College football insider Josh Pate witnessed Alabama's spring practice, declaring the 2026 roster boasts higher upside despite past struggles.
Alabama made some gains in the second year of head coach Kalen DeBoer.
The Crimson Tide made the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff. However, they were blown out by Georgia in the SEC championship and destroyed 38-3 by Indiana in the CFP quarterfinal.
Alabama's issues running the ball were well documented.
It remains to be seen how the new offense will look without quarterback Ty Simpson, set to be taken in this month's draft.
College football insider Josh Pate recently visited Alabama during its spring practice. He made a bold claim about the team's upside for 2026 after witnessing how the roster is coming together in person.
“Because even in this case, everybody knows Alabama sucked running the ball last year," Pate said. "But even in properly diagnosing the issue, you realize how far off in some cases you are on diagnosing the reasons why. I hope that makes sense.
"I will say that to say this, I think watching them scrimmage, I think the upside on this team is higher than last year's team, and that's not even knowing who's going to start at quarterback this year.”
Alabama's upside last season was to clinch a CFP spot. The Crimson Tide didn't look like a championship contender, but the team did earn a win in the tournament by beating Oklahoma on the road.
More upside for the Crimson Tide this year should mean an SEC championship contender and a program that has a legitimate shot to reach the national championship.
Pate noted that the defense looks much bigger this season both in the trenches and in the secondary. The beefed-up secondary could be impressive this fall.
“The second thing that stands out about them is how much bigger they are with their front line defensive guys than they were a year ago," Pate said. "And some of that's via transfer. And they were really, really intentional about that.
"And it's noticeable. When you look at Alabama's defensive starters out on the field, not all of them were there on the field when I was watching, but the ones that were there. Big time noticeable difference."
The Crimson Tide's defense suffered collapses late in the season. They didn't have the physicality to match Indiana or Georgia.
The new version of Alabama's defense could make or break the team, especially with a new quarterback under center.