Jumbo package: Alabama continues to lose depth players in the transfer window

Unfortunately, the big news yesterday was bad news for Alabama fans:

This one is weird. Mbakwe was a high school QB who was expected to play DB or WR in college because of his speed. Despite entering college completely inexperienced at playing corner, he got a good bit of rotational playing time throughout the season. He wasn’t a starter – but he played a whole lot of meaningful snaps.

And to be honest, he mostly looked like a guy still learning the position.

Basically he got a lot more playing time as a true freshman and was the clear #3 corner in 2024… And he decides to leave?

Rumors are apparently flying everywhere on this one. It looks like Ole Miss is the team and there has been a lot of talk that he might want to play offense as well. Of course, how could he know that Ole Miss would even be willing to let him play on both sides of the ball before he jumped in the portal? /p

Alabama also lost one more player to Portal, though this one makes a lot more sense, and we’ll wish him the best:

Alabama recipient Emmanuel Henderson plan to enter the NCAA transfer portal, on 3’s Hayes Fawcett reported Monday. Henderson spent the past three seasons with the Crimson Tide and will have one year of eligibility remaining.

The 6-foot-1 receiver appeared in every game this past season to finish with four catches for 82 yards. He also contributed as a kick returner with five returns for a total of 107 yards (21.4 avg.).

Henderson was one of those small school “athlete” types who was a running back who moved to WR as a freshman and dealt with a pretty bad injury early in his career.

Entering his 5th season in 2025, he’s likely 5th on the depth chart behind Ryan Williams, Germie Bernard, Cole Adams and Jalen Hale – plus Alabama is heavily recruiting a pair of WR options in the portal.

This is a transfer you can see as a candidate who would like a shot at playing time in his senior year.

One of the portal WRs Alabama is rumored to be targeting is Miami WR Isaiah Horton.

The Miami Hurricanes world got some not-so-good news late Monday morning with WR Isaiah Hortonwho is expected to be one of the offense’s main threats in 2025, is signing paperwork to go to the transfer portal.

Now, CaneSport has learned that while UM is fighting to get him to stay, Horton’s representatives at Miami-based First Round Management are close to an agreement with Alabama.

This past season, Horton worked primarily as the fourth receiver off the bench and had 56 catches for 616 yards (third most on the team) – his best stat outing was 108 yards on eight catches with a TD against USF.

Horton arrived in Miami as a freshman in 2022 and played all 11 reps, redshirting. Then in 2023, he played in 11 games, started two, and finished with 13 catches for 168 yards with a touchdown. He flashed at times, most notably with a 52-yard touchdown catch against Texas A&M.

Now for some more good news. TE Danny Lewis Jr. changed his mind and has withdrawn from the portal.

from one Crimson Tide the player’s decision to return.

Danny Lewis Jr., a 2022 three-star tight end from New Iberia, Louisiana, will withdraw his name from the NCAA transfer portal and return to Crimson Tide in 2025, Hunter Kirsch of the Lionheart Sports Agency confirmed to the Tuscaloosa News.

Lewis’ production through three seasons with the Crimson Tide has not been extensive. In three years, he has one catch for five yards while playing a role on both offense and special teams.

But entering his fourth year at Alabama, Lewis’ role could grow greatly.

The junior has been stuck behind a veteran Robbie Ouzts for 3 straight years, so while it wasn’t a huge surprise that he jumped in the portal entering his 4th year, it seemed a bit premature when both were starting TE’s graduation.

Josh Cuevas is expected to be a starting TE, but Alabama regularly used two TEs all season, so Lewis should have the early lead in winning that job.

A former Alabama player has found a new home:

Head coach Deion Sanders promised it Colorado buffalo would be active in the college football transfer portal and on Monday he landed his first significant defensive addition in fv. Alabama Crimson Tide lineman Jeheim Oatis.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds, Oatis is an excellent candidate to replace departing seniors Chidozie Nwankwo and Shane Cokes. Oatis played in 29 games over three seasons with Crimson Tidewith 57 total tackles and 1.5 sacks. While deal with various injuriesOatis saw limited action early this past season and decided to redshirt before entering the portal.

Oatis dropped out of the team when he was benched in favor of Tim Keenan and Tim Smith after not getting fit after an off-season injury, so we’d mostly forgotten about him at this point in the year…. But it looks out to make sure he’s on his way to Colorado. I think it’s funny that he has been rated as the best defender on the transfer portal this year… A guy who got benched. It kind of shows what kind of talent is actually moving in the portal: it’s not the starters and the stars.

Anyway, if you’re getting nervous about the 14 players from Alabama who have entered the portal, read this piece from Chase Goodbread as he adds some perspective before you go too far.

Saban usually limited his portal interest to the very few players he thought could step in and start. He never felt the need to replace backup players who left the portal with backups from other schools.

And neither should DeBoer.

Saban lost 18 players to the portal last year before he announced his retirement. The portal has always resulted in a net loss of players in Alabama in terms of numbers. It requires a negative toll on depth, to be sure; even if DeBoer is able to push the program back into national championship contention, he likely will never be able to maintain the depth that Saban once stockpiled in the pre-Portal era.

This is a different era now, and Alabama’s second- and third-string talent under Saban suffered for it as well. But there is also such a thing as addition by subtraction when it comes to duty leave. The portal isn’t just an opportunity for players to find a better situation, it’s also a chance for the program to shed a few disgruntled guys who are doing more to weaken the locker room than strengthen it.

Here is another score: 27-1. That’s 27 combined shutout losses to date among Georgia, Tennessee and Florida, and they’ve combined for just one. Oklahoma? 22 out, none in.

Does that sound familiar?

Large schools fish with heavy gear. And they only need to catch a few to make a difference.

Alabama lost a lot of players to the transfer portal a year ago. But they brought in Domani Jackson, Germie Bernard, Parker Brailsford and LT Overton, all of whom ended up being some of the best and most consistent performers for the Tide in 2024.

At this point, even with the 14 portal losses, Alabama still only has room for 6 more players. They will take some key players in the portal, but they will be judicious about it.

Roll Tide!