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The Tuscaloosa News
Why 14 exiting transfers is nothing to panic about for Alabama football | Goodbread
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- Why 14 exiting transfers is nothing to panic about for Alabama football | Goodbread
The score is 14-1, but we're not talking about a two-touchdown lead.
Since college football free agency opened a week ago, Alabama football has seen 14 players vanish into the black hole that is the NCAA's winter transfer portal. A few already have come out on the other side, parachuting into their new digs everywhere from Colorado to Ole Miss to Vanderbilt. The one? That's the backfill number; the Crimson Tide to date has only drawn Cal long snapper David Bird from the portal, which closes on Dec. 28.
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If coach Kalen DeBoer's staff was down by two scores in the fourth quarter of a football game, it might be time to abandon the running game, send Ryan Williams deep and go for it on fourth down. But that's not how the portal game is scored. And despite the roster deficit that seems to grow by the day, there's no cause for panic.
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The transfer portal, since its inception in 2018, has mostly proven to be a receptacle for second- and third-string talent. That's the caliber of player the Crimson Tide usually loses to the portal, and that's mostly what's available in it, too.
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There are exceptions.
While most of UA's portal losses have been backups, a few figured to see regular playing time in 2025: returning starter DeVonta Smith , WR Kendrick Law and RB Justice Haynes to name three. And over the years, it's excavated some impressive finds as well.
Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs , for two examples, made huge impacts at Alabama as portal acquisitions. But those two illustrate why former coach Nick Saban usually limited his portal interest to the very few players he believed could step in and start. He never felt the need to replace backup players who left in the portal with backups from other schools.
And DeBoer shouldn't, either.
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Saban lost 18 players to the portal last year before he announced his retirement. The portal has always triggered a net loss of players at Alabama in terms of numbers. It takes a negative toll on depth, to be sure; even if DeBoer is able to push the program back into national championship contention, he'll likely never be able to maintain the depth Saban once stockpiled in the pre-portal era.
This is a different era now, and Alabama's second- and third-string talent under Saban suffered for it, too. But there's also such a thing as addition by subtraction when it comes to roster attrition. The portal is not only an opportunity for players to find a better situation, it's also a chance for the program to shed a few disgruntled guys who do more to weaken the locker room than strengthen it.
Here's another score: 27-1. That's 27 total portal losses to date among Georgia, Tennessee and Florida , and they've combined to take in only one. Oklahoma ? 22 out, none in.
Sound familiar?
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Big schools fish with heavy tackle. And they only need to catch a few to make a difference.
Transfer talent from schools in the College Football Playoff will still be entering the portal well into January; those players get an extension on the Dec. 28 portal closure that allows them to enter the portal up to five days after their final game. And with a national championship within reach, they won't be inclined to enter the portal any sooner.
Alabama is biding its time in recruiting the portal, no different than any other top program.
And the measure of its success is in the quality, not the numbers.
Tuscaloosa News sport columnist Chase Goodbread.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Transfer portal panic? Alabama football has bigger fish to catch
