Happy Monday, everyone. We have gotten to the real doldrums of summer, as players and coaches get a little bit of time off before camp kicks off next week. Still, we will bring you what we have.
PFF College posted its Alabama season preview, and they believe that it really will come down to QB play for the Tide.
Strengths: Simpson is essentially the antithesis of Alabama’s previous starter, Jalen Milroe. A true pocket passer, he thrives on rhythm and timing. His best work has come over the middle of the field,
ADwhere he owns an 88.0 passing grade. While Simpson has enough functional mobility to evade pressure and scramble when needed, don’t expect him to be deployed as a runner the way Milroe was over the past two seasons.
Weaknesses: Inexperience looms large for Simpson as he competes to be Alabama’s starter. He’s attempted just 65 career dropbacks, with his only high-leverage action coming in 2023 against USF, when he replaced Tyler Buchner and led the Crimson Tide to a low-scoring win. Without Jalen Milroe’s elite athleticism, Simpson’s ability to handle SEC-caliber pressure from the pocket will likely determine how successful he can be in 2025.
The offensive line is still a but of a wild card in my book, but the weapons on offense look outstanding and I’m expecting big things from the defense like most everyone else.
One of those weapons got himself a legit NIL deal.
“Since I can remember, Nike has always been the best fit on and off the field,” Williams said in a press release. ”Family has always been a huge part of who I am. When I had the opportunity to join the Nike family, I knew I had to just do it.”
Williams is the second college player to have signed an NIL deal with Nike, per On3. The only other one was Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who is now in the NFL.
Williams is fresh off a freshman season in which he caught 48 passes for 865 yards and eight touchdowns. He also rushed four time for 48 yards and two more scores.
This is what NIL was always supposed to be about. Ryan is highly marketable, and playing for Alabama helped him in that regard.
Colin Gay wrote about Rihayel Kelley, one of the less heralded members of Alabama’s 2026 recruiting class.
Safety was Kelley’s first position. It was the position he played in elementary school, tasked with simply knowing “his job” in the backfield. It’s where he developed the attributes that slowly caught the attention of colleges across the country: his versatility and range, his eye control and communication.
It’s where Kelley first fell in love with football.
“Shoot, hitting,” Kelley said when asked what he loves most about football. “Being a ball hawk.”
But Alabama sees a different path for the 6-foot-3, 180-pound safety.
While he said the Crimson Tide expects him to develop into an all-encompassing defensive back who could play any of the five positions, Kelley was told he may start his college career at cornerback, filling the mold of the long, rangy players Alabama defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist likes out wide.
Brad Crawford doesn’t list Bryant-Denny as one of the ten most intimidating stadiums, but Alabama will be visiting a couple of them.
4. Sanford Stadium (Georgia)
Home games in 2025: Marshall, Austin Peay, Alabama, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas, Charlotte
Thirty-one consecutive home wins and counting, the longest streak in college football. Georgia’s unbeaten mark between the hedges over the last few seasons will be tested to its fullest in 2025 with Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas coming to town. It helps when you have a plethora of blue-chip talent at every position, but Georgia’s preparation and execution is borderline perfect at home, judging by the number of quality wins these Bulldogs have racked up in recent years.
Nate Oats seems to make the schedule more difficult every season.
Alabama could be a very good basketball team, but it could also realistically start the year 1–4 in its first five games.
That’s just how hard this schedule is.
After the first game of the season, against North Dakota on Nov. 3, and pending any changes, Alabama faces what will probably be its toughest four-game stretch of the season.
at St. Johns
vs. Purdue
at. Illinois (in Chicago)
Players Era vs. Gonzaga (in Las Vegas)
Nate Oats is throwing his team in the deep end and hoping they can find a way to swim.
Last, just an awful tragedy out of Memphis as an Ole Miss player lost his life in another senseless shooting.
Adams, 18, was identified as a homicide victim by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee in a post on X. According to police, a shooting took place at 10:14 p.m. CT on July 19 outside a residence on Fern Glade Cove in Cordova, a suburb east of Memphis. The sheriff’s office reported finding one male gunshot victim after stopping a vehicle at the intersection of Forest Hill-Irene and Walnut Grove roads. He was provided life-saving measures until Shelby County Fire arrived, later pronouncing Adams dead on the scene.
Four other adult males arrived at Memphis-area hospitals with gunshot wounds and are in non-critical condition, according to the post from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. Multiple shell casings were found on the scene.
May his family find peace.
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
More from rollbamaroll.com:
- A legend hangs them up — Tua Tagovailoa enters the 2020 NFL Draft
- Jumbo Package: Decision Day
- MONDAY UPDATE: Alabama Crimson Tide NFL Draft Junior Tracker
- Devonta Smith announces his return to Alabama in 2020
- Tua Tagovailoa and Nick Saban to hold press conference at 11am CT Monday
- Predictions: Will they stay or will they go?
- Watch: NFL analyst breaks down Rashaan Evans’ role in critical goal line stand vs. Patriots
