With the season almost upon us, there’s one more group of players who deserve some love in the roster previews, and that’s the specialists.
Let’s be frank – this wasn’t a great unit last season. While the coverage units were fine, the kicking and punting both had plenty of issues, and the Tide got very little in the return game. And let’s get things out of the way: I’m not one of those people that loves to say “special teams is a third of the game” like it’s some revelational piece of wisdom. It’s
just factually not the case: a team averages around 65 offensive and 65 defensive snaps each game, more or less, and usually only about 20 total snaps on special teams (for those of you that like math, that’s about 13%).
That said, I’ve seen a lot of good teams ruined by special teams, and I’ve seen special teams be what really puts a team over the top when they need it the most. Your offense fundamentally changes when you have a kicker and a punter that you can rely on. And there are few things in football that can turn the tide of a game faster than a kick or punt return touchdown.
With that, let’s take a look at the least-talked about position battles on Alabama’s roster this year.
Departed
Punter Blake Doud was mostly a disappointment after transferring from the Colorado School of Mines last year. He has now graduated. Long Snapper David Bird got yelled at on live TV by the kicker, becoming the first Alabama long snapper in about 20 years to get some negative attention on himself and he transferred back to Cal, where he transferred to Alabama from only a year before.
Kickers
#31 – Conor Talty (Sr) 6’1” 201
Talty was a highly ranked recruit a few years ago, and has a really impressive leg. He sat behind Will Reichard and then Graham Nicholson in his first few years (the rightful Groza winner and the actual Groza winner), so you couldn’t blame him for not being able to unseat either of those guys. Last year, he got his shot to start, and it was rocky. He was 16/23 without making any kicks over 50 yards. Talty really struggled in Bryant-Denny Stadium, missing a handful of really short attempts. He closed the year well, though, making his final 5 kicks against Auburn, Oklahoma, and Indiana. He’s the incumbent, but that’s not enough to guarantee him the job.
#90 – Lorcan Quinn
The Irish phenom has been playing football for all of two years, and he was absolutely phenomenal for Marshall last season in his first ever season kicking a football – making four 50+ yard field goals. Quinn brings a lot of excitement to Tuscaloosa and most expect him to be the new kicker. Still, you never know how a guy handles the pressure of kicking for Alabama, and Talty, for all of his early issues last year, did show his resolve at handling the pressure situations in the back part of the season.
Punters
#33 – Adam Watford (Sr) 5’11” 188
Watford transferred from North Alabama over in Huntsville, where he’s been a multi-year starter and set an FCS record with 17 punts over 50 yards in 2025, plus he had an absurd 74-yarder last season. The dude has an absolute cannon for a leg, and a whole lot of starting experience to boot.
#32 – Alex Asparuhov (S0) 6’3” 202
Asparuhov ranked as the #2 punter in his recruiting class a year ago, but a preseason injury saw him never manage to unseat the veteran Blake Doud last year. We haven’t seen him in collegiate action yet, so there’s not too much known yet. It is concerning that he couldn’t get on the field last year with how poor Alabama’s punting was – but he was a true freshman who spent fall camp injured.
Long Snappers
#55 – Alex Rozier (5th year Sr) 6’4” 215
Rozier rotated with Bird all of last season, and fully took over after the infamous Talty-Bird yelling incident. He’d be the first in line to be the guy this season, but it is concerning that he was never fully the guy last year.
#61 – Ethan Stangle (5th year Sr) 6’1” 219
Stangle was the starter for Syracuse last year as their long snapper, and was a guy that made some headlines when he transferred. He was good for the Orange, and was especially known for his ability to get downfield and help in punt coverage.
Kick and Punt Returners
As always, there seems to be a rotating door here. At punt returner, Ryan Coleman-Williams had a good bit of success as a punt returner as a freshman, but only returned two punts in 2025, and fumbled one. Funny enough Dijon Lee got a couple of returns a year ago and has been mentioned some this offseason. As kick returners, Lotzier Brooks and Rico Scott were the main two guys a year ago, but neither managed to do much with their attempts.
Alabama did add a handful of talented freshmen who could factor in, though. Zyan Gibson was a phenom as a returner in high school, and Trae’Shawn Brown has been mentioned a few times this fall. EJ Crowell may could factor in as well.
Predicted Depth Chart
Don’t be surprised if the coaching staff rotates quite a few of these players. Overall, the staff has been extremely quiet about the group, so we probably won’t know until someone trots out in game 1. Still, here’s my best guess:
Kicker – Lorcan Quinn
Punter – Adam Watford
Longsnapper – Ethan Stangle
Kick Returner – Trae’Shawn Brown and Rico Scott
Punt Returner – Trae’Shawn Brown
I imagine that Talty will still get a chance to play in most games, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the coaches keep him as the kickoff guy as a consolation. But Quinn is just too talented to pass up.
The returners is where I really have the least idea. Putting Brown as the top returner for both units is likely more of a wish casting exercise on my part than a true prediction. But it didn’t seem like any of the options from last year’s roster made any difference at all, so I’m pinning hopes on some of the freshmen.
