Why the Alabama Football team may not need to use the portal this spring
The transfer portal mayhem has seemingly finally come to a close with nine days left for players to enter the transfer portal we haven't seen a player enter the portal in ten days. Despite what certain people and the media made it seem the exodus wasn't that big with more than half of the Alabama Football team's departures entering the portal prior to Nick Saban's retirement. The roster under Kalen DeBoer will still be in a great place especially, with a few of the transfers he brought over.
The sentiment heading into the spring is that the Alabama Football team will attack the spring transfer portal hard to fill any remaining holes in the roster. However, I believe there are a few reasons that we won't see Kalen DeBoer use the portal for more than a couple of players.
1. Where are the Alabama Football teams "Holes"
The 2024 Alabama roster is still an incredibly talented group with the talent to compete for a National Championship. While the roster suffered a bit of turnover, there are still clear successors in place, and at worst there are multiple candidates to earn the starting roles.
The offense returns the starting quarterback, two experienced running backs, two experienced receivers, the starting tight end, two starting guards, and a tackle with significant experience. The team also added Parker Brailsford an elite center to replace Seth McLaughlin and Germie Bernard a receiver with the talent to end Alabama Football's two-year 800-yard receiving drought.
The biggest arguable hole in the offense is the tackle positions to which I'd argue the replacements are in place. Elijah Pritchett will replace Kadyn Proctor as he received playing time at left tackle at points throughout the season. The team also has a viable option at right tackle with Miles McVay a massive returnee who spent his freshman season as the backup to JC Latham. The team will also have viable competitors in Olaus Alinen and Wilkin Formby both were former four-star recruits at tackle.
The Defense lost more due to the NFL Draft than they did to the transfer portal but, the departures are more significant on defense. The team lost its starting two-edge rushers to the NFL Draft in Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell. The same goes for Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry at cornerback. Justin Eboigbe will be one of the more underrated losses on the interior defensive line. The safety group is the other area with Jaylen Key leaving for the draft and Caleb Downs transferring to Ohio State.