Alabama's freshmen defenders are surging through fall camp, forcing defensive coordinator Kane Wommack to find creative ways to unleash their potential.
Last season, we saw a pair of freshmen get significant playing time for the Alabama Crimson Tide in Lotzeir Brooks and London Simmons.
History has a funny way of repeating itself.
This season, a similar outcome may be on the horizon for a pair of highly-touted freshmen.
Linebacker Xavier Griffin and safety Jireh Edwards.
Both Griffin and Edwards were five-star recruits in the 2026 class. Griffin had already committed to USC in the summer of 2024 before ultimately flipping to Alabama.
However, Griffin, who was ranked the top linebacker and a top-20 overall prospect in the 2026 class, is an Alabama native who grew up as a fan of the Tide.
And turning a blind eye to your roots isn’t always that easy.
He decommitted from USC in May 2025, and committed to Alabama a month later, and he hasn’t looked back.
Meanwhile, for Edwards, after he had already declared who his top-five schools were, Alabama swooped in with a late offer.
Since then, Edwards has been all-in on the Tide.
In their first fall camp, both Griffin and Edwards have made Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack’s life increasingly more difficult – in a good way, of course.
“Zay's [Griffin] doing a really good job,” Wommack said. “It's hard to play the linebacker position, and we're asking him to do multiple things in that room. He has value as a pass rusher… [Inside linebacker coach] Chuck Morrell's done a fantastic job with him. I came in here, whatever it was, 6 a.m. this morning, and they're meeting one on one, spending time. We're working to get him ready. I think he's going to have a role for us this year. He's doing a really nice job.”
Similarly, Edwards has blown Wommack’s expectations out of the water, and has seemingly solidified a role for himself this season.
“Jireh's one of the most instinctive playmakers I've ever seen coming out of high school. Very physical. He's got phenomenal tracking of the ball. His blitz IQ and awareness is really high, and so he can create production out of that package as well… Jireh's going to play for us, but how much does he play for us early in the season and in what situations?”
Alabama’s defensive depth chart is already deep, and both freshmen have a lot of work to do to push ahead of some veterans that have been working to get to the point of starting.
But it’s an increasingly positive sign that these freshmen are pushing the vets to the max, and it makes even more sense as to why Bama’s emphasis on a small 2027 recruiting class was so important.
Alabama's freshmen aren't necessarily replacing veterans, they're forcing Alabama to figure out how to get them onto the field.
