Leaders emerging in key Alabama football position battles

Alabama football’s spring practice will come to an end Saturday on April 11 when the Tide hosts A-Day.

The Tide entered the spring with several positions appearing to be up for grabs, and some of those positions looked to have been snatched up.

Here is a breakdown of those positions and the players poised to start there:

Caleb Woodson- Mike ILB

Kalen DeBoer confirmed Woodson had been working as the Tide’s defensive green-dot communicator this spring after Alabama’s second scrimmage. This comes after the Virginia Tech transfer garnered praise from DeBoer earlier in the spring.

Alabama is looking to reload on inside linebackers after losing Deontae Lawson, Justin Jefferson and Nikhai Hill-Green.

“Caleb has come in and you can see that he has been on the football field,” DeBoer said. “He has taken a lot of snaps. He is out there and the schemes are not too fast for him. He has picked those up and it allows him to go punch the ball out and cause chaos. He is being the baller that we expected to get when we brought him in.”

Woodson is coming off a season where he had 58 total tackles in nine games. He started in 17 games in three seasons as a Hokie.

Racin Delgatty – Center

The Cal Poly transfer is fitting right in at center for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Tide lost its starting center from the 2025 season Parker Brailsford to the NFL and is looking to find a replacement. Delgatty looks to be next up.

“Racin Delgatty has been doing an awesome job at center,” Ryan Grubb said. “He has really taken the reins quickly. So I am excited to see him out there.”

The transfer started at center for multiple seasons at Cal Poly.

Devan Thompkins – Bandit DE

Thompkins looks to have found a home at the bandit defensive end position in Kane Wommack’s defense. The position is essentially a field-side defensive end.

LT Overton primarily started here for the Tide in 2025. Wommack praised Thompkins earlier in the spring after he checked in at 6-foot-5 and 298 pounds.

“You try to find versatility, right, guys that can do multiple things, multiple positions, and that to me is something that he brings to the table,” Wommack said. “Just because of his athleticism and because of his size and strength, he can do things inside and outside at a pretty high level. Once we got to know him and you started doing your research from his time at USC, this guy’s a captain, he’s a leader, he carries himself with a professional demeanor day in and day out, and he has absolutely shown that in the first two months of being here. Just the level of maturity that he brings, the work ethic. He wants to be coached. He wants to be pushed, and he has a really, really high ceiling.”

The USC transfer started in six games last season for the Trojans. He finished the season with 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.

Noah Rogers – WR

Rogers is fresh off being a top performer at wide receiver during the Tide’s second scrimmage of the spring. He was also a standout in scrimmage No. 1 for the Tide. All signs point to him securing one of the Tide’s starting wide receiver roles after transferring from NC State.

“Noah’s been consistent,” DeBoer said. “He had a couple of nice catches, some big plays. Thought he was there when he needed to. Even just sometimes short ones where you got to move the chains. Maybe it’s not just a complete natural catch. He’d probably be the one that stood out the most.”

Rogers had 441 receiving yards and two touchdowns last season.