Alabama Football: Transfer portal recruiting updates
As the spring semester comes to a close, Alabama Football is making an effort to add experience to its roster. In particular, it is looking to shore up Kane Wommack’s defensive unit.
This weekend featured several scheduled visits, including South Alabama linebacker Khalil Jacobs, Wake Forest cornerback Dashawn Jones, and Penn State safety King Mack.
While it seems like both defensive backs made it to campus without any drama, Khalil Jacobs postponed his visit until next weekend. By all accounts, he really enjoyed his recent visit to Auburn. With this context, Jacobs pushing back his Tuscaloosa trip could be a bad sign. However, if he is going to come to campus next weekend, it’s best to just be patient and allow him to go through his decision-making process.
Alabama has really pushed to add secondary depth this spring, particularly at cornerback. Though it has missed on a couple targets, getting Dashawn Jones and King Mack on campus is huge. These would both be impactful additions that would complement Bama’s young secondary well. They would also replenish a position group that lost some quality players very late in the transfer portal cycle.
Coming out of the weekend, the Tide will host another transfer target in Indiana cornerback Kobee Minor. Minor was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in his lone season in Bloomington. Prior to that, he played three seasons at Texas Tech, where he was primarily a reserve.
Minor doesn’t have a lot of career production. In fact, he may be the least experienced corner Alabama has targeted in the portal this spring. Still, he would bring extensive experience when compared to Bama’s current cornerback room.
The Tide will enter 2024 without a corner on the roster who has taken a snap in a Crimson jersey. USC transfer Domani Jackson figures to start at one corner, while redshirt freshman Jahlil Hurley is the only player in the room that has spent a year on campus.
True freshmen Zabien Brown, Zay Mincey, Jaylen Mbakwe, and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. have looked good in spring practice, and Brown has even pushed for a starting spot. While the talent here is immense, it would benefit the Alabama cornerback room to add Dashawn Jones, Kobee Minor, or both.