Jumbo Package: Marshall Pritchett calls Keelon Russell “dynamite in a bottle”

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Happy Monday, everyone. TE Marshall Pritchett spoke to reporters over the weekend, and one quote in particular generated quite a bit of buzz.

“Keelon’s like dynamite in a bottle,” Pritchett said. “The guy’s an incredible athlete. Incredible football thrower. It’s so hard to explain his game if you haven’t kind of seen it fully in person every day like we do.”

Pritchett tried his best to explain, nonetheless.

“He just makes throws and it’s like, you rewind the film, you’re like, ‘there’s no way he just did that,’” Pritchett said. “How did he just do that? That’s the only way to explain Keelon. The guy’s dynamite.”

Pritchett is very much framing the battle as one between a steady veteran and a young dynamic playmaker, which has been the outside perception all along. If Keelon is flashing that much, it’s hard to believe that he doesn’t give Alabama the best chance to win. But, he has to play smart football.

This video only added to the hysteria.

It should be noted that those are all young players who aren’t likely to have a featured role this season. Still, Keelon is getting the celebrity treatment.

Pritchett and Kaleb Edwards also spoke about leading the tight end group with Josh Cuevas off to the NFL.

“It’s been amazing,” Edwards said. “It’s been a grind, but it’s been fun.”

Pritchett went into detail about how close he is to his teammates, calling the first week of camp “a blast”.

“I love this team that we have,” he said. “I think we’re so close as a unit, offense and defense. Obviously, incredibly competitive when we go out there. It’s a war every day, but when we get to the locker room, dude, it’s like I’m hanging out with my bestest friends in the world.”

Losing Cuevas left a leadership hole in the room, something that both players said has been a group effort in replacing.

“I think all of us have stepped up a little bit now that we don’t have that true senior leader,” Edwards said.

And, they seem to be getting something from their new tight ends coach.

The focus wasn’t on what the tight ends needed to do. Instead, tight ends coach Richard Owens asked his players to draw up everyone’s blocking assignment. Left tackle, right guard, you name it.

“He’s super knowledgeable in that aspect,” tight end Marshall Pritchett said.“And it’s helped me, when I line up, I feel like there’s no way I don’t know what’s coming. I know if the d-end’s standing up and there’s pressure to the field, whatever, I know what to expect, and I thank him for that.”

Hiring Owens might have been the most underrated move Kalen DeBoer made this offseason. The former NFL tight end has spent the past decade and a half coaching tight ends and offensive linemen at multiple schools. His expertise in offensive line mixed with his knowledge of his former position make Owens the perfect assistant to help coach a position that’s key to reviving the ground game in 2026.

Tight ends that understand angles and move people make a huge difference in the run game.

Of course, on the defensive side, the goal is to be the immovable object. Kane Wommack seems to think that Alabama is getting closer to that.

This has been a years-long project for Wommack and Alabama, saying the Crimson Tide is “in a much better place now” in terms of size on the defensive line.” 

“Big bodies matter, right?” Wommack said. 

It’s the big frames that can strike. It’s the big frames that can get around or through a double team with sheer mass. 

To Wommack, it’s the difference between a good and a dominant defense. 

“The truth is, we got moved around some for the last two years here,” Wommack said. …We’ve done some good things defensively here. At times, I think we’ve been really good. But to be a dominant defense, you have to have guys up front that can make a difference. And I think… we’re moving in the right direction.”

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Alabama’s defensive line as an impenetrable wall. That would be refreshing. Jah-Marien Latham may well be a key piece toward making that happen.

Latham has moved around the Alabama defensive front during his time in Tuscaloosa. To start the 2026 season, he’s back working in the edge spot that Wommack refers to as the “wolf,” but he also has the versatility to play the “bandit,” a more traditional defensive end position.

Wommack spoke more about how Latham’s presence can help the team in his sixth season of college football.

“He’s got a great maturity,” Wommack said. “And then you just, what’s amazing in the first three days is how quickly he’s adapted back to the fundamentals of football. You watch him in the six technique drill and he’s kicking ass right now. Awesome to have him back and he has worked really, really hard to get himself back in position.”

Ivan Taylor has been impressed with the Alabama program.

“You see a whole bunch of consistency here,” Taylor said. “Without being here, I wouldn’t think it would be as high, but I feel like Alabama holds you to a different standard.”

That standard has also pushed Alabama’s strengthened mentality entering the fall.

Taylor knows Alabama has heard the criticism surrounding the program. Rather than shy away from the negativity or heightened expectations, he said the Crimson Tide is embracing them.

“We speak it into existence, so we’re going to be the best,” Taylor said. “Our mentality has completely changed. A lot of people have, like, disrespected our names, so we’re gonna make sure that we show them.”

Taylor should play a starring role in the secondary next season.

Alabama players spoke about Davis Ballou’s “Ring of Fire.”

“Man, man, man, you’ve just got to be there,” Alabama wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams said while smiling. “I ain’t gonna lie, Practice Field 3, that’s a different warrior. During the offseason, you definitely don’t want nothing to do with it. During the season, you still don’t want nothing to do with it.”

A lot of players had similar reactions when we asked about Practice Field 3, as their eyes widened with a vision of what goes down on that piece of land with nervous laughter mixed in. But wide receiver Rico Scott rolled his eyes, chuckled and took a deep breath.

“Pain,” Scott said. “When DeBoer tells us to go to Field 3, it’s like a ‘here we go again’ kind of thing. Really that’s because of Ballou, because most of the time when you think about Field 3 you think about summer workouts that Ballou’s putting us through.”

Last, plenty of folks noticed that the Alabama jerseys were modified to create some prime real estate.

Someone is going to buy it, we’ll just have to wait and see who.

That’s about it for today. Have a great week.

Roll Tide.

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