The transfer portal has become college football’s answer to free agency in professional sports.

It is a living, breathing, seemingly nonstop turnstile of talent that giveth and taketh away from programs seeking that ideal balance.

The portal is alternately rewarding and cruel, exhilarating and exhausting, but if you play the portal just right, you can go from 3-9 to 6-6, or from 6-6 to 9-3, or, in Alabama’s case, you can find those crucial few pieces to go from 10-2 with an unsatisfied fan base back to the 11-1 or 12-0 record everyone in Tuscaloosa knows and loves.

But the transfer portal is a risky and crazy game of chance, and the Crimson Tide saw both sides of that very clearly in the fall 2022.

Just look at last year’s 2 portal prizes, running back Jahmyr Gibbs and wide receiver Jermaine Burton. Both arrived at Alabama from the neighboring state of Georgia, both were supposed to help Bama reload and replenish from its offseason losses and both were supposed to be key pieces to put around Bryce Young in his pursuit of a repeat Heisman Trophy season and that elusive national championship.

The piece from Georgia Tech (Gibbs) did.

The piece from rival Georgia (Burton) did not.

It was cut and dried, too. Gibbs was sensational, as a runner and as a receiver. Burton had flashes of brilliance but was largely disappointing, rarely finding the end zone and hardly stretching the defense.

Gibbs was a reason Bama scratched out 10 wins despite its shortcomings. And Burton was probably a reason that Bama “only” won 10 games and, for a change, won’t be participating in the College Football Playoff semifinals on New Year’s Eve.

The transfer portal is truly a game of Russian roulette. Coach Nick Saban and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien both knew this already but saw it play out in real time across 3 months of football. The portal rewards you and stings you, just like those professional free agents who sign big deals with new teams.

With that in mind, Saban will walk to the portal door again this offseason, he’ll probably knock hard, and he’ll hope for the best. Saban knows better than anyone in Tuscaloosa that 10-2 is good but not good enough because it’s not good enough for him, period. He also knows there were already holes to fill on his roster even before the 45-day transfer portal window opened last week and now that a dozen Tide players have already departed for the portal, there is serious work to be done.

So, where are there the most holes to fill? Where exactly should the Crimson Tide look hardest for talent? You can argue, like with every program, that every position can be upgraded.

But we’ll narrow it down to 5 position groups where Bama should hit the portal hardest:

Wide receiver

You probably knew we were going to start here. Yes, wide receiver certainly would’ve made our list of 5 positions already, long before the transfer portal carousel started. But when the portal madness began, wideouts Traeshon Holden, JoJo Earle and Christian Leary waived goodbye to Tuscaloosa, leaving the Tide without 3 of the receivers they would’ve leaned on for a bounce-back performance in 2023.

Yes, the junior Holden (25 catches) and the sophomore Earle (12) combined for just 37 catches in 2022, which was a symbol of Bama’s uneven wide receivers’ output in the 1st place. The sophomore Leary only caught 1 pass. But Holden, who announced he is transferring to Oregon, did find the end zone 6 times and Earle scored 2 TDs among his 12 grabs, so these were players who had a knack for putting up points. And while Bama’s top 2 receivers statistically this season, sophomore Ja’Corey Brooks and the junior Burton, are in line to return next year, the departures of Holden and Earle hurt the depth of the position.

Maybe Kobe Prentice, who had a pretty impressive freshman year with 30 catches, continues to develop and can even become a starter for Saban? Or maybe Tyler Harrell, who was a big-time portal prize from Louisville but was slowed by a sprained foot in fall camp, can rebound in 2023 and be what O’Brien envisioned? Or maybe freshmen Kendrick Law or Isaiah Bond start to blossom?

Those are a lot of what-ifs and maybes for 2023. A group with Brooks, Burton, Prentice and Harrell would be fine to start with, but there are those depth issues and remember that Young very likely won’t be around to save the day anymore. It’ll be sophomore-to-be Jalen Milroe starting, or maybe even sophomore-to-be Ty Simpson. This means that Alabama’s receivers are going to have to be that much better, because there will be no Superman behind center like there has been the past 2 seasons.

Offensive line

The Alabama O-line was really good and really talented in 2022. Just take a glance at the All-SEC 1st and 2nd teams. There’s Emil Ekiyor on the 1st team, and there’s Javion Cohen and Tyler Steen on the 2nd team. The only problem? None of those 3 standouts will be returning to Tuscaloosa in 2023, with Ekiyor and Steen being seniors and Cohen entering the transfer portal. That’s a problem as giant as 1 of those offensive linemen.

But that’s not all. Offensive tackle Tommy Brockermeyer also entered the transfer portal. And that’s not all, unfortunately. Fellow linemen Damieon George, Amari Kight and Tanner Bowles have also entered that crazy, chaotic portal, with Bowles already finding his new home within the SEC at Kentucky. This is Alabama being discussed about here, so rich O-line talent will be brought in through recruiting, as it is every year. But there were 7 players just rattled off who were instantly wiped off the roster for 2023, and that’s a lot to replace.

