Alabama football is through spring practice, and the real offseason is almost here. Once UA gets through the spring transfer portal window, it’s a long wait until preseason camp and the 2025 season opener against Florida State.

With A-Day and spring football in the rearview, here’s five questions for the Tide to answer going into Kalen DeBoer’s second season as head coach.

Will the Tide get another tackle from transfer portal?

According to Alabama’s coaches, they’re feeling good about Wilkin Formby at right tackle. Still, both Deboer and Ryan Grubb wanted to continue to see development.

“My early impression of Wilkin was just the film that I had seen from last year,” Grubb said. “And you know, guys like that, you come into a situation like this, and you hope that they’ve made some big strides and and I certainly think Wilkin had done that, and was really happy with where he ended up in the spring. He’s got a long ways to go. Still got a ton of work to do. He knows that, and he’s ready to get to work.”

Formby struggled early in the 2024 season, before being benched for Elijah Pritchett. Now, he’s the obvious starter on the right side, opposite Kadyn Proctor.

With Proctor returning from an injury and Formby working to prove himself, it makes sense for the Crimson Tide to look for a starter-quality tackle in the transfer portal. Even if DeBoer and company have complete belief in their starters, it still likely behooves them to find more depth at the position.

Will a quarterback transfer out?

It came as a surprise when, at a Monday press conference to wrap up spring practice, Grubb declared Ty Simpson the clubhouse leader in Alabama’s quarterback battle. Simpson was already presumed to be the favorite, and had taken the lion’s share of first-team reps on A-Day.

Grubb and DeBoer made clear that the competition isn’t over yet. Still, with the transfer portal now open, it left the door open for either Austin Mack or Keelon Russell to hit the road.

“I really hope we can,” DeBoer said, when asked how confident he was that Alabama could keep its entire QB room intact. “And related to the portal in general, you never know, right? That possibility always exists. But I feel good about our team and our roster as far as the general chemistry, guys feeling like they’re continuing to be developed, that they continue to have a chance to compete and have an opportunity here. I feel like that’s the case here at the quarterback position too.”

Russell is still a true freshman, so it’s a fairly safe bet that he sticks around. However, the potential is there for Mack to seek greener pastures, especially if he thinks there’s a starting job waiting for him somewhere else.

Can Ty Simpson hold onto his lead?

Presuming the other two remain in Tuscaloosa, the competition continues among Alabama’s quarterbacks. Simpson is the most experienced, and it has helped him so far, but there’s potential for Mack or Russell to catch up come preseason camp.

“If we’re playing a football game tomorrow, Ty Simpson would start,” Grubb said. “And he earned that, okay? And I know that’s the line everybody’s looking for, but that is what he earned. Austin Mack made huge strides, also available reps were the same, you know, and he did a really good job. He came out and developed. Just with some of the nuances and take care of the football and things like that, but Ty showed out a little bit better.”

Based on what the three quarterbacks showed at A-Day, Simpson is the safest bet. He made several nice throws and was the lone passer to not throw an interception.

Will that stability be enough to win him the job when it really counts in camp?

Which freshman DBs will contribute?

Alabama was thin at defensive back due to injuries this spring. Keon Sabb and Domani Jackson both missed the practices, opening up chances for some Crimson Tide freshmen to step up.

Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack was asked about a few of them after A-Day, including cornerback Dijon Lee.

“I think Dijon is very much on pace to contribute for us as a freshman,” Wommack said. “That’s always impressive to me when you can have a freshman that can compete in the SEC. Obviously the measurables, the talent, the skill level, the discipline, he reminds me a little bit of Zabien and how disciplined and detailed Zabien was when he got here.”

Lee isn’t the only freshman to show out this spring. Others who earned praise from the Alabama coaching staff included Ivan Taylor and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., and highly touted recruit Chuck McDonald is on the way when fall camp begins.

If any of them are able to step up and see significant playing time, it would be a big asset for the Crimson Tide.

Is Alabama deeper on defense compared to last season?

When DBs went down with injury last year, Wommack didn’t like where the Crimson Tide was at down the depth chart. It wasn’t unexpected, as UA saw both Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold leave for the NFL, and a transfer portal exodus when Nick Saban retired.

Still, having more players he could put on the field was one of Wommack’s main points of emphasis

“The first thing that we wanted to make sure we did was continue to build depth that we can trust when it matters most,” Wommack said. “You think about certain games that we had this past season, particularly on the back end, we did not have a lot of depth and it showed up. You’re playing Tennessee, you’re playing really well in the second half of that game, five of our top six defensive backs were out and we had not built enough depth there at that position to be able to handle that. Those are things that I think, guys that are efficient in their execution, guys that we can trust to go out there and do their job. I think we’ve addressed those needs in a number of areas, which I’m excited about.”

The lack of depth certainly showed at times last year for Alabama. Will those problems be solved for 2025?

If so, it could mean the Tide is ready to contend for championships.