Kalen DeBoer is turning the ship the right way at Alabama in his second year at its helm. He struggled last season, but the HC has been taking notes and is duly working on them. The sun seems to shine in Tuscaloosa, with new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb running point on the offensive side. As DeBoer adds a new page to his Alabama career, some key developments are making quite the conversation. He might have been let off easily by experts because of 2024 being his debut year. But 2025 seems to be a promising season for the new Alabama HC.
A particular topic of interest in the new era of Crimson Tide football is Ryan Williams. He and DeBoer both began their first years in the shadow of Nick Saban’s legacy. But among them, Williams seemed to have the better time. Alabama faltered towards the end of the season, but not without making Williams a budding talent to look out for. An elite player through and through, he is now ranked the No.3 wide receiver by 247Sports, with a five-star rating. As a true freshman last year, Williams pitched in 865 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns. With DeBoer focused on making a better year out of 2025, Williams will play a bigger role as well as a wide receiver. WRs Germie Bernard and Isaiah Horton will be important players that Williams can look to rely on, according to an insider.
Clint Lamb told Mick Gillispie how the situation could play out in 2025 in a March 31 episode of Cover Crimson. He crowned Williams as the lead in the WR Room right away. “Ryan Williams is going to be kind of that alpha number one,” Lamb said. He then explained how the other two WRs would place in the depth chart. “But, I would probably say, in my opinion, Bernard’s going to be the number two with Horton being a 2B. I think they’re pretty evenly split. I think this year, compared to last year, it was just two guys who were way ahead of everybody else as far as the targets. This year, I would say there’s at least going to be three guys like that, if not four.”
Lamb says that these three are “pretty heavily targeted,” just as the tight ends and the running backs. There are more talents in the WR room, but Lamb sticks to this mix. “I think these are going to be your three despite the fact that you’ve got Rico Scott, Cole Adams, Jalen Hale, Jaylen Mbakwe; tons of different options. I really like where this is heading, as far as Alabama’s wide receiver room as a whole.” Lamb added.
Things are looking up at Kalen DeBoer on the offensive side, as some good updates come from the ongoing spring practice. Ty Simpson, the hopeful successor to Jalen Milroe’s legacy, also has some exciting developments worth looking forward to. DeBoer truly seems to be locked in on etching a better year with the upcoming season at Alabama.
More exciting offensive developments Kalen DeBoer is looking forward to
Alabama wrapped up its first spring scrimmage earlier this week, and DeBoer had only good things to share. “I thought today was actually probably one of their better days. It was the best day and the film will show that when I look more closely, but they were more consistent. Run game, pass game, we created some seams at times. I think they were the most consistent,” the HC said.
Alabama’s offense had some alarming flaws last season, which Grubb is actively working to improve. He is adamant on bringing an “aggressive” mindset to the offense, which many think is exactly what Alabama was lacking last season. “We’re going to be aggressive. I think that when the players, when it works the best, the understanding that the players have that we got to be responsible with the football, not go backwards, make sure we’re always matriculating the ball down the field, but then be ready for an opportunity to take the shot,” Grubb said.
Then, there’s the QB1 battle to look at. Ty Simpson is the easy favorite, and he has the numbers to back his worth. “Right now, Ty Simpson is the leader in the clubhouse. He’s been there four years, he’s graduated, he’s a redshirt junior,” Drew DeArmond said in a March 29 episode of College Football Addiction. He also has Josh Pate’s approval. “I think Ty Simpson’s the overwhelming favorite to win that starting job.” Simpson has yet to make a touchdown in his college football career. But this season, it looks like he is in the lead. Kalen DeBoer also had good things to say about him. “You certainly appreciate what he’s done. Just continued to work on what he can control and that’s himself.”
DeBoer looks all set to make 2025 a year of great promise for himself and Alabama football. With him, Ryan Williams and Ty Simpson will also be looking at the upcoming season as an important one, hoping to add impressive numbers to their resumes. This year’s Crimson Tide offense is clearly making a marked shift from that of last year’s.
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