It was bloody Sunday for Kalen DeBoer and Alabama football in the Transfer Portal. Not only did they swing and miss on their top target - Auburn star WR Cam Coleman - but their top portal addition in NC State RB Hollywood Smothers flipped his commitment to Texas less than a half hour after Coleman spurned the Tide for the Longhorns.
But Alabama finishes the day with a small bit of good news. Mississippi State DL transfer Kedrick Bingley-Jones announced his commitment to the Crimson Tide, adding some much-needed defensive line depth in Tuscaloosa:
BREAKING: Mississippi State DL Kedrick Bingley-Jones has committed to Alabama, @PeteNakos reports.https://t.co/5djX6Xp0XT pic.twitter.com/KHaUROEBWy
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) January 12, 2026
Bingley-Jones was a 4-star recruit in the 2020 class and signed with North Carolina. He's spent the last two years in Starkville with Mississippi State and has had an injury-plagued collegiate career. He will need a waiver from the NCAA in order to receive an additional year of eligibility.
Kedrick Bingley-Jones will give Alabama some experienced depth on DL....if he's eligible
If the NCAA grants Bingley-Jones a waiver for an additional year of eligibility, he'd be a really nice pickup for the Crimson Tide. Alabama needed depth on the interior of its defensive line with Tim Keenan out of eligibility and James Smith in the Transfer Portal.
Jeremiah Beaman and London Simmons will likely compete for the starting spot at nose, but adding more experience to the interior is a positive. Alabama also has talented players like Isaia Faga and Steve Mboumoua in the middle who should be ready for an increased role.
But there's no substitute for experience, and Bingley-Jones can bring that with him to Tuscaloosa.
At 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, he's got the size and strength to help stuff the middle for Alabama against the run. He appeared in every game for Mississippi State this season and had the fourth-most snaps on the Bulldogs' defensive line. He finished the year with 25 tackles.
Alabama will have to wait and see on his eligibility waiver, but this has the potential to be a really solid under-the-radar pickup for the Tide.