After early Alabama Football, Fall Camp sessions something new emerges for the Crimson Tide

Alabama Football is not very far into Fall Camp. Shoulder pads were added on Saturday, but there has been no full pads, contact work. New remains the key word to describe what is evolving in Tuscaloosa. Spring and summer installment of new systems is still progressing.

The anticipation of Crimson Tide fans to 'figure out' this new era of Alabama Football must be tempered with patience. There is one change becoming apparent. The new staff has some new ideas about player rotation.

Like most college football teams. Alabama has long-rotated defensive lines. The amount of rotation has been determined by the depth of talent. Encouraging for the 2025 season is the Crimson Tide may have enough talented depth to go 10 deep if it chooses. The Crimson Tide has not had such luxury for several seasons.

New ideas for the Alabama Football roster

Running back is another position well suited for rotation. Alabama is expected to use at least three of its five talented running backs in more than mop-up duty. Wide receiver and tight end are other position groups expected to use at least situational rotation. With the wideouts, eight healthy guys have received praise during the offseason. Two of the eight are 5-star freshmen Ryan Williams, and now at WR, rather than tight end, Caleb Odom. Three more Crimson Tide freshman wide receivers have legit potential to become key players in future seasons. Based on comments from Alabama coach, JaMarcus Shephard, there will be opportunities for all the wideouts who can consistently perform. Aiding the group's development is the vocal support of Jalen Milroe, who claims "... we have more talent this year than we did last year."

In the Nick Saban era of Alabama Football, situational subs were made in the secondary, but the core of three or four defensive backs did not rotate. New defensive backs coach Mo Linguist has said rotating DBs, even cornerbacks is a possibility. With a trio of 5-star freshman additions, rotations make sense to speed player development. A price could be paid in early games with the guys learning how to work together, but the late-season benefits from a rotation could be significant.

Alabama's offensive line coach, Chris Kapilovic has a novel approach to building depth at center. He says six to eight offensive linemen will get practice reps at center. Kapilovic also said he would be comfortable rotating the Crimson Tide's tackles. Alabama has done some of that in the past, but usually, it was done to shore up deficiencies instead of being a planned rotation.

Plans will evolve during Fall Camp and the early weeks of the season, but as of now, when watching games, Alabama fans may need a roster to keep up with player rotations.