Tag: Parker Brailsford

Alabama featured heavily on preseason Lombardi Award watch list

Alabama lands four players on Lombardi Award watch list.

An award that recognizes the top lineman in college football, four different Alabama Crimson Tide football players have been named to the preseason watch list for the 2024 Lombardi Award.

Those players included three offensive linemen in Tyler Booker, Parker Brailsford, and Jaeden Roberts, as well as linebacker Deontae Lawson.

Both of Booker and Roberts were Alabama’s starting offensive guards a year ago at left and right, respectively, while Brailsford, a Washington transfer, is expected to start at center this fall.

Lawson will feature at inside linebacker for the third-straight season coming off a year in which he compiled 67 tackles, 5.5 TFL, and three sacks.

It’s clear by this watch list alone that Alabama’s interior offensive line will be a massive strength for the program this fall. This should only help throughout the year as the Crimson Tide look to establish the run.

Don’t forget about Lawson either however, as the Crimson Tide should have one of the top linebackers in college football.

Sporting News preseason All-American team includes four Alabama players

Several members of the Crimson Tide named to Sporting News’ preseason All-American team.

The last time the Alabama Crimson Tide left the football field was after a heartbreaking loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the CFP Rose Bowl semifinal. Since then, a lot has changed as Nick Saban’s shocking retirement sent a massive ripple effect though all of college football.

Saban’s retirement led many schools to extend their coaches, like Florida State, Oregon and Texas out of fear Alabama was going to come snipe their coach. But the Crimson Tide got their man all along as Kalen DeBoer accepted the job shortly after guiding the Washington Huskies to a national title appearance.

No matter who was to be named as Saban’s successor, there was always going to be major turnover on the roster. However, DeBoer did a great job minimizing the damage while also building the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the 2025 cycle. It’s incredibly difficult to replace players like Isaiah Bond, Caleb Downs and Julian Sayin but DeBoer was able to bring over a few of his players from Washington like Germie Bernard, Austin Mack and Parker Brailsford for immediate help.

After all of the dust has settled, the Crimson Tide still boasts one of the most talented rosters in the sport with Sporting News naming four Alabama players to their preseason All-American team. C Parker Brailsford and K Graham Nicholson were both named to the first-team while Tyler Booker and Malachi Moore were recognized on the second-team.

In just 16 days time, we will get our first opportunity to see the DeBoer era live and in action when they kick off the season at home against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

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ESPN’s 2024 preseason All-American team features three Alabama players

ESPNs 2024 preseason All-American team dominated by players from the SEC.

New additions to the coaching staff and a roster that changes by the year is nothing new for fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Under the guidance of legendary head coach Nick Saban, Alabama was basically replacing an offensive or defensive coordinator every year as well as backfilling around 10 to 15 NFL draft picks every year.

Due to Saban’s retirement and the popularity of the transfer portal, the 2024 Alabama team will look much different than a year ago. The expectations under Kalen DeBoer are still to win an SEC title and compete for a national title. Even though there were significant losses from the Alabama roster following the winter transfer portal window like Caleb Downs and Isaiah Bond, DeBoer has done a phenomenal job of getting the roster assembled.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but the fact of the matter is there is a reason why the Crimson Tide is ranked No. 5 in the AP Poll despite the changes. DeBoer is coming off a year where he guided the Washington Huskies to a national title berth with a roster significantly less talented than what he’s working with in Tuscaloosa.

ESPN also shares my belief that the Crimson Tide will have one of the best rosters this year as they named three players to their 2024 college football preseason All-America team.

They project the offensive line will be the heart and soul of this Alabama team with both C Parker Brailsford and OG Tyler Booker both being named to the first team as well as K Graham Nicholson. LB Deontae Lawson and P Jamed Burnip were both projected to the second team.

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Several Alabama players named to USA TODAY Sports preseason college football All-America teams

Four Alabama players named to USA TODAY Sports preseason All-American teams.

We are just 19 days away from the start of the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2024 football season, which also marks the beginning of the Kalen DeBoer era. The Crimson Tide will open the season in primetime fashion as the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers come to Title Town on August 31st.

With the legend Nick Saban departing and DeBoer incoming, there was some turnover on the roster, but as the dust has settled, the Crimson Tide still boasts one of the top teams in the nation. Alabama did lose some awesome talent in the transition such as Isaiah Bond and Caleb Downs, but keeping Jalen Milroe and a few other core pieces will be enough to allow the Tide to compete for an SEC title.

