Alabama football reached into the transfer portal and has picked up three players so far with Domani Jackson, LT Overton and Naquil Betrand choosing to transfer and join the Crimson Tide.
The new transfer portal rules have teams across college football looking for immediate ways to improve their rosters. Alabama is no different as several of the players, who have decided to transfer to Alabama in recent years have played significant roles in Tuscaloosa. Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams and Jermaine Burton are some of the headliners of this group.
Saban and company are hopeful their new additions can make a similar impact, and they have the potiential to do so.
Jackson is a former five-star defensive back, who will look to compete in a secondary, which lost multiple starters in Terrion Arnold, Kool-Aid McKinstry and Jaylen Key along with some key reserves to the portal in Kristian Story, Earl Little Jr. and Jake Pope. The California native had 33 tackles and three pass deflections in ten games of action during the 2023 football season. He also played in seven games as a freshman, making him one of the most experienced defensive backs on Alabama’s current roster.
At 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, Jackson is a long and well built defensive back, who clocked in sub 11 100-meter dash times in high school. He has the physical traits needed to be successful as cornerback which he plays with a physical style. He will be expected to make a run at one of Alabama’s two open starting cornerback positions.
Overton is another former five-star, who decided to transfer from Texas A&M to Alabama. Similar to Jackson, Overton has played a significant amount of college football. He saw playing time in 23 games while with the Aggies including four starts. He finished the 2023 football season with 17 total tackles and three quarterback hurries.
While his stats do not jump off the paper, Overton had success taking on blocks and impacting plays where he may not have made the tackle. He also flashed an ability to work off blocks and get tackles close to the line of scrimmage. Alabama will have an opportunity to help the 6-foot-5, 265-pounder continue to grow as a defensive lineman.
Alabama is expected to return several key defensive players up front next season with Justin Eboigbe being the only Alabama defensive lineman, who has declared for the NFL Draft. Overton will have to compete with a mix of young and experienced talent to get into the Tide’s defensive line rotation.
Bertrand joins Overton as a Texas A&M transfer. He is a bit of an unknown amongst this group with him being listed as a three-star recruit coming out of high school and not seeing any playing time as a freshman for the Aggies in 2023. He is listed at 6-foot-6 and 340 pounds on Texas A&M’s 2023 football roster which gives the Tide yet another big body along the offensive front.
Alabama signed several tackles during the 2023 recruiting cycle, including five-star, Kadyn Proctor. The questions surrounding Bertrand and his potential at Alabama should get some answers in spring practice.
Alabama may not be done adding players from the portal.
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Justin Smith is the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via jdsmith31smith
