A year ago, Alabama had one of the most highly-ranked safety rooms in the country as they worked to make the transition to defensive coordinator Kane Wommack’s “Swarm” defense scheme that used more single-high coverage than the Tide had run the previous 4 years under Pete Golding.
The two safeties have a lot in common with the “husky” position, which we talked about in the cornerbacks preview. Still, many of the safeties will have cross trained at that position and some of the backups may be primary
backups there as well, so keep that in mind as we walk through this position group.
Departed
Malachi Moore had a long and illustrious career at Alabama, having been a freshman All-American on the national championship winning 2020 squad, winding up on the bench the next year, and eventually becoming a second-team AP All-American last season. His heart and leadership will be missed.
King Mack transferred back to Penn State after having a pretty poor showing in the one game he had meaningful minutes. Oh well.
Returning Starters
#18 Bray Hubbard (Jr) 6’2” 213
Hubbard is one of the most fascinating and fun stories on this team. He was a wildcat QB in high school, and defensive coordinator Pete Golding had him give defensive back a try at one of Alabama’s summer camps. Hubbard took to it and really focused on playing defense his senior year of high school.
Last season, he started out on the second team, but injuries saw him wind up as the starting free safety for Alabama for the second half of the season, and he was a revelation. Hubbard wound up leading the team in interceptions while only allowing 34 total receiving yards against him over the course of the season. If you put any stock in PFF grades, he is the highest rated returning safety in the country going into the 2025 season.
He’s big, he’s fast, and he’s got the instincts and vision of a former QB. If Hubbard follows up his last season with a full season of similar play, he’s going to win a whole lot of accolades.
#3 Keon Sabb (RJr) 6’1 204
Sabb transferred to Alabama from Michigan for the 2024 season, and looked like he could be an All-American candidate at first, nabbing two interceptions in the season opener. He cooled off after that, but was still a steady performer for the Tide as the deep safety until he suffered a season-ending injury in week 8, paving the way for Bray Hubbard to take over and shine.
Sabb’s a speedy ballhawk, but has had some issues with getting himself out of position playing aggressively, so he’ll be looking to improve his consistency as he works back into the starting job. It’ll be interesting how he and Hubbard split the free safety and box safety duties, as both played free safety primarily a year ago.
Returning Depth
#12 Zay Mincey (So) 6’3” 205
Mincey was a 5-star true freshman a year ago that initially started out at outside cornerback, rotating with Zabien Brown in the season opener. His playing time diminished after Brown secured the job, but he kept working on special teams and eventually made the move to safety. He earned a full starting role in the Bowl Game after Malachi Moore underwent surgery, and wound up playing a very solid game as the starting safety.
While he’s likely the third man behind Hubbard and Sabb, he clearly has plenty of trust with the coaching staff, and will most likely play his fair share of snaps all season.
#21 Dre Kirkpatrick, Jr. (So) 5’11” 202
Dre Jr. was a special steams mainstay as a gunner on the punt and kick coverage teams, and he played a little bit on defense in the blowouts. To this point, we haven’t seen a whole lot of him yet, but we know he’s a high-energy guy.
#6 Kameron Howard (RSo) 5’11” 195
Howard was a rotational safety for the Charlotte Bobcats as a true freshman in 2023 and then transferred to Alabama, where he redshirted last year. He’s a depth guy who the coaches see potential in, but to this point, we haven’t really seen him in action at Alabama yet.
The Newcomer
#13 Ivan Taylor 6’0” 194
Taylor is the son of former Pittsburgh Steelers standout cornerback, Ike Taylor, and was one of the more highly rated players in Alabama’s 2025 recruiting class. He drew rave reviews for the impact he made back during bowl practices when he first enrolled, and his name has been mentioned a lot in both spring and fall camps.
Don’t be surprised if he works his way up the depth chart and finds some playing time one way or another, even with the established players at the top of the pecking order.
Predicted Depth Chart
Free Safety – Keon Sabb, Ivan Taylor, Kam Howard
Strong Safety – Bray Hubbard, Zay Mincey, Dre Kirkpatrick, Jr.
I think the free and strong safety designations will be pretty fluid, as both Hubbard and Sabb did both spots almost equally a year ago. Past those two, Mincey will likely see some rotational time as a guy who probably could be a starter if there weren’t more established guys ahead of him, and I think Taylor winds up pushing his way solidly onto the second team.
