Alabama TE put on more than 20 pounds in the blink of an eye

Kalen DeBoer’s first recruiting class at Alabama was completely loaded. Ranked No. 3 in the country, the 2025 class was headlined by five-star QB Keelon Russell. However, with fall camp for the 2025 season around the corner, four-star tight end Kaleb Edwards is making waves in Tuscaloosa. 

From Oak Ridge High School in California, Edwards was the No. 8 tight end in the nation and a top 200 recruit. He chose the Crimson Tide over Auburn, Oregon, Texas, and UCLA, signing with the program in December and enrolling in May. Once he made his decision, it appears that a transformation began. 

Crimson Tide true freshman Kaleb Edwards up to 6-foot-6 and 264 pounds

Plenty of modern tight ends are simply oversized hybrid receivers, doing most of their damage from the slot and providing very little as blockers in the run game. Those players are still difficult matchups, too big for defensive backs and too fast for linebackers, but they lack the versatility that makes the position so valuable. Edwards is an old-school tight end and brings everything to the table. 

He has a fantastic frame for a tight end, is a reliable and dynamic pass-catcher, as well as being a strong inline blocker in the run game. That skillset could be valuable enough for Edwards to find playing time as a true freshman. With those additional 20 pounds, his body should be ready for the rigors of SEC play. 

Alabama’s tight end group is in relative flux heading into the season. CJ Dippre and Robbie Ouzts are both gone, so Josh Cuevas and Danny Lewis Jr. will likely compete for snaps with incoming transfers Brody Dalton, Jack Sammarco, and Peter Knudson. With so many unproven players, Edwards could rise up the depth chart in fall camp. His build and potential could also see him shoot up future NFL Draft boards. 

Edwards will quickly end up on NFL radars

NFL trends don’t necessarily trickle down to college football; more often, it’s the other way around. However, the types of players that the NFL currently values can determine the future of college football players and can inform players as low as the high school level to make positional changes or direct their career on a certain trajectory. All that is to say, this is a perfect time for a player like Edwards. 

Tight end usage is up across the NFL, particularly two tight end sets with players who can impact the defense in a multitude of ways. Defenses got smaller to deal with the spread offenses of the late 2010s, so the cyclical nature of football has brought the ground game back with a vengeance. 

Now, having multiple tight ends on the field is one of the few ways that offenses can dictate defensive personnel and structure while maintaining optionality, the threat of both the pass and the run. A 6-foot-6, 264-pound tight end who can block and catch fits like a glove into the current NFL offensive ethos.