The QB battle between Austin Mack and Keelon Russell will take center stage during fall camp, but all Alabama fans are in agreement that a different position battle is what will ultimately determine the relative success of the 2026 Crimson Tide football season.
While the consensus is that either Mack or Russell can play winning football for Alabama, the jury is still very much out on the Tide's prognosis up front on the offensive line.
Alabama returns only one player who started games for them a season ago, and that's rising sophomore Michael Carroll, who will slot in at either right guard or right tackle depending on how the other position battles go alongside him.
The other four spots will be occupied by new starters, at least in Tuscaloosa.
That prospect has plenty justifiably concerned heading into the season. AL.com's Nick Kelly is among them. He joined the 3 Man Front radio show on Monday and laid out why he was concerned.
" I have to see it to believe it," Kelly said about the Tide's offensive line improving in 2026. "I am still a bit worried about that group, more than any other. ...Change can be a good thing, but change does not necessarily equate to progress. So that will be the key for Adrian Klemm, the new offensive line coach, to make sure that he gets out of this group."
Alabama's offensive line remains a significant question mark with fall camp on the horizon
Kelly further discusses being confident in Carroll, which Alabama fans would agree with. He questions the other spots.
Alabama appears to be settled on two other starting spots. Rising sophomore Jackson Lloyd is the expected starter at left tackle. He was a highly regarded recruit in the 2025 class, and big things are expected. But has virtually zero game experience and will be stepping into protecting the blindside for Mack or Russell.
The other projected starter is at center in Cal Poly transfer Racin Delgatty. As Kelly notes, while Delgatty is well thought of in the program already, it is a significant step up in competition from the Big West into the SEC.
Left guard and the spot on the right side next to Carroll remain up for grabs. The thought is that rising junior Will Sanders is the favorite at left guard. He missed all of spring practice with an injury, but is expected to be fully healthy and ready to push for a job in fall camp.
On the right side, the most likely scenario has Carroll at right guard with Mississippi State transfer Jayvin James taking over at right tackle. James brings 21 games of starter experience across stints with the Bulldogs and also Toledo. Other SEC transfers in Ethan Fields (Ole Miss) and Nick Brooks (Texas) figure to be in the mix for one of those spots, too.
One interesting note from Kelly's interview was his opinion that Alabama appears to be a lot closer, on paper at least, to crafting the type of offensive lines that DeBoer and OC Ryan Grubb had a plethora of success with at Washington:
"I will say, slowly but surely, Alabama is getting the type of offensive linemen that worked well for the DeBoer-Grubb system, so that can be a good thing," Kelly said.
DeBoer and Grubb made the difficult decision to flip the offensive line almost completely after the 2025 season. There seemed to be little choice following one of the worst rushing seasons in school history, not to mention how often Ty Simpson was running for his life.
Whether they made the right decisions will be found out in the coming months. The proof will be on the field.
Add us as a preferred source on Google