Former Alabama players have high expectations for this position group

Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Bray Hubbard (18) celebrates his interception as Auburn Tigers take on Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Auburn Tigers 27-20.

On the latest episode The Dynasty: A Podcast on the Alabama Crimson Tide, former Alabama players AJ McCarron and Trent Richardson highlighted an Alabama position group that they have high expectations for, and it’s the defensive backs.

“It’s gonna be probably one of the best secondaries in the SEC, if not in college football,” Richardson said. “I’m not saying it’s gonna be the best, I’m saying it’s gonna be one of the best.”

McCarron broke down why he has high expectations for Alabama’s secondary and talked about why having experienced defensive backs is huge for Alabama ahead of the 2026 season.

“Knowing that all these guys got experience, that’s huge because not a lot of teams in the country are going to have that from a sense of just that much experience and playing time as a whole,” McCarron said. “And it’s not a group that has some experience but also has a bunch of new guys, like where it’s a mixture. I mean, these dudes should be able to communicate because they’ve played a couple years with each other now to where communication should be at an all-time high.”

Alabama will have experienced players like Zabien Brown, Dijon Lee Jr., Keon Sabb, Bray Hubbard, Red Morgan, Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. and more playing another season in this Alabama defense, and new additions like Mercer transfer Carmelo O’Neal and freshmen Jorden Edmonds and Jireh Edwards add more depth to an already stacked secondary.

Only time will tell if Alabama’s secondary will live up to the offseason praise, but the experience level has people like McCarron and Richardson putting higher expectations on this group compared to others.