The standard for Alabama football is competing for and winning National Championships. Unfortunately, four seasons have come and gone without the Crimson Tide winning the title. It's the longest drought since the 17 years that passed from Gene Stallings' only title team to Nick Saban's first.
Sixth-year senior Jah-Marien Latham isn't the only National Champion on the roster - Keon Sabb won the 2023 title at Michigan before transferring to Alabama - but he's the last link to the Crimson Tide's last National Championship team. He also happens to be the most versatile defensive player on the roster.
Latham spent the five previous seasons working along the Tide's defensive line. Under the new coaching staff and Kane Wommack's 4-2-5 "Swarm" defense, Latham began as a Bandit, but toward the end of the season, made the transition to the Wolf LB room.
It's the Wolf LB spot that was intended to be his home this season. His presence giving Alabama a bigger body to complement Qua Russaw to help set the edge and stop the run better. But according to Latham and Wommack, he's going to move around quite a bit.
Jah-Marien Latham will play four different positions for Alabama in 2025
Latham's main responsibility will be at Wolf, but he'll move around in sub-packages, particularly when Alabama is hoping to generate more of a pass rush. That will likely mean Russaw and another Wolf will be on the field at the same time, such as Yhonzae Pierre or perhaps one of the younger guys in Noah Carter or Justin Hill.
Having a veteran like Latham, who has learned so much during his time in college, is a luxury for Wommack.
"Z-Bo can do a lot of things for us," Wommack said. "He can play multiple positions for us. In fact, we've got him playing, gosh, I mean, three, four positions on the defense, which is really impressive."
Latham will play the Wolf, he'll slide down to Bandit, and he'll have unique roles in a couple of sub-packages for the Crimson Tide.
“We have a cheetah package where I go to nose, and then it’s basically like with the Wolf position, you would play like kind of like a stack-backer, so, like you play in the box, and then also I’ll play a little bit of Bandit," Latham said.
Latham stopped short of describing who else would be on the field in Alabama's cheetah package, but you would figure it would be saved for third-and-long situations because otherwise Alabama would be pretty susceptible to the run with a 260-pound Latham plugging up the nose.
Wommack has a lot of experience and versatility to work with this season. Latham is probably the most versatile, but there are other guys who can move around and play multiple positions at a high level. It's part of the reason many expect the Crimson Tide to field one of the nation's elite defenses in 2025.