Former Alabama LB Makes Strong Claim on Who's Ready to Step Up

For five seasons, Deontae Lawson was one of the best linebackers in the country.

He had every opportunity to leave the University of Alabama in order to enter the NFL Draft, but Lawson was hopeful to finish the job and capture a National Championship.

But not all stories are fairytales.

Lawson served as a leader for the program when Nick Saban left and felt determined to uphold the Alabama standard that he helped build along with Tim Keenan, Jalen Milroe, and Kadyn Proctor.

But now with Lawson exhausting all his college eligibility, someone else has to take the baton. And at the NFL Draft Combine, he was asked who was next up in Tuscaloosa.

The one that stood out to him? Redshirt sophomore QB Reese.

“He wasn’t even traveling to the games, but he’s showing up to every meeting and just being present no matter what the situation was,” Lawson said. “His role couldn’t grow that much last year, but he still took advantage. I’m definitely excited for him and the rest of the inside backers.”

Reese managed to participate in 15 games over the 2025 season, mostly serving on special teams. But he did have an opportunity to showcase his talents when the Crimson Tide dominated UL-Monroe 66-0 during Week 2.

In that game, Reese recorded two solo tackles and recovered a fumble for 21 yards.

Needless to say, after that performance, he had impressed many within the program.

“But I think one of the big emphases in the offseason is creating force fumbles and punching out the ball, and QB did a really nice job of that,” defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said the Monday after that game. “That last takeaway that we got, he did a nice job of coming in there and punching the ball out. Those are things that we chart and practice every day.

“He's a guy that continues to do those things in practice, and then it showed up on game day. So you always want to be able to reinforce your messages, right? So when you can show guys, ‘Hey, he did this in practice,’ and then all of a sudden he showed up and he got production on game day. That's a good message.”

Alabama’s linebacker room will have certainly taken a hit come the 2026 season. Along with Lawson, Justin Jefferson will also have used up his eligibility.

With that, comes great responsibility. No one is asking him to be the next Lawson. People just want to see the first Reese.