The 5 Alabama players who have the most to gain during the 2026 season
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Every player who proudly puts on that iconic Alabama uniform this fall will surely have something to gain, and they’ll carry that enormous purpose with them on every single Saturday.
Whether it’s the shiniest stars on the outside or the grinders in the trenches, there is always an individual goal to work toward that could in turn lead to victory if done accordingly. This goes for the roll call of Crimson Tide coaches, too, from the pressure cooker that Kalen DeBoer faces in Year 3, to coordinators Ryan Grubb and Kane Wommack, straight on down.
But let’s also dip things in reality.
As we hit the summer and the fast track to fall camp, there’s just some players who’ll be wearing crimson and white this fall who have a little bit more to gain if they can grab hold of the moment enough. Whether it’s someone already penciled in as a starter, someone who’ll be trying to nail down that starting spot in fall camp, or even someone just trying to garner a rotation place, there are just some Tide players with opportunity screaming a little louder.
In the spirit of that opportunity knocking hard, we’ll narrow a healthy list of Bama players with a lot to gain in 2026 to the 5 guys with the absolute most. This list is in no particular order, because the following quintet all have a truckload to gain starting on Sept. 5:
1. QB Reese, LB
The redshirt sophomore has developed into a special teams ace during his time in T-Town, but Reese didn’t bring his talents from nearby Birmingham to shine on special teams. He came to Alabama to be a starting linebacker, and that glorious day could be coming very soon, like maybe in the 2026 season opener against East Carolina. The 6-foot, 229-pounder gained Kalen DeBoer’s attention during the spring, and Bama is desperate to find the right player at inside linebacker to pair with Virginia Tech transfer Caleb Woodson.
There is a whole lot of production (and plain talent) to make up for in the heart of Alabama’s defense, with Deontae Lawson, Justin Jefferson and Nikhai Green-Hill all gone to the NFL. The trio combined for 213 tackles during the 2025 season, and while Woodson is primed to make up for some of that, there is the issue of that other inside linebacker spot and the concern that the group of potential successors lacks experience. The concern is valid, too, because Reese has never started a game, nor have his closest competitors for the vacant position like Luke Metz and Cayden Jones.
But there is that old jobs saying that goes something like, you can’t have experience until you’re given the chance to get that experience. That’s exactly where Reese is right now in his Alabama career. Reese has a strong belief in himself and the other young Tide linebackers, and he wasn’t afraid to say it loudly. “I feel like our linebacker corps is bonding and jelling well. Everybody thinks that we’re young, but we’re ready to play for sure,” Reese said at a recent golf event in Alabama.
Reese was talking up the youthful linebacker group as a whole, but of course he was also talking about himself. He knows his time at Bama is precious, and he knows his time is now to separate himself and become a fixture for the next few years in the middle of Kane Wommack’s defense. Reese was a 3-star prospect in Alabama’s 2024 class, so it’s not like he came to Tuscaloosa with star potential — on paper, anyway.
But that hardly matters right now, especially after all that effort spent on special teams with an eye on this very opportunity. The kid from Birmingham has a real shot to become a household name in Alabama fan circles by Thanksgiving.
2. Racin Delgatty, C
Whoever wins the all-important starting center job — and by all accounts entering the summer it looks like it’ll be Delgatty — will have massive shoes to fill in every way. Parker Brailsford was Alabama’s rock at the center position for the previous 2 seasons, and now he’s property of the Cleveland Browns. It’s time for the Tide to find a new rock at the position, and Delgatty did his best this spring to make it a no-brainer decision for Ryan Grubb, settling in quickly in T-Town after transferring from Cal Poly.
Delgatty is a California kid, and Cal Poly is as far away, in every way possible, from Alabama as a player can transfer from. But while Grubb didn’t come out and name Delgatty the starting center during his impressive first spring, the offensive coordinator was full of praise for Delgatty. So was Kalen DeBoer, and all of this has to mean a great deal because the transition that Delgatty is trying to make this offseason isn’t easy, even if Delgatty is so far making it look really smooth.
Being a starting center in the mighty SEC, at mighty Alabama, would be a huge step up in competition from the world Delgatty came from. But he already has plenty of playing experience under his belt, starting 12 games at center last season and being named to the All-Big Sky Second Team. Delgatty also played in 9 games and started 8 of them as a redshirt freshman in 2024.
Alabama won’t know how Delgatty’s past consistency at Cal Poly translates to the SEC, until (or if) he lines up as the starting center in the Sept. 5 season opener against East Carolina. But you can’t argue with 1 sack allowed in 1,316 snaps at Cal Poly, nor can you ignore that Delgatty allowed only 11 pressures and 0 sacks in 460 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
By all positive accounts, from his California past to his Alabama present, Delgatty is ready to become the Tide’s starting center in 2026. And during an offseason when Bama is shuffling the deck on its offensive line with a new O-line coach in Adrian Klemm, maintaining stability and strength in the middle despite losing Brailsford would be an enormous win.
