If there's a more talented secondary in the country than what resides in Tuscaloosa, I've yet to see it, and if you showed it to me, I doubt I'd believe it.
A young, thin Alabama secondary last season is now well-seasoned and deep. The Tide returns starters at both corner spots, and despite losing starting safety Malachi Moore, has two returning safeties with plenty of starting experience.
Both Zabien Brown and Domani Jackson are back at CB, and Alabama added two starting-quality corners to back them up. Utah transfer Cam Calhoun and 5-star recruit Dijon Lee, both of whom would probably start for 90% of teams in the country.
At safety, Bray Hubbard filled in admirably for Keon Sabb last season when the latter was lost for the season against Tennessee in October. Now, with Sabb back and healthy, Alabama returns a tandem that can stack up against any in America. Rising sophomore Zay Mincey is itching for playing time, too, after looking impressive in December practices and the ReliaQuest Bowl last year to fill in for an injured Moore.
Despite all the returning and new talent, none of them were deemed worthy by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame to be included on the Jim Thorpe Award preseason watchlist. 35 players, somehow not a single one from Alabama.
No Alabama players named to the Thorpe preseason watchlist
Surely that fact will be motivating for Alabama's defensive backs, particularly upperclassmen like Jackson, Sabb, and Hubbard. Of course, a preseason watchlist is completely meaningless and holds no weight on who actually wins the award at the end of the season.
But it does feel a bit disrespectful to assert that Alabama doesn't have a single player in what should be an elite secondary who ranks as one of the 35 best defensive backs in the country.
The Thorpe Award has been given out annually to the nation's top defensive back, as determined by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, since 1986. Alabama has had a player win the award twice. Antonio Langham was the first in 1993, and Minkah Fitzpatrick was the latest to take it home for the Crimson Tide in 2017.
While all of Alabama's current defensive backs were somehow overlooked in the preseason, it won't take long into the 2025 season for that to look foolish. By season's end, don't be surprised if the Crimson Tide has multiple realistic candidates for the award.