Kalen DeBoer, Alabama football hit back in the transfer portal Tuesday

Kalen DeBoer and Alabama football had suffered blow after blow to open this winter’s Transfer Portal window, but they bounced back Tuesday with a pair of big Portal moments.

There should also be more subtraction than addition in the portal or Alabama. The Crimson Tide had a full roster after its signing class and had to clean up a few roster spots to get under the scholarship limit.

So while it might feel like a shock to see 15 Alabama players enter the portal, the majority of the contributions to date have mostly been depth pieces and not guys likely to be serious contributors to next season’s team.

RB Justice Haynes was a co-starter with Jam Miller, but there is plenty of depth behind him with Miller expected back as well as Richard Young, Daniel Hill and Kevin Riley. The Tide also signed the No. 2 RB in the 2025 class, AK Dear.

DeVonta Smith was a starter for most of the season, so his decision to transfer to Notre Dame came as a bit of a shock, but the Tide has a lot of young talent in the secondary already on campus and others on the way.

The first truly shocking development happened yesterday when Jaylen Mbakwe entered the portal, lured by seven-figure offers elsewhere. But the roster rallied around the former in-state 5-star, and Mbakwe announced his decision to stay in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday.

Mbakwe became the second player DeBoer and the coaching staff successfully coaxed out of the portal, joining tight end Danny Lewis Jr., who figures to have a significant role on next season’s team, where CJ Dippre and Robbie Ouzts exhausts their eligibility.

Sometimes the best moves you can make with your roster are re-recruiting your own guys. Mbakwe and Lewis are both good examples of that.

But there will be opportunities out there for Alabama to upgrade the roster. But they won’t just take anyone. DeBoer isn’t building the roster year after year with a ton of portal guys like Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss, or like what Hugh Freeze is trying to do at Auburn.

DeBoer and the staff are looking for the right guys to fit the system and for strategic upgrades at certain positions. That’s what the staff believe they found with their first portal commitment on Tuesday evening.

Florida DL Kelby Collins, an Alabama native, signed with the Crimson Tide. Collins had a strong freshman season before switching positions and not seeing as much action as another in Gainesville.

Collins will be a bandit in Kane Wommack’s system and a replacement for departing senior Jah-Marien Latham. Collins will be even more important if LT Overton chooses to enter the NFL Draft. If Overton returns, he and Collins will be a formidable duo at the position.

Collins was the first, but won’t be the last portal addition to the Tide. They will keep adding to the list and more commitments are on the way. Even though the roster won’t be built via the portal, it was still nice to see Alabama land a counter strike on Tuesday.