Iron Bowl to test the depth of Alabama Football

Alabama Football has been pretty fortunate in avoiding the injury bug for much of the 2024 season. For most of the year, Bama has been one of the healthier teams in the SEC.

As the long college football season drags on, however, the Tide has certainly lost some key pieces. On an individual basis, none have been backbreakers like Tua Tagovailoa’s season-ending injuries in 2019 or the knee injuries to Jameson Williams and John Metchie in 2021.   

Still, the cumulative effect of these losses will put some added stress on the Crimson Tide, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. 

Last week’s injury to inside linebacker and defensive signal-caller Deontae Lawson was perhaps the most critical injury Alabama has sustained thus far. One of the unit’s most experienced players, Lawson is second on the team with 76 tackles and 7.0 tackles for loss. 

Fellow senior Justin Jefferson will try to fill the void, joining Jihaad Campbell in the middle of the Bama defense. Jefferson is more than capable from a physical standpoint but will have to prove he can replace Lawson’s leadership and communication skills. 

This may also limit how Kane Wommack can deploy Campbell, who is the most versatile chess piece on the entire Alabama defense. Campbell has been getting a lot of edge snaps this season, especially after the injury to Quandarrius Robinson.

Perhaps the Tide can still move Campbell around against Auburn, but it would likely have to plug in reserve inside linebacker Jeremiah Alexander or an even younger and less experienced player. 

The injuries to these two veteran linebackers really throw a wrench in Alabama’s front-7 rotations and limit how multiple the Tide can be defensively. Unproven players will have to step up if Bama is to have a good defensive showing against Auburn. 

Along with Lawson and Robinson, safety Keon Sabb is out for the season. Fortunately for the Tide, sophomore Bray Hubbard has already stepped up and filled Sabb’s role admirably. Hubbard has been a revelation on the back end of the Alabama defense and also relieves some of the stress of losing Malachi Moore heading into the 2025 season. 

On the offensive side of the ball, Alabama’s injuries have mostly been confined to the receiver room. Jalen Hale has been out since the spring while slot receiver Cole Adams has been out since early November. 

Bama’s top two receivers, freshman Ryan Williams and junior Germie Bernard, have gotten through the season unscathed. The Tide has searched all year for supplementary pass-catchers to step up, and it hasn’t gotten much.

While the running backs and tight ends have done a decent job of getting involved in the passing game, Alabama’s wide receiver room hasn’t produced much at all outside of Williams and Bernard. Veterans Kobe Prentice, Kendrick Law, and Emmanuel Henderson must deliver reliable performances in the Iron Bowl.

Just about every college football roster is depleted to some extent at this point in the season. In theory, Alabama should have as much depth as anybody in the country. It will need some big showings from its reserves to finish the year strong.