Kalen DeBoer asked about possibility of Alabama playing player on both sides of the ball

3/5/25 MFB Spring Practice 2 Alabama Wide Receiver Jaylen Mbakwe (3) Photo by Kent Gidley

College football saw a two-way athlete take home the 2024 Heisman Trophy. Travis Hunter shined at wide receiver and defensive back, playing the majority of the snaps on each side of the ball.

Kalen DeBoer was asked about the possibility of Alabama having a two-way player.

“When you have someone that can really fit into a goal line package and be the extra tight end, and maybe you take a defensive lineman and add him to a personnel grouping, we’re certainly open to that if there’s a specific guy that has a skill that we don’t have,” DeBoer said.

When comparing Alabama’s roster to a team like Colorado, the Crimson Tide does not need a player going both ways. Before Hunter and the Sanders family got to Colorado, the program won a single ball game in 2022. The program needed at the help it could get, so Hunter playing both ways was a huge help.

The chances of an Alabama player going both ways are super slim, but a player that could possibility do it is Jaylen Mbawke, who switched from defensive back to wide receiver.

Under Nick Saban, some Alabama defensive linemen were often inserted into goal-line packages like Da’Ron Payne, who caught a touchdown pass against Clemson in the 2017 Sugar Bowl. DeBoer said he was open to something like this, but as far as a player going both sides of the ball every drive, it probably won’t happen because it’s not needed.

GET THE BEST ALABAMA FOOTBALL INSIDER INFORMATION, MESSAGE BOARD ACCESS, AND RECRUITING COVERAGE TODAY! SIGN UP HERE TO UNLOCK OUR SUBSCRIBER ONLY CONTENT!*