A+ offseason has former 5-Star ready to break out for Alabama

Alabama football’s defensive lineman, James Smith is poised to have a bigger impact in 2025 for the Crimson Tide, and it is a result of the changes he has made on and off the field.

Smith signed with Alabama as a member of its 2023 recruiting class. He played very limited snaps as a true freshman, but he did earn playing time in nine games. The Carver High School product played in all 13 games last season, with his best performance coming against Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl game. He finished the game with four tackles, including two for loss and one sack.

The Alabama native has had what Alabama’s strength and conditioning coach David Ballou refers to as an A+ summer, and Ballou is hoping this production translates over to the football field.

“James had a great phenomenal offseason,” Ballou told reporters earlier this week. “A+ if I was like grading our roster from offseason production. James Smith would be in the top five. The physical numbers certainly have been great. The body composition, he’s put on nine pounds of lean mass, but it’s outside, it’s a mentality, the consistency, the maturity, kind of just the intentionality he’s come with to training. I couldn’t be more happy with where he’s at right now mentality-wise, not just physical, but mentality wise, and I really hope this kid plays like what I just saw from January to July.”

Smith’s maturity and growth are a result of the many changes he made with his mindset and attitude.

“Every year I got better at something, almost better at everything,”  Smith said. “Trying to be a better person. It just carries onto the field, doing the right things off the field. It emulates life.”

Qua Russaw, who played with James Smith at Carver, has witnessed this growth firsthand, and its makes him proud.

“It’s been good just seeing him go from high school to now,” Russaw said. “He’s ready to take that step in his life where people can count on him.”

Alabama is now expected to lean on Smith as a key member of its defensive front in the upcoming season. Knowing he would be stepping into this role in 2025, the former five-star took it upon himself to make sure he took a big step forward for not only himself but for his teammates as well.

“I knew I had to be a better person, for my teammates really,” Smith said. “It is about me, but it is about my teammates because I know they were really counting on me this year.  It is about that time and just understanding to be a leader, the work. I’m not a person that just leads. I like to lead by example. How hard I work, you gonna see James is not just talking. I really practice what I preach.”

At 6-foot-3 and 297 pounds, Smith is a strong and explosive defensive lineman, who has the opportunity to be really disruptive, thanks to his dominant skillset.

“He got quick feet,” Russaw said at Alabama football’s Media Day. “For a guy like that, he has good feet. He can beat guards or centers, get vertical and go make a play just like that.”

A lot of eyes will be on Smith on Aug. 30 when Alabama kicks off the season against Florida State.