Alabama star defender out, trio of starters questionable to play in SEC Championship vs. Georgia
Alabama starting defensive end LT Overton has been ruled out of Saturday’s SEC Championship Game vs. Georgia. A trio of starters are considered questionable on the SEC availability report released Wednesday: running back Jam Miller, tight end Josh Cuevas and left guard Kam Dewberry.
Alabama starting defensive end LT Overton has been ruled out of Saturday’s SEC Championship Game vs. Georgia.
A trio of starters were listed as questionable on the SEC availability report released Wednesday: running back Jam Miller, tight end Josh Cuevas and left guard Kam Dewberry.
Overton, a senior, is second on the team with four sacks this season. He also has six tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries.
Jordan Renaud and Keon Keeley are Overton’s top two backups.
Miller sustained a lower-body injury during the fourth quarter of last weekend’s win at Auburn. He was in the midst of one of his better performances of late, rushing for 83 yards on 15 carries, when he had to be helped off the field.
The senior has battled injuries this season, beginning with a collarbone injury weeks before the opener at Florida State.
He’s had carries in nine games and amassed 493 yards and three touchdowns on 123 carries.
If Miller is sidelined, Alabama would likely turn to sophomore Daniel Hill. The Mississippi native is a physical presence at 6-foot-1 and 244 pounds. He carried the ball 11 times for 39 yards against Auburn. All told, he has 217 yards and five touchdowns on 57 carries this season.
True freshman AK Dear could be an option as well. He caught a screen pass for 6 yards against Auburn — a week after rushing for 45 yards and two touchdowns against Eastern Illinois.
Cuevas, who has the fourth most catches on the team (30) is tied for the third most touchdown receptions (4), missed the Auburn game. Kaleb Edwards and Marshall Pritchett saw increased playing time in his absence.
Fellow tight end Danny Lewis Jr., who missed last weekend’s game at Auburn, is also questionable.
Six other Alabama players were listed as out: defensive back Kam Howard, linebacker Jah-Marien Latham, defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., running back Kevin Riley, offensive lineman Mal Waldrep and defensive lineman Jeremiah Beaman.
DeBoer shares his thoughts on the 2025 signing class, including why Alabama signed 2 quarterbacks
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer met with the media on Wednesday evening to hold his annual National Signing Day press conference. He went in-depth on many of the Crimson Tide’s 20 signees, including five-stars Ezavier Crowell, Jorden Edmonds and Xavier Griffin, and why the program opted to sign two quarterbacks.
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer met with the media on Wednesday evening to hold his annual National Signing Day press conference.
He went in-depth on many of the Crimson Tide’s 20 signees, including five-stars Ezavier Crowell, Jorden Edmonds and Xavier Griffin.
“I want to thank our staff, especially Courtney Morgan, our general manager” DeBoer said in his opening statement. “Just the work he puts in, not just himself, but organizing our process, orgainzing how we go about our evaluations, how we continue to just keep a methodical touchpoint, whether it’s getting them here to campus or just our phone conversation, FaceTimes, the different times of the year from junior days in January to spring recruiting, which is huge for us, getting these guys on campus with their families, the summer of course is when we lock a lot of the commitments in. That was the case again this year. And then the continued growth of the relationship and how his vision for that piece and all of that coming together really helps us be rock solid when we get to this point where maybe there’s some schools trying to come in last minute on some guys and so forth.
“I’m just really proud of this group, again, just like last year, rock solid when it comes to not just this week but throughout the fall and people really seeing what these guys can do on the football field. These guys stuck to their commitment. Can’t wait to have them here — most of them on campus here really soon, going to work. You can see right now with what our ’25 class did and how impactful they are to our season we have right now, I know they’ll be a lot of impactful players that will help us next year very quickly. I’m very confident in that.”
On Gainesville (Ga.) High teammates, signees LB Xavier Griffin and DL Jamarion Matthews
There’s ties to Alabama with both of them. And you know, X is a guy that’s a flex guy. I mean, we really see him as like a Jihaad Campbell linebacker. Can fly, can run, got some length, and, you know, he’s been put on some good weight. Then can be versatile enough to go play on the edge, and not have to necessarily sub in when you want to put him in spots to go get after the quarterback. And so we just can’t wait to have our defensive staff get their their hands on him and let him go to work. And then with Jamarion, just what he does up front and what his size potential is going to be, just a really cool kid to be around. You can see that, again, you talk about adding to the culture, just the personality he brings is special. I love talking with him every single week. We get on the phone and you can see what he brings to that team now, and how much he’s enjoying it, and he loves the game. And you know, we need guys like that that can be in the middle there kind of taking care of business and and blowing up offensive lines.
On his past success with tall WRs and how Cederian Morgan fits
Yeah, tall and athletic. You know, Cederian is a basketball guy, right? So he’s got that athleticism. Track, right? I think 6-8 or close to that high-jumper. So a big guy that can get up. And just the different ways that he gets the ball in his hands in their offense, it shows off what he can do, you know, as an athlete. And so can’t wait to, like you said, I mean, that’s been — you don’t have to have [height]. I think you want to have a mix of guys, but he certainly fills that area as far as being a bigger, you know, longer type guy that plays big. He plays bigger than even what he is from a from a catch radius standpoint, and so really excited about him. He’s passionate about this place. He and his entire family, you know, just love Alabama and excited to see what he’s gonna do. You know, fitting in the role there at receiver.
