SEC Media Days get started on Monday in Atlanta, signaling the unofficial start of the college football season.
Fall camp opens in a couple of weeks, and we are just over six weeks from kickoff in Tallahassee for Alabama's season opener on the road against Florida State. The long offseason is almost over.
2025 is a key season for Kalen DeBoer. The Crimson Tide had a good enough offseason to remove some of the stain left from last season's disappointing 9-4 season. Alabama has a lot of forward momentum, and expectations have continued to rise as most experts expect the Tide to be one of the two or three best teams in the SEC and to make the College Football Playoff.
This team is talented and should be well-coached. But games are won on the field, not on paper, and there are still some questions to be answered as the season draws near.
Alabama needs to find answers to these questions
Who starts at QB?
The biggest question of fall camp will be who wins the QB battle and takes the first snaps of the season against Florida State. The expectation is that redshirt junior Ty Simpson will ultimately win the job. He had the lead coming out of spring practice and will enter the fall as the presumptive favorite, but DeBoer and company have notably not yet named a starter. It's also worth noting that Simpson was not among the players DeBoer chose to bring to media days with him, signaling that the QB competition is still ongoing.
Simpson has had a nice summer. He impressed with his arm strength and ball placement at the Manning Passing Academy last month. But both Austin Mack and Keelon Russell worked hard to improve this summer, too, and they are prepared to push Simpson in camp in hopes of unseating him for the job.
Whoever wins the job will need to bring a steadier presence at the position than Jalen Milroe provided last season. None of them will be the dynamic runner Milroe was, but each could ultimately prove to be more effective running the DeBoer/Ryan Grubb offensive system.
Alabama's season likely comes down to whether or not they can get above-average QB play from one of the three talented options at their disposal.
Can Alabama's traditional running game provide needed balance?
Alabama's traditional running game was inconsistent last season. The majority of the explosive plays produced on the ground were via QB keepers with Milroe. Alabama's success rate percentage on running plays was just 41%, ranking 61st in the country, per Game on Paper.
With an inexperienced QB, Alabama will need to be able to rely on the traditional running game. DeBoer's offense is a passing scheme, but the ground game is a key element to take advantage of lighter boxes and punish teams for dropping in coverage to defend against the aerial assault.
Alabama has a deep, yet mostly inexperienced, RB room behind senior Jam Miller. Junior Richard Young, the former 5-star recruit, will be called upon for a bigger role, finally, and will need to deliver. Alabama added Louisiana transfer Dre'lyn Washington in the Transfer Portal, but don't be surprised if second-year RB Daniel Hill makes a big move up the depth chart and carves out a role.
Hill brings a different dynamic to the backfield with his size (6-foot-1, 240 pounds), and has that punishing running style that will make defenses pay if they don't load up to stop him. Hill's classmate Kevin Riley and 4-star freshman AK Dear round out the RB room.
Alabama's offensive line has gotten plenty of hype in the offseason, with PFF naming it the No. 1 OL in college football. It is certainly talented, but still has a lot to prove. Alabama is set at three positions: LT Kadyn Proctor, C Parker Brailsford, and RG Jaedan Roberts. Those three will be among the best at their respective positions in the country.
But there are legitimate questions at LG and RT. Alabama should find a quality starter at LG with Texas A&M transfer Kam Dewberry and versatile graduate senior Geno VanDeMark competing to fill the major void left by Tyler Booker.
At RT, Alabama needs Wilkin Formby to take a major leap. Formby got benched against USF last season for poor play after opening the year as the starting RT. Elijah Pritchett started from there, but the Crimson Tide rarely got any consistency from the position. Pritchett left after the season to transfer to Nebraska.
Outside of the QB position, there may not be a more important player on this year's team than Formby. If he takes the leap everyone is hoping for, then the hype surrounding the Tide's OL is probably correct.
Can Alabama's defense make more plays in the backfield?
Alabama's defense is deep and talented, and should be even better in 2025 with scheme consistency stemming from Kane Wommack's second season as the defensive coordinator. Wommack did a great job in year one, turning an inexperienced unit into one of the best in the country. There were a few blips on the radar, but Alabama finished 10th in the country in yards per play defense last season.
This year could be even better. Alabama brings back a ton of talent at all three levels of the defense. If the Tide wants to take the leap to perhaps the best defense in the entire country, creating more havoc in the backfield will be a must.
Alabama managed only 25 total sacks last season, and ranked in the 52% in stuff-percentage against the run. It will be key for Wommack's unit to keep opposing offenses off schedule.
Alabama lost its two best pass rushers from last season: Jihaad Campbell and Que Robinson. Someone is going to have to step up and fill that void.
Senior DL LT Overton was one of the best in the country at getting into the backfield last season, but struggled to finish plays. If he can finish in 2025, he will be an All-American and become one of the most feared defensive linemen in the country.
With Robinson gone, more will be on the plate of Qua Russaw as he enters his third season. He will need to show more as a pass rusher and prove he can be a three-down player. Guys like Yhonzae Pierre and freshman Justin Hill could see the field as situational pass rushers as Wommack searches for ways to improve getting after the QB without having to send exotic blitzes.
An improved pass rush is the next step for Alabama's defense to move from good to great, and could be what gets the Tide over the hump and into the College Football Playoff.