The Alabama Crimson Tide has an intriguing group of talent at the inside linebacker position.
Virginia Tech transfer Caleb Woodson is expected to make a major impact throughout his first season in Tuscaloosa this year. Former 5-star linebacker Xavier Griffin has flashed major potential across fall camp as well, and each player could quickly find themselves playing a critical role on the Tide’s defense this season.
Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack recently shared an update on the Tide’s ongoing inside linebacker competition, as a handful of players have reportedly stood out this offseason in addition to Woodson and Griffin.
“We’ve got Xavier Griffin coming in. Caleb Woodson, both of those guys have done a really good job putting themselves in position to play.” Wommack said. “I’m impressed with that group, I think Luke Metz has taken his game to another level. I think you see a lot from Abduall Sanders, QB Reese, Cayden Jones is doing some nice things, Duke Johnson. So those guys are all going to have a role for us, it’s just kind of at some point you have to say here’s the 2B, and let those guys ride and see what happens in games.”
Wommack continued to reveal how close he is to officially naming a starter as well.
“We’re pretty close. Pretty good spot there in terms of knowing what we are going to get out of guys. Scrimmage here on Thursday, then we start kind of turning our attention to getting into some more teamwork with some personnel groupings that we’ve got to get ready for. I told the guys this is a really big week, decisions are going to be made in my mind about who takes the field against East Carolina based off what you do this week. I tell the guys, I’m a human stock market. Stock is up, stock is down, but there’s a line that I’m going to draw that guys I trust will do there job at a high level, that I feel like we could put in the first game regardless of the situation. But coming out of this Thursday I’ll have a pretty good idea of who we are going to ride with.”
Alabama’s second scrimmage of fall camp later this week will ultimately play a role in a handful of decisions entering Week 1. Both Metz and Reese are extremely talented linebackers who could prove to shine in a starting role, and the duo will undoubtedly need to be at their best during Thursday’s contest.
Alabama has a handful of promising candidates who have continued battling for the starting inside linebacker role across the entire offseason, and a final decision appears to be coming to light in the near future nonetheless.
