After too many whiffs with its 2022 portal haul, has Nick Saban and Alabama landed the right mix of transfers in 2023?
A year ago, Alabama signed the No. 2 class in the country, per the On3 rankings, but the Crimson Tide still dipped into the transfer portal for five marquee additions — hoping to fill a few holes on the roster to return to the national championship game.
Only the plan didn’t materialize as Nick Saban & Co,. had envisioned.
Alabama did not return to the title game in 2022. It didn’t even win the SEC West.
It wasn’t the fault of the five transfers, but as a group, they didn’t really provide the boost most expected.
Georgia Tech tailback Jahmyr Gibbs was really good for Alabama. Offensive tackle Tyler Steen was fine.
The other three signees either completely flamed out (see: former 5-star LSU corner Eli Ricks), got hurt (Louisville wideout Tyler Harrell) or failed to live up to lofty expectations (Georgia receiver Jermaine Burton).
Only Burton remains on the team entering the 2023 season.
And yet, once again, Alabama has gone back to the portal well this offseason, adding another five transfers to the roster — this time after signing the No. 1 class in the country with 14 Top 100 prospects.
In December, Alabama added Maryland tight end CJ Dippre and Georgia reserve inside linebacker Trezmen Marshall, both of whom project to start in 2023. Last month, Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner made the decision to reunite with new Tide OC Tommy Rees, throwing his hat into a crowded QB race for the fall.
Just this week, the Tide added a pair of Group of 5 defensive backs in Louisiana corner Trey Amos and UAB safety Jalen Key, who committed to UA on Friday over Florida State and Ole Miss.
In a vacuum, all five additions make sense.
While the names might not be as sexy as they were a year ago, ideally, the 2023 transfer portal haul allows Alabama to bridge some holes on a roster while its No. 2 and No. 1 recruiting classes start to develop.
Ideally.
We saw that plan fail last season. That can’t happen again if the Tide want to return to Atlanta — and get back to the College Football Playoff.
Saban needs to have hit right on this group in 2023.
Dippre needs to be a valuable replacement for Cameron Latu, particularly if Alabama opts to run more 12 personnel in the fall. In a perfect world, Marshall helps a young LB core coalesce and contributes as a starter or key No. 3 linebacker.
Buchner is easily the biggest wild card as a transfer quarterback, and his potential role in 2023 could go in any number of directions.
Alabama’s most recent two additions are notable for several reasons.
For one, both Key and Amos are the first two non-Power 5 transfers to sign with Alabama in the Nick Saban era.
Key was an All-Conference performer at UAB. Amos wasn’t one at Louisiana, but he was identified and recruited by Florida coach Billy Napier. Both defensive backs may push for starting spots, but at minimum, they need to be valuable rotational options for a secondary that remains really talented (see: No. 1 corner Kool Aid McKinstry and 5-star freshman safety Caleb Downs) but has suffered all sorts of attrition — to the draft, transfer portal and via suspension — this offseason.
Time will tell if Alabama got its transfers right this year.
They batted 2-for-5 in 2022. That’s a nice day at the plate if you’re a Tide baseball player, but for Nick Saban and his staff, that hit rate needs to be much better with their latest quintet if the Tide hope to return to the top of the SEC this fall.