With spring practice behind the Crimson Tide, the depth chart for 2026 has started to take shape and the coaching staff has gotten a better idea of who they expect to be the biggest contributors on the team this year.
Here is a prediction for the top ten players on Alabama’s roster in 2026.
- Devan Thompkins, defensive line
It is unknown where along the defensive line Thompkins will get the bulk of his snaps. While the University of Southern California transfer carries an interior frame, at 6 feet, 5 inches and 298 pounds, there is a void at the bandit position, at which he has appeared to be the best available player.
Whichever spot he ultimately calls home, Thompkins’ combination of size and pass-rushing ability is sure to make him an immediate starter on the defensive line. If he can master his run-stuffing ability and continue to hone his effectiveness at getting to the quarterback, he will become an every down lineman in defensive coordinator Kane Wommack’s scheme.
- Lotzeir Brooks, wide receiver
After a standout freshman year, in which the New Jersey native vastly outperformed his high school ranking, Brooks enters 2026 as Alabama’s wide receiver two.
After essentially sharing the wide receiver three spot with Isaiah Horton in 2025, Brooks should be able to massively build on his production from his freshman year. He is a lock to start every game he is healthy for this season, and he carries the ideal slot receiver profile at 5 feet, 9-inches and perhaps the fastest player on the team.
The next step for Brooks will be building his red-zone ability and coming down with more catches in the end zone in year two.
- Ezavier Crowell, running back
Crowell’s ranking is easily the boldest prediction of this list, as he is the only true freshman to make the top ten, and he reclassified up in his junior year. After missing nearly all of spring practice with an injury, he certainly has a lot of work ahead of him to climb this high on the roster ranking.
Crowell may enter the running back room, however, as the most talented back on the team. He combines elite speed, a 10.74 second time in the 100-meter dash, with vision, burst and change of direction that is rare for a player who should be going into his senior year of high school.
His spring setback may make it difficult for him to begin the year as the starting tailback, but his talent is great enough that he has a path to become the most utilized runner on the team by the end of the year.
- Dijon Lee Jr., cornerback
Lee will be a critical piece in what could be the best secondary in the nation, providing linebacker size and tackling ability at the boundary corner position.
The Freshman All-Southeastern Conference Team defensive back combined run-stuffing ability on the outside with elite coverage instincts in his first year. He finished the season with two interceptions, 4.5 tackles for loss and five pass breakups.
The next steps in his progression will be honing his technical ability and ball skills, and improvements in those areas will undoubtedly put Lee in discussions as a future first-round NFL draft pick.
- Michael Carroll, right guard
Carroll worked his way up to starting right tackle as a true freshman in 2025, and performed highly enough to be named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.
He is the only returning starter on the offensive line, however, and with Wilkin Formby transferring to Texas A&M University, the coaching staff views Carroll as the best option to fill the vacancy at right guard.
Considering how well Carroll performed at tackle in his first year of college football, fans can expect him to only improve after moving back to his high school position on the interior and with more experience under his belt. His massive frame and raw power will be critical to the offensive staff’s goal of holding up better in pass protection and getting more physical run-blocking.
“This is what we have to do for the best for the team,” Carroll said of his position change. “If my team wants to do that, I want to have my team win, so I’ll do that for the team.”
- Zabien Brown, cornerback
Having engraved himself as a fan-favorite in Tuscaloosa after multiple game-changing interceptions in his first two years, Brown’s junior season should be his best one yet, as he will now be combining his raw talent at the position with veteran-level experience.
As a projected first-round pick in the 2027 NFL draft, Brown will have a lot of eyes on him this fall. His ability to play the flats and hook/curl zones is among the best in college football, and he showed tremendous improvement in press-man coverage in 2025.
If his consistency in one-on-one matchups continues to grow in what will likely be his final season with the Crimson Tide, Brown’s ceiling will be not just the best corner in the SEC, but the best in the nation.
- Bray Hubbard, safety
Hubbard’s decision to return for his redshirt junior year rather than declare for the NFL Draft could transform Alabama’s ceiling in 2026. The first-team-All-SEC safety has All-American upside and the potential to be a day one pick in the NFL Draft next year.
Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack has used Hubbard as a chess piece who can be placed in various alignments, from slot receiver coverage to linebacker play in the box. Hubbard racked up four interceptions and two sacks last year, a demonstration of his versatility and ability to be deployed anywhere on the defensive side of the field.
With Hubbard’s return comes one of the team’s most important leaders, both in and off the field, and he will head one of the deepest and most physical defensive backfields in college football this fall.
- Keelon Russell, quarterback
Ranking a quarterback who has not yet won his job in the top three is bold, but it may be deserved for the highest-rated recruit in Alabama football history.
Russell must carry his impressive spring performances into fall camp to be named the starter, but if he does, he has the potential to be one of the best quarterbacks in the program’s history. He lacks a clear flaw in his game, and combines great size, pinpoint accuracy and evasive mobility in a way few prospects do.
“Sometimes a play is going to be longer than what you expect,” wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams said, “but literally, it just feels like you’re playing a video game when [Russell] is in.”
Russell’s four-touchdown performance in Alabama’s A-Day scrimmage, in which current first-string quarterback Austin Mack had to leave early due to an injury, sets him up in a favorable spot to win the position going into summer workouts and fall camp. Russell’s ceiling knows no limit, and he has the potential to make his no. 3 ranking on this list look laughably low by the end of the year.
- Yhonzae Pierre, outside linebacker
Pierre went into his redshirt sophomore year with few expectations for him to be a major contributor on defense, but after an injury early in the year to starting “wolf” linebacker Qua Russaw, Pierre stepped in and finished the year as arguably Alabama’s best player on that side of the ball.
Despite getting his first start in week six against Vanderbilt, Pierre finished the season with eight sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss, the best production Alabama has had from an edge rusher since Dallas Turner in 2023. That production led to him having a real chance to become a day two pick had he declared for the NFL Draft.
Pierre chose to return for his fourth year; however, a choice that gives Alabama the chance to have a much-improved pass rush in 2026. With Pierre now having a full set of spring and fall practices as the presumptive starter, he should only improve, and with a full twelve starts this fall, he could easily boost his production to become a double-digit sack edge rusher and an SEC Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
- Ryan Coleman-Williams, wide receiver
Coleman-Williams was the No. 1 player on the list last year, and despite a down year that has caused many national analysts to back off on their expectations for him, he is still in the position to be Alabama’s best player in 2026.
The issue for Coleman-Williams in his sophomore year was his drops, a problem which he certainly bears some responsibility for, but that was undoubtedly caused in part by his high number of snaps in the slot, a change that he didn’t perfectly adjust to at the beginning of the season.
When he is playing his natural X-receiver position, however, Coleman-Williams has few flaws in his game. His route-running is NFL-caliber, and his after-the-catch ability to gain yards in the open field may still be the best in the nation due to his scintillating speed and feel for how to make defenders miss.
As he continues to hone in on his catching and short route-running, Coleman-Williams should return to being the best receiver on the team and among the best in college football. “Ryan works,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said, “and you’re never going to question the work ethic, the character, the personality. He’s as competitive as anyone you’re going to find, and it shows. And our team just loves that about him.”