USA TODAY Sports released their preseason All-American first and second teams which included a total of four members of the Crimson Tide.

The first-team includes former Washington Huskies C Parker Brailsford who came to Alabama with DeBoer as well as former Miami (OH) K Graham Nicholson who will fill the void of Will Reichard. OG Tyler Booker and LB Deontae Lawson were named to the second team.

Caleb Downs, the former Alabama standout turned Buckeye, was also nominated to the first team.

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Alabama transfer addition named to 2024 Rimington Trophy watch list

Alabama’s newest transfer addition is expected to be among the SEC’s top centers this fall.

One of the main offseason transfer additions for the Alabama Crimson Tide this past offseason, offensive lineman Parker Brailsford was recently named to the preseason watch list for the 2024 Rimington Trophy.

The Rimington Trophy recognizes the most outstanding center annually in college football, and is an award that the Crimson Tide last won in 2020 when Landon Dickerson took home the hardware.

Brailsford, a redshirt sophomore, transferred to Alabama during this past offseason as mentioned previously, coming to Tuscaloosa after two years at Washington under new Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer. These two years included a big 2023 season in which he became one of the top centers in all of college football for the national runner-up Huskies.

Due to both Seth McLaughlin and James Brockermeyer having transferred during the offseason, Brailsford is now expected to step into the Crimson Tide’s starting center role this season, as well as be among the top players at the position in the SEC.

Four Alabama players named preseason All-Americans by Walter Camp Football Foundation

Quartet of Alabama football players land on Walter Camp Football Foundation preseason All-American team

June was a busy month on the recruiting trail for Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide football team and now that we’ve officially made it to July, the college football season is just around the corner and that means preseason watch lists and rankings will be dropping daily.

On Monday, the Walter Camp Football Foundation released its 2024 preseason All-Americans and Alabama landed four players on the two-deep.

Tyler Booker and Graham Nicholson earned first-team honors while Parker Brailsford and James Burnip earned spots on the second-team.

Booker and Prailsford make up two-thirds of one of the best interior offensive lines in the country while Nicholson and Burnip combine for the top specialist duo.

Stay connected to Roll Tide Wire for more coverage of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on X (Twitter) @Blackwood89.

Three Alabama offensive linemen tabbed as 2025 NFL draft prospects to watch

Alabama’s offensive line in 2024 is loaded with talent that is already catching the eyes of NFL scouts.

The 2024 college football season will be interesting for a variety of reasons, one of which being a new-look Alabama Crimson Tide program without the legendary head coach Nick Saban. New head coach Kalen DeBoer inherits a talented team that is poised to be competitive in the upcoming season.

While there were numerous devastating losses at the hands of the 2024 NFL draft and the transfer portal, the Crimson Tide roster is still one of the strongest in the nation. One positional unit that Alabama fans should not be concerned about is the offensive line. Recently, Pro Football Focus ranked the Tide’s offensive line as the best OL in all of college football.

The players that make up the line for the Crimson Tide are experienced players who have a proven track record of protecting the quarterback and establishing opportunities for both the passing game and the ground game.

Recently, ESPN NFL draft experts Matt Miller and Jordan Reid ranked the top-five players at every position (subscription required) who should be considered preseason 2025 draft prospects.

At guard, two Alabama players were named. According to both Miller and Reid, Tyler Booker is the top-ranked guard in the nation. The Crimson Tide junior had a big role on the line in 2023 and even contributed in 12 games as a true freshman in 2022. He’s expected to enter the 2024 season as a player with a first-round grade and could hold onto it, or improve, with a strong showing throughout the season.

Miller also included Alabama redshirt junior Jaeden Roberts as a player outside of the top five to watch. While he is not named by either expert as a top-five guard, Miller believes he can perform well in 2024 and work his way into a respectable ranking on 2025 draft big boards.

“While we were all scouting Booker this year, his linemate is another player to keep an eye on,” writes Miller. “With eight starts last season, Roberts emerged as a solid starter at right guard thanks to his power and easy movement at 6-foot-5 and 316 pounds. And as evidenced by just three sacks allowed in 2023, he also showed potential as a pass-protector.”

Finally, new Alabama center Parker Brailsford was named by Miller as the top center in the nation heading into the upcoming season, but Reid had Brailsford ranked No. 4 on the list.

Brailsford joins the Crimson Tide via the transfer portal after beginning his collegiate career with the Washington Huskies, playing under DeBoer before he made the move to Tuscaloosa.

In his ranking, Miller mentioned that Brailsford was the most difficult player to rank among the list of top-tier centers that are eligible for the 2025 draft.

