Alabama football feels it has its answers in 2026 linebacker room
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MOBILE — Alabama football is already flaunting its 2026 defense.
Kalen DeBoer is “fired up” about his defensive line, an amalgamation of new faces and old, of length, size and athleticism. And paired with a secondary bringing back nearly all of its 2025 production in players like Bray Hubbard and Zabien Brown, expectations for Year 3 under the tutelage of defensive coordinator Kane Wommack are sky high.
And then there’s the middle linebacker room.
In 2025, the answers were there. Deontae Lawson and Justin Jefferson were both back for their final season of eligibility. Nikhai Hill-Green, a transfer from Colorado, also joined the Crimson Tide for his final season of eligibility. No other Alabama linebacker was really needed.
In 2026, that narrative has flipped. Yes, Alabama added Caleb Woodson, a Virginia Tech transfer heading into his final season of eligibility. But the rest of the room stands pat sans Lawson, Jefferson and Hill-Green, a room that had 135 snaps of experience combined in 2025.
DeBoer acknowledges the “biggest losses” on defense are Lawson, Hill-Green and Jefferson. But he feels Alabama has answers.
“Bringing in Caleb and some of our young guys, again, that were being groomed a year ago for this opportunity,” DeBoer said. “I’m excited to see what they can do too.”
Woodson is in the same vein as the three linebackers Alabama lost. In 35 games, he has 152 career tackles, 11.5 tackles-for-loss and two sacks. He has an interception and three pass deflections.
But Alabama has not made another move to add a veteran piece to the linebacker room. And for Wommack, that’s just fine.
He trusts in the first full linebacker class the Crimson Tide signed in 2025: Luke Metz, Abduall Sanders Jr. and Duke Johnson II, linebackers who are “all in a position now to go compete at a high level,” along with incoming third-year linebacker QB Reese.
Wommack also trusts Cayden Jones, the incoming third-year linebacker who has 83 snaps of experience, per Pro Football Focus, across two seasons, with 14 tackles, one pass deflection and a fumble recovery in 21 games.
In Jones, though, Wommack sees an old-school example of development.
“Back in the day, it took two years to get yourself into Year 3 and put yourself into position to go execute at a high level,” Wommack told The Tuscaloosa News. “And Cayden Jones has that frame. He’s so athletic. He has continued to build strength. He’s continued to understand what we are doing physically, what we are doing schematically as a defense. And so I think he’s in a real position. I would have loved to have seen what he did this past year had he not been injured. But I think he’s in a position to go compete at a really high level this year.”
Players like Jones, like Metz, Johnson and Sanders, and like Reese, give Wommack confidence. It’s why Alabama has landed one veteran linebacker ahead of 2026. The Crimson Tide seems fine with what it has at its disposal.
“We feel good about our linebacking corps right now,” Wommack said. “The frames, the athleticism, the buy-in, the lock-in, just the level of urgency that those guys have right now seems as good as we’ve had.”
Alabama opens its 2026 season against East Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What Kane Wommack, Kalen DeBoer think of Alabama football’s linebackers
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