Spring ball has come to a close, and Alabama football sits about four months away from the start of the 2025 season.

There are positions that will be clear strengths. Receiver and defensive back are both high on the list. Each group not only has top-end talent but also quality depth. But there are also a few positions for the Crimson Tide where depth is a concern. There’s either minimal experience or a lack of quality depth.

Creating dependable depth on rosters has become increasingly more difficult in the transfer portal/NIL era of college football. A program might be able to pay your starters well, but other teams might pluck its depth and pay those players more to start at their school. Nonetheless, it’s vital to build as good of depth as possible.

Here are three positions for the Crimson Tide where depth is lacking heading into the summer, and how it can be addressed.

Punter

Alabama doesn’t have a clear, experienced starter here, much less dependable depth with Alex Asparuhov, Blake Doud and Anderson Green. So, this is not just a depth concern but also an overall position concern.

Right now, the Crimson Tide has a freshman who missed all spring with injury, a sophomore from Northridge who didn’t play in 2024, and a redshirt senior who comes from the Colorado School of Mines, a Division II program.

This position as a whole face plenty of uncertainty, considering none of the current punters on the roster have punted in a Division I college football game before.

Offensive tackle

Kadyn Proctor is expected to return to his post at left tackle for the fall once healthy again. Wilkin Formby seems primed to be the right tackle. But what about the rest of the group?

Quality, experienced tackle depth doesn’t seem to be there right now. Jackson Lloyd has considerable upside, but he’s only a true freshman. Arkel Anugwom, the Ball State transfer, is a bit of a long-term project. Olaus Alinen played some left tackle this spring with Proctor limited, but he has yet to play any significant snaps outside of special teams.

It’s not clear yet if Alabama has a reliable swing tackle who could fill in for Proctor or Formby is one of the two goes down with an injury.

Tight end

Injuries decimated this group all spring. By the end of it, Jay Lindsey was the only healthy scholarship tight end.

“For Jay to have to step in in that role and really take over after the rest of the guys that went down, he got better,” Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. “I mean, it was kind of necessity as a mother of invention, right? And for Jay, it certainly was it. And I thought he answered the bell well.”

Alabama will get reinforcements for Lindsey in the fall, but the lack of depth is somewhat concerning. CJ Dippre and Robbie Ouzts left for the NFL Draft, which meant the Crimson Tide lost two senior leaders with plenty of experience. Josh Cuevas and Danny Lewis Jr. figure to be solid options on the roster in 2025, but the depth behind them is lacking.

How to address these concerns

There are two main ways. Alabama can either bolster via the transfer portal or develop the depth that’s there.

Going shopping is the easier, albeit more expensive, option. But if the price is right, and there’s mutual interest, the Crimson Tide could address the lack of depth at some, if not all, of these positions.

Otherwise, Alabama can focus on developing the players down the depth chart at these spots. That takes time and effort, but that could be the best option as landing dependable depth via the transfer portal becomes more expensive by the day.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for Follow him on X and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.