Spring practice is nearing its end for Alabama football. The Crimson Tide has already had two scrimmages, and Saturday's A-Day Game will be the conclusion of Kalen DeBoer's third spring as the Tide's head coach.
Predictably, there's still a lot to be sorted out.
While some position battles have seemingly already concluded, others are still waging on and aren't likely to be decided by Saturday's A-Day Game. They might not be decided until the season starts in September.
Here are five intriguing battles to monitor as spring practice comes to a close in Tuscaloosa.
The 5 most intriguing position battles still going for Alabama in spring practice
1. Quarterback
We'll start with the most obvious. The QB battle between Austin Mack and Keelon Russell has everyone's attention, but little has been sorted out through spring. Both signal callers have received their share of praise from DeBoer and Ryan Grubb, but neither reportedly put their best foot forward during Friday's scrimmage.
The race appears to still be wide open, which is good news for Russell in particular.
This time a year ago, Ty Simpson, entering his fourth season with the Crimson Tide, was the obvious QB1. While he wasn't named the starter until August, he held a massive lead in spring.
Mack, entering his fourth season in DeBoer's system, has not built any type of lead over Russell, the former No. 2 overall player in his high school class. The longer this goes without separation, the more likely that Russell's talent is able to edge Mack out.
2. Left Guard
Alabama seems to have identified three, if not four, starters on the offensive line. Michael Carroll, Jackson Lloyd, and Cal Poly transfer Racin Delgatty appear to have locked up starting spots in spring practice.
Lloyd at left tackle and Delgatty at center are locked in. Carroll will start, but whether that is at right tackle or right guard isn't 100% locked up, though it's trending more and more toward Carroll shifting inside to guard this year with Mississippi State transfer Jayvin James starting at right tackle.
Left guard is the battle that will likely take the longest to sort. Transfers Nick Brooks (Texas) and Ethan Fields (Ole Miss), along with Mal Waldrep, have seen first-team reps at left guard this spring. Fields got the majority of the work at LG during Alabama's second scrimmage on Friday.
But rising third-year player William Sanders will have a lot to say about that starting spot in the fall. He's been held out this spring with an injury, but will be among the favorites to win the starting spot during fall camp.
3. Running Back
It's anybody's guess how the RB carries will be distributed right now. 5-star freshman EJ Crowell has been dealing with a nagging injury and has missed a lot of valuable reps, which will make it more difficult for him to carve out a major role early in the season.
Daniel Hill is the presumed favorite to start, but intel from Friday's scrimmage indicated that Kevin Riley, Hill's classmate, was the most impressive running back for the Crimson Tide, with some in attendance describing it as "not close."
Hill and Riley are likely to have roles. AK Dear, App State transfer Khalifa Keith, and then the freshmen Crowell and Trae'shawn Brown are all going to continue competing for carries to close spring practice and into the summer and fall.
4. Sting LB
Virginia Tech LB Caleb Woodson has effectively locked up the starting spot at Alabama's Mike LB position. He's easily the most experienced player in Alabama's off-ball LB room, and he's earned consistent praise from the Tide's coaching staff throughout spring practice.
Who starts next to him, however, is still very much up in the air.
QB Reese, Cayden Jones, and Luke Metz seemed like the obvious candidates, but sophomore Abduall Sanders took the bulk of the first-team reps at the Sting position in Kane Wommack's defense during the second scrimmage.
It's still undecided with spring practice coming to a close, but those four, along with Duke Johnson and true freshman Xavier Griffin, could make enough noise in the summer and fall to force their way onto the field.
5. Kicker
DeBoer brought in competition for the inconsistent Conor Talty this offseason by landing Marshall transfer Lorcan Quinn. As a freshman with the Thundering Herd, Quinn connected on 21-of-26 of his field goals and was an impressive 9-of-11 from 40+.
It will take Talty making significant improvement from a year ago to hold onto his job. In the very least, a time-share at the position - perhaps with Talty handling kicks inside 40 yards and Quinn from 40+ - could be in store for the Crimson Tide in 2026.
Right now, DeBoer has described it as an "open competition."