3. Kaleb Edwards, TE
Another California product poised to make a big impact for Alabama in 2026, Edwards got quite the true freshman baptism last fall. He learned a ton from 2025 starter Josh Cuevas, both when Edwards was playing behind Cuevas and even when Cuevas was injured for 3 weeks and Edwards was thrust into the starting lineup. Edwards was getting valuable intel from a player who became a fifth-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens, and during spring ball coinciding with the leadup to the draft, Edwards said he still talked with Cuevas and is still learning from him.
Being a sponge as a freshman worked just fine for Edwards, who was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team after catching 11 passes for 150 yards and 1 touchdown. Edwards spread out his production, catching at least 1 pass in 8 games, and he came to play on the big stage, catching a season-high 3 passes for 42 yards in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia when filling in for the injured Cuevas.
Edwards’ true freshman year provided the perfect blend of learning from Cuevas and getting on-the-job training by subbing for him. But the training wheels are supposed to be off in 2026. Edwards is all but certain to be Bama’s starting tight end this fall, and so there’ll be enormous pressure to go with enormous opportunity.
Richard Owens has taken over as the Tide’s tight ends coach, so Edwards has a fresh voice in his ear this year to go with Cuevas’ guidance. Edwards has the stage now, and Bama might just have its next great tight end.
4. Lotzeir Brooks, WR
The South Jersey product ventured down to the South and thrived as a freshman in 2025, catching 32 balls for 441 yards and a couple touchdowns. Brooks showed he could stretch the field a bit, too, averaging about 14 yards per grab, and his immediate level of production was vital with Ryan Coleman-Williams suffering through a sophomore slump under the name Ryan Williams.
What can Brooks do for an encore while avoiding his own sophomore slump? Well, a lot. At least Ryan Grubb hopes so. Because with Germie Bernard lost to the NFL and Isaiah Horton lost to SEC rival Texas A&M, there’s a giant hole at the No. 2 wide receiver position that’s screaming Brooks’ name. Sure, he’s a bit undersized at 5-foot-9 and 193 pounds, but that didn’t stop Brooks from doing damage right off the bat and amid the jungles of those SEC secondaries.
Brooks would’ve already had a big chance to make a big impact this fall, and then the A-Day Spring Game happened. On that mid-April Saturday, presumed No. 3 wideout Noah Rogers, a high-profile transfer from NC State, had to be carted off the field after trying to catch a pass in the end zone. Kalen DeBoer didn’t hide the harsh truth, telling reporters that Rogers’ injury was bad enough to “bleed into the season here a little bit.”
The unfortunate setback means more responsibility for everybody in Bama’s wide receiver room, from WR1 Coleman-Williams right down the list. Brooks was already near the top of the Crimson Tide’s wide receiver food chain, and now with Rogers’ 2026 season in question — exactly when will he return this fall and what can Alabama expect when he does? — the reliance on Brooks to up his level of play and production has shot up multiple notches.
Naturally, there are others on the depth chart who’ll have the chance now to make a much bigger impact with Rogers’ injury, from highly touted true freshman Cederian Morgan to Rico Scott to Derek Meadows. It’s a talented but unproven group, unlike Brooks, who proved he could thrive as an undersized freshman and now is set up for a total breakout sophomore season.
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5. Terrance Green, DL
Green was a 4-star stud from the Class of 2023, but the top-end talent out of Texas got caught in a severe numbers game out at Oregon. His recruiting bio didn’t match his production in 3 years in the Ducks program, where he combined for only 22 tackles and 1 sack. This is a very rare case where a player is arriving at Alabama from a program with, for now at least, better odds to win it all than the Crimson Tide, and Bama stands to benefit greatly from Green’s decision.
Even if Green isn’t a starter this fall in the truest sense, he’ll no doubt be a major piece in a revamped defensive front rotation. Green would’ve likely been buried behind Oregon’s 4 returning starters along its defensive line in 2026, and his motivation to finally be the difference-maker he was supposed to be in Eugene was on display this spring. CBS Sports labeled Green as one of the most impactful transfers for the 2026 season, particularly touting the 6-foot-5, 330-pound behemoth’s ability to shut down the run.
That’s the area where Alabama’s defensive line really struggled last season, with the Tide allowing 126.9 rushing yards per game in 2025. Remember when Indiana gashed Bama in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal rout on New Year’s Day, running for 215 yards? Kane Wommack sure remembers and Green, who had his fill of those Hoosiers, losing to them in the regular season and the CFP semifinals with Oregon, is set up perfectly to be part of Alabama’s solution in the trenches.
After watching far too many snaps from the sidelines in Eugene, Green needed Bama, and Bama really needs Green. He’s primed to make up for lost time in Tuscaloosa.
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Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
