Predicting Alabama Football's 2025 Captains: Just a Minute

Watch the above video as BamaCentral staff writer Hunter De Siver discusses Alabama football's potential 2025 captains.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer will be joined by left tackle Kadyn Proctor, defensive tackle Tim Keenan III and linebacker Deontae Lawson at SEC Media Day in Atlanta on July 16. In other words, the Crimson Tide believes that these three players are some of the best candidates to represent the team as a whole.

From 2012 to 2018, two of the three players selected to go to SEC Media Day each year ended up being named team captains later on. Attendees went 1-for-3 in 2019 and 2023, but all three were eventually named captains in 2022 (Bryce Young, Will Anderson and Jordan Battle) and 2024 (Jalen Milroe, Tyler Booker and Malachi Moore).

So how many, if any, of the three 2025 SEC Media Day representatives could be named a team captain?

Well, there's a short list of former Alabama players who have been named a captain twice, and Lawson has a shot. He was the fourth captain last season with Milroe, Booker and Moore, but each of those three were selected in the 2025 NFL Draft in April. Prior to his season-ending injury against Oklahoma, Lawson was selected as a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and was also the player responsible for the coach-to-player helmet communication on the Alabama defense.

BamaCentral spoke with Booker last October about future leaders of this team, and without hesitation, he said Proctor. "He lets me lead but I see those leadership traits and qualities in him," Booker said. "I always encourage him to lead because one day he will be THE guy and I just want him to be prepared for that." If Proctor will ever be THE guy, it'll very likely have to be this season as the junior has top-10 projections in tons of early 2026 NFL mock drafts.

Keenan spoke to the media during the spring about his return to Alabama despite being a realistic option in the 2025 NFL Draft. He said that going "9-4 is not The Standard" at UA and wanted to "leave with a championship." Keenan was asked in March if he wanted to be a captain but responded by saying he wants to "be the best leader I can be and put my best foot forward to help my guys and help Alabama be successful."

The Crimson Tide has numerous other captain candidates besides these three. It's very important to note that during the A-Day spring practice, center Parker Brailsford, safety Bray Hubbard, running back Jam Miller and WOLF linebacker Qua Russaw were leading the entire team in warmup stretches.

Alabama had four captains in DeBoer's first year and it's reasonable to predict it'll be the same number once again in 2025. If each of the Tide's three SEC Media Day speakers are chosen as captains, one of the players mentioned above will likely join them.

Miller has the most experience at Alabama among the A-Day practice leaders as he's entering his senior year. This could give him the slight edge as he will also likely earn a large majority of the carries this season after splitting the backfield in 2024 with Justice Haynes, who transferred to Michigan several months ago.

Alabama 2025 Captains Prediction:

• Deontae Lawson
• Kadyn Proctor
• Tim Keenan III
• Jam Miller