South Alabama hits the practice field in preparation for the 2025 season on Wednesday.

The Jaguars were 7-6 a year ago, posting their third straight winning season and winning a bowl game for the second consecutive year. Head coach Major Applewhite is back for Year 2, with a solid core of veteran players but also a number of question marks.

So what are the biggest storylines to follow in South Alabama’s preseason camp? Here are five:

1. How competitive will the QB battle be?

After an often-spectacular redshirt freshman season in 2024, Gio Lopez left for North Carolina via the transfer portal following spring practice. Redshirt junior Bishop Davenport ended last season on a high note, with a Most Valuable Player performance in the Salute to Veterans Bowl victory over Western Michigan. Davenport is capable as both a runner and passer, but Applewhite wanted to bring in another experienced arm and did so with the addition of former Georgia Tech and (briefly) Minnesota quarterback Zach Pyron.

An Alabama native, Pyron will at least have the opportunity to push Davenport for the starting job in camp. Redshirt freshman Jared Hollins will also get some reps, and the Jaguars will continue to examine what potential lies in 27-year-old walk-on Bubba Thompson, a former high school star who enrolled in January and participated in spring practice after eight years playing professional baseball.

2. Who will emerge at receiver along with Devin Voisin?

Voisin returns for Year 7 as a Jaguar, and appears to be all the way back from the knee injury that caused him to miss most of 2023 and limited his productivity last season. When healthy, Voisin is a reliable possession receiver, but South Alabama needs a serious field-stretcher following the graduation of All-Sun Belt pick Jamaal Pritchett.

Anthony Eager, a high school track star, looks like the likeliest candidate for an expanded role after catching 10 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns in 2024. Former Buffalo transfer Micah Woods (who played in two games last season but did not catch a pass), redshirt freshmen Jeremy Scott and Noah Toster and Samford transfer Brendan Jenkins will also almost certainly be in the rotation.

South Alabama lost highly productive tight end DJ Thomas-Jones to graduation, but sophomore Trent Thomas and senior Rod Gibbs (both of whom caught one pass last year) look to be first up for reps at that position group. The Jaguars often utilize multiple tight ends on the field, so Arkansas State transfer Miller McCrumby and junior-college transfer Brec Long should be in the mix as well.

3. Who will start on right side of offensive line?

The return of two-year starting left tackle Jordan Davis after a brief, post-spring flirtation with the transfer portal was huge after the loss of two other veterans, left guard Reed Buys to graduation and right tackle Malachi Carney to Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-5, 305-pound Davis has started South Alabama’s last 24 games at his position, and has the potential for all-conference honors as a fifth-year senior.

Returning starter Malachi Preciado (yes, the Jaguars had two Malachis on their starting line last year) is entrenched at center, while Arkansas transfer Amaury Wiggins emerged from the spring as the front-runner at left guard. The right side of the line remains fluid, however.

At right guard, junior Kenton Jerido and sophomore Asher Hale — both of whom started in the bowl game with Buys out due to injury — will continue their spring battle in the preseason. At right tackle, former Duke transfer Ethan Hubbard, Hale and perhaps Wiggins will have a chance at first-team reps.

Program veterans Adrian Griffin and Daniel Foster-Allen, as well as transfers Leavy Johnson, Ni Mansell and Jamal Siler will look to earn reps at various positions.

4. Who will man the defensive line?

South Alabama has had the luxury of a veteran defensive line for most of the last half-decade, but what was once a seemingly endless surplus of sixth-year seniors has now aged its way out of the program. Fifth-year senior Ed Smith — who finally stayed healthy last season after knee troubles cost him all of 2024 and most of 2023 — is the closest thing the Jaguars have to a proven veteran up front and should hold down the nose guard spot following the departure of four-year starter Wy’Kevious Thomas.

Starting defensive end Jordan Norman left for Tulane via the transfer portal, but sophomore Tyler Thomas (Trent’s twin brother) was outproducing him by the end of last season. The defensive tackle position has no clear frontrunner, with redshirt sophomore RJ Moss and transfers Dominic Wiseman and Stephen Johnson expected to compete (with Johnson also spelling Smith at nose).

Redshirt freshmen Tyler Carter, Achilles Wood and Nathan Jennings and UAB transfer Emmanuel Waller will likely be in the rotation somewhere.

5. Where will help in secondary come from?

Senior free safety Wesley Miller is the veteran of an unproven defensive back group, which lost nearly every key member from the 2024 team — including two-time All-Sun Belt safety Jaden Voisin — to either graduation or the transfer portal.

Junior Mike Harris is likely to get first crack at nickel, with sophomore Ty Goodwill having worked extensively at Rover during the spring. A trio of transfers — Anthony Brown (Purdue), Tywon Wray (Oklahoma State) and Dallas Young (Arkansas) — will also look to work its way into the lineup.

Cornerback is a complete mess, however, after both starters and both top backups left the team in either of the two portal windows. East Tennessee State transfer Jayvon Henderson has the most college experience of any cornerback currently on the roster, with sophomore Dee Darby having played extensively on special teams last season. Transfers Nehemiah Chandler (Georgia Tech) and Saivion Kenon (Coffeyville CC), redshirt freshman Cube Gurley and perhaps even true freshman Deuce Vance will also compete for snaps.

South Alabama opens the 2025 season at home Aug. 30 vs. Morgan State