On Ezavier Crowell and Jett Thomalla
I think you know, first of all, with EJ Crowell, just when he made the change to reclassify, it was immediate for us of what direction we wanted to go. And he’s put together, you know, just a short career there — he could another year left — some unbelievable numbers. But some guys can put up numbers and, you know, it’s who they’re playing and things like that. He makes plays, and he can break tackles in small areas. He can run you over. He’s got the ability to make you miss, and then, you know, he ends up in the end zone. And so he’s got that finishing speed, too. And so as a big kid, I’m just really excited how he’s going to come in. And it’s really kind of amazing. We think that he should have another year, and then we’re even thinking of him as being a guy that you know can kind of help us, just like a lot of these guys as freshmen, and lot of, like I said, the ’25 class are helping us right now. And then Jett, just a great evaluation by Nick Sheridan, finding Jett, and going through, you know, the entire country when it comes to quarterbacks. We feel like we should be bringing in the best in the country. And, you know, finding Jett, and then, of course, there’s ties with a few of us to the Midwest, and just really connected there with him and his family. He then, you know, goes on to have, kind of a summer that he was gaining even more and more attention nationally with the Elite 11, and then going through his season, which he just dominated — he and his team, obviously, it takes everyone — but winning the state championship again and in the fashion they did, I mean, he probably played half to not even three quarters of every game, and to put up the stats he’s put up — the leading passer ever in the history of Nebraska, yardage wise, touchdown wise. And then I just love who he is as a person. He’s, you know, calm, cool, collected, but got this swagger about him. So I’m really looking forward to what he brings as a quarterback.
On the decision to sign two QBs
You just don’t know what what the future is, you know? And you always wanted to have five. I always felt like, recruit one every year, you know, you probably lose one. You still got four, worst case scenario. And I think that’s obviously tougher and tougher. We had a great situation a year ago. You know, this year we got three on scholarship. So, you know, I just think that — and it was and we found the right guys, you know, we found the right guys. And so between, between Jett and Tayden, I just love what they bring from an arm talent, winning mentality. Just go getters. It was important for us, and they both knew that each other was coming. And so, I mean, we’re very transparent with that. And, you know, I love that. I love that they’re open to competition, you know, competing with the other guys that are in our program that are really good already, and then, you know, both of them coming in as freshmen in the same class. So, you know, here at Alabama, you got to have guys that you know are going to compete. Yeah, you want them to be competitive, compete against your opponent, but they got to compete here internally as well. And so I love that about them.
On whether he likes where the early signing period falls
I mean, yeah, like this week is crazy, you know? But, you know, I think there is, I think getting the high school guys in earlier, like we are now, I think you can bring up a lot of reasons why I would be swayed one way or the other. I like it now much better than I did when it was in February. Because a lot of the times in January you were just really, I don’t want it to sound like babysitting, really, like the guys trying to get them to just stay committed. And I think now at least you know who your incoming high school guys are, and that allows you to continue to build your roster moving forward. So whether you like the one that was that signing day that was two weeks from now or this one, it’s nice to know where we’re at, even though it is a little bit crazy right now, not everyone is playing this week. So it’s a good week to get that locked in. It helps you make the plans moving forward. And so I probably can — I know there’s better ideas out there and but I think there’s just going to be steps that you always got to continue to take to get to the spot that is ideal for everything when it comes to the whole calendar.
On Zay Hall and the importance of keeping local kids local
Zay is a physical guy. He’s an energy guy. He’s positive. I love just the communication. I remember where I was at when he committed, you know, backyard there after the weekend was over. He wanted to talk with his family after they left. And you know, from their official visit, and just you can tell he’s one of our guys, you know? That’s just the way he is. And so I know, again, he’s going to be a culture guy. He’s gonna be a program guy. And yeah, it is important to keep the eyes that are close here, especially when they’re really good. And so looking forward to coaching him. He’s got a lot of goals here, you know, for himself and for our program here. I love every single week. You know, you always feel like you’re the one that should be saying congratulations or good luck. And you know, he’s doing it the other way to myself, and I know other staff members, too. And he just loves this place already, and he hasn’t really taken a snap or or anything like that, but he’s here now.
On TE Mack Sutter
I love the direction it’s going with the tight ends. I love the athleticism, love the size that Mack brings. He’s a basketball player, too. So I just, you know, the multi sport guys, you got spatial awareness, and you can just see that he’s got a feel of everything. And getting him in our strength program, I mean, the sky’s the limit for Mack. He’s got, again, talking a lot about who they are as people, too. He’s got an energy about him. You can tell he’s just fired up to be here, get to work. You know, behind the scenes, these guys and just how they’re interconnecting already. I saw that with last year’s class. That’s what’s happening with this group. And there’s a lot of guys that are a part of this, but Mack is definitely one of them that’s behind the scenes, really enjoying the relationships that he’s building with this this group already. So Mack’s dad played in the NFL, and so he’s got got good genes there. But he’s got the length. He can run. He’s used to playing out in space. You know he’s going to be a willing blocker. They’re not a doubt in my mind. I’m looking, really looking forward to an awesome career for him.
On CBs Jorden Edmonds and Zyan Gibson
Coach Mo, you know, continues to just knock it out of the park with the recruitment of our corners. Again, you don’t need a lot of them if you got the right ones. And to me, we got the right ones. You know, Zyan and Jorden, they’re really not that much different. I mean, the standout piece with Jorden is that he’s extremely tall, you know, but Zyan’s got great size, too. And both of them are very athletic. Again, multi sport guys. Jorden is a guy that, you know, can play both sides the ball. Was very versatile that way. And so, just extremely athletic guys that are instinctual playmakers, just guys that attack it, attack on the football field. And so really excited about what Zyan and Jorden are going to do. You know, those guys committed both in the summer. That makes life a lot easier for us, because we can focus on on other areas. So I appreciate these two and really looking forward to them continuing on what we’ve been doing here the last couple years at the corner position.
