Without Nick Saban, Alabama lost its reputation for defensive dominance. However, despite a few shaky performances in the first year under defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, the Tide still finished just outside the top 20 in the country in total defense and 10th in scoring defense.
Wommack’s first season in Tuscaloosa was largely a successful one. Still, when Alabama finds itself as the first team left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff because of a 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt in which his unit had no answer for Diego Pavia, the fanbase isn’t going to be happy.
The Tide need to take a step forward in 2025, and there’s reason to believe that they will with potentially one of the best secondaries in the country. Both of Alabama’s starting cornerbacks are returning, Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown, one of the best duos anywhere in college football, but maybe more important will be the safety play between Bray Hubbard, who blossomed into a star as a sophomore last season, and the unit’s ultimate X-factor, Keon Sabb, who is returning from an injury shortened season in 2024.
Keon Sabb’s return from injury could unlock Kane Wommack’s defense in 2025
After helping lead Michigan’s dominant defense to a national title in 2023, Sabb transferred to Alabama last offseason to play for the head coach his Wolverines defeated in the National Championship Game, Kalen DeBoer.
Sabb saw his role change under Wommack, playing primarily slot cornerback through the first five weeks of the year before moving back to his primary free safety position, where he thrived in Ann Arbor, in Week 6 against Vanderbilt. Then, two weeks later, his season ended with a broken foot he suffered against Tennessee.
Though he finished his truncated season with four pass breakups and two interceptions, both coming in Week 1 against Western Kentucky, Sabb had yet to settle into either role on the Alabama defense. With more time spent around the line of scrimmage, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound redshirt sophomore saw his missed tackle jump, and with more responsibilities in man coverage, he struggled to establish himself as a lockdown nickel.
Sabb will likely play a versatile role for Wommack again in 2025, but more time at free safety will benefit the rising redshirt junior and allow him to return to his 2023 levels of production. If Alabama gets that version of Sabb for an entire season, then its defense should re-establish its place as one of the most feared units in the country.
In 2023, as a redshirt freshman at Michigan, Sabb played fewer snaps across the year than he did in seven games last season and racked up just 28 tackles. But in that small sample, he was a ball-hawking centerfielder, finishing with five pass breakups, two interceptions, and allowing just 10 receptions across the 21 times he was targeted. Plus, as a blitzer, he added a career-high three pressures.
Sabb has incredible instincts, which allow him to attack downhill and close quickly in the run game and coverage. Those instincts are best used when he can read and react from the deep safety position, so as he returns to his more natural spot, he’ll emerge as one of the most disruptive defensive backs in the country as Alabama’s ultimate defensive X-factor.