'Youth will be served' has multiple meanings. When applied to sports, it can describe coaches being willing to accept the growing pains that come with using inexperienced players in key roles. For the Alabama Crimson Tide, there will be growing pains in the 2026 season.
Alabama's 2026 roster will be young. A large number of players have limited or no college game experience. Transfer Portal players will certainly help in filling key roles. Possibly, more contributions will come from a large number of freshmen and second-year returning players. There are specifically 20 such players who can earn either starting or rotational roles, or as key backups. Thirteen of the players are sophomores, one is a redshirt freshman, and six are true freshmen.
Five of the 13 sophomores either started games last season or are projected as starters in 2026. Four of them were named to the All-SEC Freshman Team last season: offensive lineman Michael Carroll, cornerback Dijon Lee, tight end Kaleb Edwards, and defensive lineman London Simmons. The fifth is Lotzeir Brooks, who earned a starting role in the second half of his freshman season.
The redshirt freshman is Keelon Russell. Austin Mack may be able to win the QB1 job, and if he does, Alabama will be in great shape at quarterback because Russell is as close to 'can't miss' as possible. Many Alabama football fans have good reason to expect Russell to become a superstar.
The other sophomores are running back AK Dear, offensive lineman Jackson Lloyd, defensive back Ivan Taylor, linebacker Justin Hill, defensive back Chuck McDonald, linebacker QB Reese, linebacker Duke Johnson, and wide receiver Derek Meadows.
Impressive Alabama Crimson Tide Freshmen
How good are the six freshmen? ESPN recently published a breakdown of the "most college-ready" and "most NFL upside" players in the 2026 class. Three of the 14 freshmen ESPN highlighted are Alabama Crimson Tide players. They are running back EJ Crowell, along with defensive backs Jireh Edwards and Zyan Gibson. Alabama is so deep in the secondary that Edwards and Gibson will not explode into the rotation. They will provide depth and possibly advance to rotational use by the second half of the season. Crowell will get considerable snaps, possibly by midseason as RB1, if he can jump over AK Dear and Daniel Hill.
Alabama football insiders will argue that wide receiver Cederian Morgan, defensive back Jordan Edmonds, and linebacker Xavier Griffin are as likely to earn key roles as the other freshmen (not named Crowell).
For the Alabama Crimson Tide, 'youth will be served,' and there are solid reasons for optimism that the youth will deliver.