ESPN analyst ranks Alabama football’s secondary as the No. 2 group ahead of the 2026 season

Sep 13, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Bray Hubbard (18) celebrates his interception during the first quarter against the Wisconsin Badgers at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images

Former Alabama football quarterback and now ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy ranked the Crimson Tide’s secondary as the No. 2 group in the nation ahead of the 2026 season on “ESPN’s Always College Football.”

The only team ranked ahead of Alabama’s defensive backs on McElroy’s list was Notre Dame at No. 1. Penn State came in at No. 10, Texas A&M was at No. 9, Michigan was listed at No. 8, Oregon at No. 7, Ohio State at No. 6, LSU at No. 5, Georgia at No. 4 and Texas at No. 3 as the teams ranked behind the Tide.

“Alabama returns all five starters in their secondary, both safeties, both corners, the nickel,” McElroy said. “That doesn’t happen. Not in this era, not in the SEC. Not at a program that consistently sends players into the first, second, third round almost every single spring. But it happened because Kane Wommack sat down with Keon Saab and Bray Hubbard back in January and made the case that another year in Tuscaloosa was worth more than the draft money that was potentially waiting for them a couple of months down the road, and they agreed. If you look at Hubbard last year, remarkably instinctive player. He had four picks. He also forced three fumbles and had a bunch of pass breakups. He was a first-team All-SEC selection and actually garnered second-team All-American honors. He was arguably one of the best players on one of the top defensive units against the pass in the SEC, decides to come back.”

“It’s an opportunistic group across the board. You might look at the numbers, you might look at the pass yards given up. Yeah, there’s some pass yards given up. But look at how often these defensive backs got hands on the football. Look at how often these defensive backs changed the game. Keon Saab decides to come back. Zabien Brown decides to come back. The guy had two pick-sixes in 2025, including a 99-yarder against Tennessee at the end of the half that became one of the signature defense plays at the college football season. He’s back at corner. So is Dijon Lee, who is coming into his own as a possible blue-chip lockdown guy here in the very near future. Red Morgan’s back as well. And if you listen to Kane Womack and what he told reporters this spring, he feels that they are in a really good place in the back end entering the summer. As a man who knows that last year’s defense gave up 19 points a game, which is pretty good, returns a lot of pieces in the secondary. And won’t start emphasizing the word violence in practice. And I think him saying things are pretty good. I think he feels pretty good about that group in general. That’s a frightening thought for those that have to go against the secondary on a week-in, week-out basis.”

Alabama’s secondary is expected to be a strength this season.