Alabama offensive lineman expected to compete for starting role feeling good ahead of return to the field

Will Sanders was sidelined during the Alabama Crimson Tide’s spring practice while he was dealing with an injury.

Fortunately for Sanders, he is on pace to return to the field this fall, and he is gearing up to enter his third season with the Tide. He is coming off a year where he served in a rotational role.

The Alabama native played along the Tide’s offensive line in ten games in 2025. However, he played more than 30 snaps in only one game last season. Sanders finished the year with 15 knockdown blocks, and four of those blocks came when he played more than 30 snaps against Vanderbilt.

Sanders recently circled back and put in some work with Terrence Swift ahead of the 2026 season. Swift, who is the founder of Winning Edge OL/DL Training in Birmingham, Alabama, has personally trained Sanders since he was in high school.

“Health-wise, he looked pretty good,” Swift told Touchdown Alabama. “Like when I was trying to make sure he wasn’t having pain, he said everything was good, moving pretty good. He’s been focusing on a lot of rehab. He does a lot of treatment… He’s doing pretty good. We worked a lot of footwork stuff, getting them moving because his strong point is already the running game. We want to work on the pass and make sure he is not just stopping those feet, getting stuck in the ground, getting transitions, and keeping good hand placement on the strikes. He looked good, and he said he feels good.”

Alabama OL Will Sanders looks ready to roll ahead of fall camp.

Sanders missed the spring with an injury. He is expected to compete for a starting role at guard in fall camp.

Video via @coachswift64. pic.twitter.com/B0iECxRWia

— Justin Smith (@Jdsmith31Smith) July 22, 2026

Swift also noticed growth in Sanders’ game while training him.

“He’s definitely stronger, got more body control,” Swift said. “His body control is good. He looks top-notch. I think he’s going to have a pretty good year once he really just get his body back strong from the injury because he didn’t have spring ball. So, just again, when he get back adjusted and with him having that contact, I think he’s going to be fine. So yesterday, you saw on those videos, we did a lot of just core, maintain stability, holding strength, and just stabilizing everything and having that force in the ground.”

Sanders is expected to compete for a starting guard role this fall.