Alabama football’s freshman, Zavier Mincey should see his role continue to expand with bowl practice underway in Tuscaloosa.
The Crimson Tide’s secondary is a bit thin due to injuries and the transfer portal. Starting defensive backs, Keon Sabb, DeVonta Smith and Malachi Moore are expected to miss the game. Sabb and Moore are out for health-related issues. Smith has transferred to Notre Dane.
DeBoer highlighted Mincey while discussing who could step up with Moore out.
“It’ll be kind of mix and match,” DeBoer said. “I mean, this just literally happened here in the last two days, not even in the last week. So, it’s not like we’ve had a week or two to sort of, kind of think or work this through it. But it’ll be the young guys, there’s been some moving pieces that I could probably expand on more as we talk here in the next week ahead. A guy like (Zay) Zavier Mincey is a guy you’re probably not even thinking about much. A guy that has been moved to safety going back to mid-season, and I think he’s going to be a guy later down the road that’s going to be counted on. He’s getting more opportunity as he’s getting those reps out there, and I could go on because there’s more guys as well. So, who exactly that’ll be and how it’ll play out, we’ll have to work through that in next week or two.”
Alabama’s defensive coordinator Kane Wommack alluded to Mincey’s role expanding on Wednesday.
“I think you’ll see his role continue to grow within our defense within bowl preparation and beyond that,” Wommack said. “Very excited about him and what he’s doing. So, here’s a dude who’s 6-2, he’s over 200 pounds now. He had great coverage skills because he’s played corner his whole career. He’s moved to safety. He has the physicality, he has the ability to diagnose.”
Mincey has eight tackles in limited action this season as he has made the transition from cornerback to safety.
