When the 2025 season began, few fans would've pegged Bray Hubbard as one of the most reliable defenders on the Alabama Crimson Tide roster. After a shaky opening performance against Florida State, many wondered if Hubbard was ready for regular big game snaps in the back end of the secondary. Social media ran wild with a video of him jogging on a play as FSU scored a touchdown. Fans dragged him on social media, and the integrity and intensity of the Alabama defense were called into question. After forcing a fumble and picking off Ashton Daniels in the Iron Bowl, Hubbard is creating a different legacy for himself this year at Alabama and has been a key player for the Tide's defense since Week 1. As the season has unfolded, Hubbard's game has leveled up.
Through 2025, Hubbard has tallied 55 total tackles. including 35 solo stops, along with four interceptions, three forced fumbles, and eight passes defended. After that rough opening weekend, by the time Alabama hosted the Wisconsin Badgers, Hubbard exploded. He grabbed two interceptions and posted five tackles. That performance earned him SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
He's not just making flashy plays; he's having the kind of impact that Alabama fans have expected from its safeties. Including a dominant showing and forcing two turnovers in the Iron Bowl this past weekend, which was rewarded with SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors. He has shown flashes of the former Alabama safeties of the past.
What jumps off the film with Hubbard is his ability to cover ground at a speed that almost feels unfair. Whether he's rotating from the hash to break up a sideling out or closing downhill to erase a bubble screen, Hubbard plays like a true modern safety. Hubbard's closing speed has prevented multiple explosive plays that would've burned the Tide early in the year. His ability to erase mistakes with his range gives the rest of the defense range and confidence. The defense can be more aggressive and make plays. A huge improvement since week 1.
Bray Hubbard is a do-it all safety for Alabama football
Tackling is what makes a great safety in the SEC. Hubbard has quietly become Alabama's most dependable open-field tackler. He squares up the ball carrier, keeps his head up, wraps up to finish the play, and uses his arms consistently to try to make a play on the ball. This echoes the fundamentals that made Landon Collins and Mark Barron so reliable on the back end of the secondary. In a league like the SEC, with some of the shiftiest athletes on offense, Hubbard has become the guy who refuses to let opponent drives stay alive. He is a much more reliable tackler now than his Week 1 performance.
Being a former high school quarterback, Hubbard has a unique processing advantage when it comes to dissecting plays and following the QB's eyes. Hubbard plays like a safety that has seen it all. His instincts jump off the screen. He is quick on run action looks and playing much more decisively. He has grown each week with confidence and is quick to get to the line of scrimmage and fill run fits. He has become better at recognizing opponent route concepts earlier and beats receivers to their spots. He has a sense of knowing where to be in the zone to anticipate the throw.
There is a reason he has four interceptions this season. These are all qualities that Alabama fans have seen before when it came to Alabama legend Minkah Fitzpatrick. The ability and instincts to be just in the right spot at the right time on defense to break a pass up or to make an interception.
Bray Hubbard has become far more than just a young safety trying to fill Caleb Downs' shoes. He has become one of the emotional and strategic anchors of this Alabama defense. What started as an early-season uncertainty and question mark in the secondary has turned into a breakout stretch defined by consistency, confidence, and playmaking that echoes the safeties of Alabama's past. He has shown that his performance in Week 1 was the anomaly, not the other way around. As Alabama heads to the SEC Championship, the Tide is going to need his instincts, range, and leadership in the back end of their secondary to beat Georgia.
Hubbard has established himself in Crimson Tide history for this past week's Iron Bowl performance, which should be his legacy, not the Week 1 performance that fans criticized him on social media for. He has saved more games this season with his turnovers, that more than enough to excuse his early-season struggles. This isn't the same Bray Hubbard.
Stats provided by ESPN and SECsports.com