No team with double-digit wins in the 2025 season needed more 2026 roster help than the Alabama Crimson Tide. Even without any outgoing transfers, the Alabama offensive line would have required a complete rebuild. On the other side of the trenches, roster attrition took a heavy toll. The Crimson Tide needed both talent and numbers on the defensive line.
It appears that the Crimson Tide is finished in both the offensive and defensive line position groups. The 2026 roster has 15 players in each group. If that is not winning a roster transition war, it is at least signaling wins in the Tide's biggest 2026 roster challenges.
Including freshman signees, 20 of the 30 players are new Alabama players. There are some veterans, but both position groups have many inexperienced players. Predicting fall depth charts now would be near folly, especially on the offensive line. Intense competition will continue for months and for weeks into the 2026 season. The Crimson Tide's early-season schedule can provide a testing ground for many position groups.
The roster turnover of 42 new players among a current number of 86 players will result in lower than normal preseason rankings for the Crimson Tide. On3 already has a crazy, too early preseason ranking with the Crimson Tide at No. 17. Alabama football fans need not be alarmed.
Something else that should not cause consternation is the number of transfers Alabama has added from smaller programs. Adding top players from weak programs has become common. They are at least roster bargains. At best, some of them will follow a long-established pattern of NFL teams finding talent at every level.
If Cal-Poly transfer Racin Delgatty wins the starting center job next fall over Michigan transfer Kaden Strayhorn, it will not signal a weakness at the position. Delgatty would have already been tested against Alabama's defensive front and not been found wanting.
The months of competition among Alabama's players in the trenches are sure to be interesting for Alabama football fans. There will be plenty of ebb and flow to follow. Winning transfer transition battles provides no guarantees of fall success, but Alabama fans can be encouraged.
Alabama Crimson Tide Transfer Trench Additions
Offensive Line: Racin Delgatty (RS Jr., Cal Poly), Ethan Fields (RS Jr., Ole Miss), Nick Brooks (So., Texas) Kaden Strayhorn (RS Fr., Michigan), Ty Haywood (RS Fr., Michigan)
Defensive Line: Devan Thompkins (RS Sr., USC), Kedrick Bingley-Jones (RS Sr., Mississippi State), Terrance Green (RS Jr., Oregon), Caleb Smith (RS Fr., Washington)
Note: Transfer Portal details provided by On3