Kalen DeBoer appears to be confident in Alabama football’s inside linebackers despite most of the group lacking experience ahead of the 2026 football season.
The Crimson Tide lost the services of Deontae Lawson, Nikhai Hill-Green and Justin Jefferson at the end of the 2025 season. All three contributed at inside linebacker last fall. Alabama’s rotation rarely went four deep, limiting the meaningful snaps underclassmen received.
However, a lot of the underclassmen inside linebackers did receive reps on special teams. DeBoer is hopeful those reps can turn into production on defense.
“We recruited these guys who are pretty much mostly sophomores,” DeBoer said. “CJ (Cayden Jones) would be a junior, I guess, or older. Those guys were brought in for a reason because we saw the graduation of the guys that just left happening. And so they got a chance to learn last year, and now is the opportunity. They got special teams reps last year, but they got a chance to go out there now and compete. ”
QB Reese, Cayden Jones, Luke Metz, Duke Johnson and Abduall Sanders make up this young group of returning inside linebackers. The most experienced linebacker in this room is Caleb Woodson, who transferred to Alabama from Virginia Tech. DeBoer likes what he is bringing to the young room.
“And then bringing in Caleb, who is a captain-type guy, his leadership, coming in has been certainly noted and appreciated,” DeBoer told reporters. “Those guys all together learning, learning things together, just excited. And again, they’re hungry just like maybe other positions we’re talking about, like the offensive line, where there’s a lot of new faces looking for opportunities.”
It will be interesting to see who puts themselves in a position to make a push for meaningful playing time in 2026 this spring.
Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
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