if Alabama goes for more depth too.

Tight End

There are only 5 on the roster, and 5th year senior Josh Cuevas is the only one with experience. Alabama could very well be looking for a starter here, and will definitely be looking for depth.

Offensive tackle

Alabama has three-ish starters with Kadyn Proctor, Elijah Pritchett, and Wilkin Formby, plus a 5-star freshman in Jackson Lloyd. Still you never say no to a good offensive tackle – either for depth or to unseat Pritchett/Formby

Interior OL

With 10 players for three spots, Alabama is likely going to hold pat here.

Defensive tackle

Assuming Tim Keenan is going to graduate and move on, I think Alabama will absolutely be looking for a starting defensive tackle to put alongside James Smith. Shoot, they’ll likely be looking even if Keenan stays – at least a good rotational one.

Bandit

As long as Overton stays, they probably won’t actively be looking for this position, but would take someone good if they happen to be the right fit.

Wolf

With Qua Russaw, Yhonzae Pierre, and a trio of young depth behind them, this one seems unlikely.

Linebacker

Do you think Jeremiah Alexander and Justin Okoronwko are the starting linebackers next year? They might be. But if the coaches are even half as hesitant as I am about that, don’t be surprised if they are looking for someone who could be a starter here.

Cornerback

Yeah. Still not enough of these guys around. Even if you have your starters, Alabama needs more depth. Ideally two.

Safety

The Tide seems set with Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb, but would probably take a decent depth piece too.

To get the 9 total and keep a decent roster spread, the breakdown is below:

WR – 1

TE- 1

OT – 1

DT – 1

DE/Bandit – 1

Linebacker -1

Cornerback – 2

Safety – 1

The question will be…. How much does the coaching staff agree with what I think here? It’ll be interesting to see what they prioritize, and those moves will likely tell us quite a bit about how they feel about the current roster, and what they plan for the team in the coming years.

For now, sit back and enjoy. It’ll all come together eventually.