So, yeah, Saban probably needs to hit the portal for offensive linemen and hit it pretty hard. Yes, only Cohen was a starter among the aforementioned 5 who entered the portal. But losing those other 4 guys combined with the departures of seniors Ekiyor and Steen means the Crimson Tide are watching big-time talent, valuable experience and vital depth walk depart. That’s a nasty trio of factors to deal with, especially during an offseason when 1 of the best quarterbacks in Alabama history is likely also leaving.

Quarterback

I like Milroe. I really do. I think he showed a ton when Young went down, and he did it on that very day, without notice, in a hostile environment in Fayetteville, Ark., in front of that Red Out. Milroe rescued the Tide from blowing a 28-0 lead that day. He also overcame his 2 fumbles the next week against Texas A&M when he was pressed into starting duty, in prime time, in the pressure cooker at Bryant-Denny Stadium with all those crimson-colored eyeballs watching to see if he would crumble. He could have. But he did not. He persevered.

I also really think if Milroe is Alabama’s starting quarterback in 2023 that will be a pretty good thing. I think the Tuscaloosa faithful should be OK with that. He’s not Young, but the Bryce Youngs of the world don’t grow on trees. Milroe is a monster at 6-2, 212 pounds and he’s probably going to fill out a little in the next few years. He’s a beast for linebackers and defensive backs to try to tackle in the open field and, yeah, he’s really raw as a passer, but he’s going to improve in the offseason and the offseason after that. Saban and O’Brien will see to that.

But … again … this is Bama. They don’t settle in Tuscaloosa. Not that Milroe would be settling, but the transfer portal likely will  present options at QB who could shake things up, who could give the Tide offense a different look or, at the very least, could light a fire under Milroe and push him to greater heights. And we aren’t forgetting about the highly touted Simpson, who dipped his toes in the water as a freshman with 5 pass attempts and who can push Milroe for the starting job all by himself. But a trip to the portal for a QB to push both of them would be a wise move.

Kicker

Stop snickering, please. Yeah, kicker. Alabama fans have been spoiled for 15 years with Saban, spoiled by winning and spoiled by excellence at almost every position, times 100. Except for kicker. It’s been the Tide’s little albatross for all these years, trying to find a star kicker who could bail them out in the few times when the offense couldn’t score a touchdown. Then Will Reichard came along from right down the road in Hoover, Alabama, in 2019, and the Crimson Tide finally had their kicker.

Reichard got his feet wet as a freshman with 7 field-goal attempts, then exploded onto the scene as a sophomore in the shortened 2020 season by going a perfect 14 of 14 on his kicks. He made 22 of 28 attempts in 2021 and then drilled 21 of his 25 attempts this season to cap off his career. Reichard missed 2 extra points in 236 career attempts. He wasn’t perfect, as Bama fans were reminded of in the loss at Tennessee and in the escape-act win against Texas A&M. But he was better than probably anyone who’s come along in the Saban Era. And now he’s gone.

And because of that, and because backup kicker and Dothan, Ala., native Jack Martin has entered the transfer portal, there is a huge vacancy in the Alabama Hotel for a kicker. And there are huge shoes to fill for whoever replaces Reichard because he was so dependable for so long. Martin was also the Tide’s backup punter but starting punter James Burnip just finished his sophomore season and is in line to return. So, that position seems secure, but the kicker position is anything but that.

There’s no law against bringing in a more experienced kicker from the portal to compete with the 2 highly touted kickers Bama already has in its 2023 recruiting class in Reed Harradine and Conor Talty. Finding the next Reichard and continuing to buck the trend of so-so Bama kickers is crucial.

Linebacker

Alabama’s embarrassment of riches at this position is ending (until its next cycle of epic greatness, that is) with the almost guaranteed departure of Will Anderson Jr. and the certain departure of senior Henry To’oTo’o. Anderson has cleaned up during the postseason awards frenzy, as expected, and To’oTo’o was named 1st-team All-SEC. Losing 1 of these players in an offseason would be pretty devastating but losing both of them in a heartbeat means Saban and defensive coordinator Pete Golding have some work to do to replenish the position.

So far, and we stress “so far,” Alabama has reportedly not lost any linebackers to the transfer portal. But that could change at a moment’s notice, and even if it doesn’t, the Crimson Tide are losing a ton of talent, experience and savvy at the position without the portal. They’re losing an absolute Alabama legend in Anderson, to start with. And they’re losing an exemplary leader in To’oTo’o, who was a tackle machine for 4 seasons in the SEC. Senior Jaylen Moody, who had 49 tackles and 2 sacks in 2022, also will be gone.

Now, is the cupboard bare? Hardly. There is junior-to-be Dallas Turner, who had 37 tackles and 4 sacks this season and is seemingly ready to take over as the leader of the defense, with Anderson probably gone and stellar safety Jordan Battle definitely gone. Deontae Lawson (45 tackles in 2022) and Chris Braswell (17 tackles, 3 sacks) also are in line to return. Maybe Quandarrius Robinson and/or Kendrick Blackshire blossom in 2023?

Just bringing back Turner next fall is a great start, and Lawson and Braswell should take another step forward in their progression as players. But the transfer portal might just land Bama a stellar prize, like … To’oTo’o, who entered the portal after the 2020 campaign following 2 excellent seasons at rival Tennessee and decided to make Tuscaloosa his home for the last 2 years of his collegiate career. And look what happened. Maybe lightning strikes twice for Saban?