Key takeaways for Alabama football following SEC Media Days

SEC Media Days wrapped up Friday in Tampa, Florida, and there appeared to have been a few narratives circulating about Alabama football throughout the week.

Here are Touchdown Alabama’s key takeaways from SEC Media Days

Alabama is flying under the radar with lots of unknowns

Alabama football did not get the attention and the admiration it typically garners this week. However, that is not to say they were highly disrespected and were discussed heavily in a bad light. The Crimson Tide just appear to be ‘flying under the radar,’ as Nick Saban puts it. This is for a variety of reasons, and one of the reasons is the amount of unknowns on the Tide’s roster. Who will start at quarterback? Is the running game going to be better? Will this rebuilt offensive line be effective? Who starts at kicker? How good will Alabama’s front seven be on defense? The questions are piled high in Tuscaloosa at the moment.

Quarterback Competition Still Ongoing

No surprise here that Alabama has not named a starting quarterback before fall camp. Austin Mack and Keelon Russell are expected to continue to compete for the starting role throughout fall camp. Kalen DeBoer made it clear he would love to have a starting quarterback named at this point, but that is not where the Tide is ahead of the 2026 football season.

2 Freshmen Garnering The Most Buzz

The two freshmen who were discussed the most throughout the Tide’s time in Tampa, Florida, were running back EJ Crowell and wide receiver Cederian Morgan. Both are Alabama natives and were heavily sought-after as recruits. Both appear to have an opportunity to make an early impact in Tuscaloosa, despite Kalen DeBoer stressing the Tide will not have to lean as many freshmen this fall.

Alabama football hopeful about offensive line

Alabama football and Kalen DeBoer appear to be optimistic about the Tide’s offensive line ahead of the season, with DeBoer going as far as saying I do ” when he was asked if he feels the Tide’s offensive line will be better than last season.

“There’s a lot of new faces,” DeBoer said during an interview with Tide 100.9’s Ryan Fowler. “We lost some really good players, but an offensive line is about these guys all gelling and working together, playing together, executing, taking the techniques that they’ve learned and applying them with confidence. I think there’s other pieces too that can come into play. Tight ends and running backs, the other positions around them help them too. The offensive line is the singular, to me, the most important part and piece of it. They make everyone else better. Harder to argue that someone else, a receiver, makes the offensive line better. I probably can make an argument, but it’s certainly clear to me that an offensive line, a great offensive line, really changes what your team is about.”