Position Week: Four offseason questions for Alabama’s safeties

BamaOnLine will spend 10 total weeks breaking down position groups on Alabama’s 2024 roster leading up to the start of preseason camp. We conclude with the safety group.

To kick off Position Week No. 10, here are four questions for the Crimson Tide safeties.

How will new ‘Swarm’ D impact the safeties?

Alabama will have a new defensive coordinator with Kane Wommack being hired by head coach Kalen DeBoer . He brought his “Swarm” defense with him from South Alabama, which is a 4-2-5 scheme. What does that mean for the Crimson Tide safeties? From a personnel standpoint, not a whole lot. There will still be two deep safeties (Free and Rover) as well as one player in the box. That position, known as Star under the previous regime, will now be called the Husky. It’s similar because it’s a hybrid between a safety and a linebacker.

The Swarm defense presents safeties with plenty of opportunities to make plays, as Clint Lamb pointed out in January . Last year under Wommack’s direction, South Alabama’s free safety ( Jaden Voisin ) and Husky ( Yam Banks ) finished second and sixth, respectively, on the team in tackles with 71 and 46. Voisin also led the Jaguars defense with four interceptions in 2023. The new defensive scheme will be different in some aspects, but the safety positions, as well as the slot defensive back, should continue to fill up the stat sheet for Alabama.

Will Alabama field the nation’s best safety duo?

The Crimson Tide lost its top tackler and a Freshman All-American when Caleb Downs entered the transfer portal after Nick Saban retired. Alabama lost another starter to the NFL draft ( Jaylen Key ) and four other safeties to the portal. But the Tide also added some key pieces to its 2024 roster, including Michigan transfer Keon Sabb , who won a national title last season. Once the dust settled on the offseason movement, Alabama lost six players, added five and brought back three, and the Tide might field one of the best safety duos .

Sabb appeared in 14 of Michigan’s 15 games in 2023-24 and was in the starting lineup for five of them, including the national title game win over Washington. He gave the Tide a veteran presence in the back end to pair with Malachi Moore – one of the most experienced players not only on UA’s current team but all of college football. Moore, a fifth-year senior, spent the spring working exclusively at safety, and with Sabb lining up beside him, the Tide should be in good shape this fall with one of the nation’s top defensive back tandems.

Who will fill the new ‘Husky’ position on defense?

Moore has started games in the slot all of his previous four years at the college level. But with the veteran stating in the spring that he would be playing safety this fall, that leaves the Husky position up for grabs. We saw a couple of players work there during Alabama’s 15 practices this spring, and there were some post-spring portal additions who could push for playing time there, too, like Charlotte transfer Kameron Howard or ex-Penn State safety King Mack . UA will have options, though the top candidates might have been on campus.

DeVonta Smith is back and should be fully healthy whenever the Tide opens preseason camp later this month. He appeared set to play meaningful snaps last year before an injury delayed his opportunity. Smith is probably the leader in the clubhouse to man the Husky position for the start of Alabama’s 2024 campaign, but his top competition may be true freshman Red Morgan , who received first-team reps in the slot in his first practices in a crimson and white uniform. It will once again be a key defensive position, but the Tide has a few choices.

How many newcomers will see the field in 2024?

As noted above, Alabama replenished its safety room by way of the transfer portal and high school ranks this offseason. Sabb was brought in before the spring and participated in the 14 practices and A-Day Game. The former Wolverine appears poised to start at one of the two safety spots. After the spring, Alabama dipped back into the portal and added Howard and King to the mix. We’ve yet to see either of them and the Tide needed to add numbers here after its departures, but it will be interesting if either can make a move in August.

And then, there are two true freshmen who joined the safety group and went through not only spring drills but some of the team’s bowl prep, as well. Morgan and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. were part of Alabama’s 5-man high school defensive back haul during the 2024 cycle. Morgan spent time with the ones this spring, while Kirkpatrick was a little farther down the pecking order. With so many starters leaving, there are chances for the new guys to claim roles in their first years in Tuscaloosa, but outside of Sabb, the best shot will be at Husky.

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