Spring practice gets started in two days in Tuscaloosa with Alabama football hitting the practice field on Sunday. They'll have 15 practices between now and April 11th's A-Day event.
Yesterday, we took a look at four offensive players who are "on the clock", meaning returning players for the Crimson Tide who need to make a move this spring or risk being buried on the depth chart.
Today, we'll flip that and move on to the defensive side of the ball.
4 Alabama defensive players who must make a move this spring
1. DT Isaia Faga
Heading into his redshirt sophomore season, Isaia Faga will be looking to carve out a bigger role on the Alabama defensive line. He was a rotational piece last year, but has a much greater opportunity this year.
With James Smith leaving via the Transfer Portal and London Simmons missing spring practice with an injury, Faga has a chance this spring to really make a move and position himself for a big role in 2026.
He'll likely be competing with redshirt junior Edric Hill, along with versatile USC transfer Devan Thompkins, who could play DT or Bandit. Faga will also look to stay ahead of some impressive incoming freshmen, such as Kamhariyan Johnson.
2. DL Fatutoa Henry
Alabama landed Fatutoa Henry out of the JUCO ranks a year ago, and he spent the past season acclimating to this level of college football. Heading into his final year of eligibility, however, Kalen DeBoer and company need to see Henry develop enough this spring to be prepared to play a role on the 2026 team.
USC transfer Devan Thompkins is the projected starter at Bandit, and Henry figures to be competing for rotational snaps with South Carolina transfer Desmond Umeozulu. There's also a plethora of young players coming into their first spring - namely Nolan Wilson and Jamarion Matthews - who are not going to be content with simply waiting their turn.
3. LB Cayden Jones
The former 4-star LB recruit, Cayden Jones, is coming into his third season with the Crimson Tide, looking to carve out a role on the defensive side of the ball after working as a core special teams player in his first two seasons in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama has a wide open competition for its two starting off-ball linebacker spots with Deontae Lawson, Justin Jefferson, and Nikhai Hill-Green all running out of eligibility. Alabama landed Virginia Tech transfer Caleb Woodson out of the Transfer Portal to add some much-needed experience to the room, but both jobs are up for grabs.
Jones will compete with Woodson, classmate QB Reese, and then the crop of second-year LBs in Luke Metz, Duke Johnson, and Abduall Sanders. 5-star freshman Xavier Griffin could also be a factor in the competition, unless he starts out in the Wolf room.
This is likely Jones's only real opportunity to win a starting job.
4. S Dre Kirkpatrick Jr.
It was a bit of a surprise when Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. elected to return to Tuscaloosa for his third season. An off-field incident led to the Alabama legacy being suspended for the final seven games of the season, and with the Tide's depth at his position, most assumed he would be portal-bound.
But Kirkpatrick Jr. will return, and he will compete at a crowded position. Alabama returned both starting safeties from a year ago in Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb, along with rising junior Zay Mincey and rising sophomore Ivan Taylor.
Alabama also signed 5-star Jireh Edwards in the 2026 recruiting class, providing even more competition for Kirkpatrick Jr. to try to earn playing time.
He seemed to be on the path to a real role in the secondary last season until the suspension. The rising junior is a talented player, but he's in a room full of talented players that keeps adding additional bodies and muddying the water for him to get on the field.