“A transfer from Washington, Brailsford anchored the best offensive line in the nation last season, as the Huskies won the Joe Moore Award for outstanding line play. Heading to Alabama to follow head coach Kalen DeBoer will allow us to see if the undersized senior (6-foot-2, 275 pounds) can handle SEC defensive linemen.”

The offense will be the key to success for DeBoer and the Crimson Tide in 2024, and it all relies on the strength of the offensive line. With such key players such as the ones mentioned above, as well as non-draft-eligible players like sophomore Kadyn Proctor, it’s reasonable to believe that the offensive line will be Alabama’s most valuable asset in the upcoming season.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football news as the 2024 offseason progresses.

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72 days until Alabama football kicks off the 2024 season

We are now just 72 days away from Alabama football!

In 72 days, Kalen DeBoer will usher in a new era of Alabama Crimson Tide football, replacing the legendary [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] as head coach in Tuscaloosa.

Coach DeBoer and the Crimson Tide will take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Aug. 31 to kick off the 2024 college football season inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Here at Roll Tide Wire, we will count down the days until Alabama football takes the field.

With just 72 days remaining, we will take a look at a mostly forgotten offensive lineman for Alabama during the Coach Saban era, [autotag]Leon Brown[/autotag].

Brown played for the Tide nearly a decade ago before having a short-lived NFL career with a handful of organizations.

Washington transfer center [autotag]Parker Brailsford[/autotag] currently wears No. 72 for the Crimson Tide.

Leon Brown’s Photo Gallery

Where does Alabama’s offensive line rank in college football according to PFF?

Will Alabama have the best offensive line in the country in 2024?

We all know that if you want to compete for a championship at any level of football, you better be sound up front along the offensive line. Fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide football program saw that up close and personal during the dominant run by [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] in Tuscaloosa.

It’s only logical that one question that Crimson Tide fans have had this offseason as Kalen DeBoer prepares Alabama for his first season as the head coach is whether or not the offensive line will continue to be a strength of the program.

According to Max Chadwick of PFF College, Alabama may just have the best offensive line in the country this fall.

Chadwick points to the presence of [autotag]Tyler Booker[/autotag], [autotag]Parker Brailsford[/autotag], and [autotag]Jaeden Roberts[/autotag] in the interior of the line as the strength of the group.

The Crimson Tide takes the top spot because they have one of the most loaded interior offensive lines in recent memory.

The growth of [autotag]Kadyn Proctor[/autotag] at left tackle throughout the 2023 season should also give Tide fans hope.

They also return sophomore left tackle Kadyn Proctor, who transferred from Alabama to Iowa and back to Alabama, all in a span of three months. The former top-10 recruit’s freshman season was a roller coaster, as he earned a 76.3 PFF grade in the final seven games after posting a 54.5 mark in the first seven.

There is no denying the fact that Proctor, Booker, Brailsford, and Roberts make up a fantastic group, but there are still question marks at right tackle entering the 2024 season with Elijah Pritchett and Wilkin Formby competing for the final spot.

If Alabama can just have adequate production at right tackle, there is no reason this group couldn’t be among the best in the country this season.

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What adding Geno VanDeMark means to the Alabama offensive line

Alabama has solidified the interior of its offensive line with the addition of Geno VanDeMark

On Saturday afternoon, former Michigan State offensive lineman Geno VanDeMark announced his commitment to Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

With the addition of VanDeMark, Coach DeBoer and the Tide have made one of the more impressive overall hauls from this cycle of the transfer portal. VanDeMark is the second offensive lineman to join the Tide in the spring portal window alongside Kadyn Proctor who briefly spent time with the Iowa Hawkeyes before deciding to return to Alabama.

So where exactly does VanDeMark fit along the Crimson Tide offensive line? As an interior guy, I wouldn’t expect him to surpass what Alabama has returned there with [autotag]Tyler Booker[/autotag] and Jaeden Roberts holding down each guard spot and Washington transfer [autotag]Parker Brailsford[/autotag] anchoring the line at center. But he will provide some much-needed depth and experience, something the Crimson Tide is sorely lacking especially with the sudden departure of James Brockermeyer.

The most likely scenario is that VanDeMark will play the backup role for all three interior spots along the offensive line and serve as the Tide’s sixth man upfront.

With VanDeMark now in the mix, Alabama’s question marks along the offensive line are quickly disappearing.

Stay connected to Roll Tide Wire for more continued coverage of the Alabama Crimson Tide!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on X (Twitter) @Blackwood89.