Alabama Football 2026: Meet the New Defensive Linemen

Alabama’s recruiting efforts along the defensive line this year were interesting. The Tide pulled in both volume and quality – however, nearly every single incoming freshman was under 260 pounds, all looking more like defensive ends than interior linemen. Despite that, all the reports were that Alabama viewed many of these players as interior linemen who would quickly bulk up… And, well, with the first RollTide.com roster update, that’s already proving to be true.

On top of that, the Tide added a handful of players in the transfer portal who are expected to be major contributors to the position group.

For the purposes of this piece, we’ll be looking at both interior DL players and players who will likely be “Bandits”, or defensive ends. However, there is some interchangeability between the Bandit and the Wolf linebacker in Alabama’s scheme, so it’s not a perfect delineation, and some guys may swap between the spots before the season ever starts.

As always, all ratings will be from the 247Sports Composite, though I’ll mention if the other services have wildly differing opinions. And in case you missed it, you can go check out all of the previous Meet the New Guys articles here.

Buckle up, this is going to be a long one.

Mhari Johnson

Position: EDGE

Stars: 4

Hometown: Muscle Shoals, AL

National Rank: 277

Position Rank: 28

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 286

Johnson is one of those guys who was listed as a 250-260 pound edge rusher who’s already bulked up by nearly 30 pounds on Alabama’s spring roster. While he’s starting as a Bandit end, he’s likely viewed as someone who will be more of an interior player and learn a defensive tackle role as well.

Johnson committed to Alabama way back in April of last year and stayed solid with that commitment.

Playstyle

Johnson’s most notable trait is his long arms despite a shorter frame, and he can use that to fend off offensive linemen and really create a little space for himself to be able to get off the block horizontally. Despite playing mostly as a stand up edge rusher in high school, he didn’t offer a whole lot as a true edge rusher, with most of his sack rush production coming on unblocked plays or inside stunts. What he did excel at, though, was crashing an edge and then blowing up runs to the B gap, as he could cross the tackle and make the inside run stops.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

Johnson takes a little bit of projecting to figure out what he’s going to be. He doesn’t have the speed to be an edge player, but he’s going to have to bulk up and learn to play inside to be a defensive tackle. I think he can eventually become a plus player as a tackle or potentially at Bandit in the run game, but it’s not likely he’s going to offer too much pass rush.

I don’t expect to see him on the field this year, and I think he’ll need a year or two to get up to the 300+ pound range before he has a chance to get into any rotational role.

Malique’ Franklin

Position: EDGE

Stars: 4

Hometown: Daphne, AL

National Rank: 377

Position Rank: 39

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 250

Franklin was a late add to Alabama’s recruiting class in December, and he’s one of the few that did not enroll early, so we won’t see him until summer. He’s something of a late riser in the recruiting cycle, apparently growing 5 inches over the last two seasons, and so there’s still some question on just what size he’s ultimately going to be.

He’s listed as an edge rusher, but he did generally play more on the line than as a stand up linebacker, and his rapid growth suggests that he may be a candidate for playing on the line in the future.

Playstyle

Franklin’s combination of frame, length, and ability to convert speed into power make him the type of prospect that will have NFL scouts already taking early notes on him. He’s as intimidating as they come out of high school. For the most part, Franklin lined up as a 4-3 strongside defensive end who rushed from head on the tackle, rather than from a wide-9 speed rush spot. He didn’t have too many pass rush moves or much of a speed rush, but man, can he bull rush an OT into the backfield, then flick them to the side as he makes a diving attempt at the QB.

Add in his giant wingspan, and he visibly shrinks the entire pocket on the QB in a hurry.

As a run defender, he could get washed out at times when double teamed on the edge, but a lot of times he’d manage to recover by diving for the RB and filling a hole with, again, his long arms. And he still made plenty of negative plays in the run game as an attacker, even if he struggled a bit with the more long-game of edge setting.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

I think Franklin’s best position is going to be Bandit for Alabama, though I could see him continuing to grow into his frame and eventually become a defensive tackle. He offers a lot of untapped upside as a pass rusher and once he settles into a position, he’s the kind of player who could become a legitimate star on the line. It won’t be year one, or maybe even year two, but he’s the sort of project player you take a gamble on to become a a force.

Corey Howard Jr.

Position: EDGE

Stars: 3

Hometown: Valdosta, GA

National Rank: 606

Position Rank: 64

Height: 6’6”

Weight: 285

Listed as an edge rusher in high school, Howard has already put on 40 pounds from his recruited weight and was listed at 285 for Alabama’s spring roster – so he’s definitely not planning on being a true edge player. Howard was originally a Georgia commit, but flipped from the Bulldogs in October last year, with his recruitment mostly coming as a battle between those two schools.

Playstyle

Despite not playing at true defensive tackle size in high school, Howard plays with an incredible amount of pure strength and relentless power up the middle. He’s got plenty of experience taking on double teams and will drop low to stand his ground without giving an inch despite being outweighed by a center/guard duo. And if he’s singled up with a guard, he’s got a good feel for holding a two-gap assignment and shedding his blocker with a quick swim as soon as the running back commits.

As a pass rusher, he’s got impressive speed once he gets a little space, and he’s quick off the snap with that same swim move, and it earned him his fair share of quick sacks up the middle. He does tend to get a bit chaotic when rushing the QB, and could cause some issues if it’s against a QB who’s ready to take off scrambling.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

I think Howard’s lack of weight despite playing an interior defensive line position kept him under the radar in terms of recruiting rankings. With Alabama and Georgia as his top two suitors, it’s hard to pick against what the coaching staffs see there. I think he’ll quickly wind up north of 300 pounds, and I think he’ll be a freshman that sees the field a little bit this year and then will be challenging for a starting role in 2027.

Nolan Wilson

Position: DL

Stars: 4

Hometown: Picayune, MS

National Rank: 69

Position Rank: 9

Height: 6’4”

Weight: 258

Wilson was one of the most talked about recruits in Alabama’s class last summer. He was a borderline 5-star prospect with a highly contested recruitment that, supposedly, quite a few schools *Cough* Miami *cough* threw significant money at him. Ultimately, it seemed that his relationship with Alabama won out (they were one of the very first schools to offer him early in his recruitment). Interestingly, Wilson didn’t start playing football until 2023, so he’s only got three years in the sport so far. Before that, he was mostly a soccer and basketball player.

Wilson isn’t enrolling until summer, so we’ll have to wait a little longer to see what kind of weight he shows up at to figure out if we can expect him to be more of a Bandit or a DT.

Playstyle

Wilson played mostly defensive end, but started moving inside a bit more in his senior season as he continued to grow. Even at 260, his frame looks more like an interior lineman, and it seems likely that’s where he’ll wind up going. To this point, he’s got a combination of speed, quickness, power, and effort that make him an athletic nightmare to match up against, but very little in the way of any sort of developed rushing techniques or run defense discipline. He’s a wrecking ball on the edge or up the middle, launching past tackles and either just flat out-running them around the edge or working back inside and knocking blockers off their feet as he crashes the middle.

In a lot of ways, his film is very reminiscent to when I watched Christian Barmore as a recruit: totally unrefined, but the quickness, power, and effort made him stand out on the field as someone sowing chaos in the opposing offensive backfield.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

I think Wilson will likely grow to be true defensive tackle that has some versatility to play closer to the edge when needed, but I don’t think he’ll wind up as a pure nose tackle. I don’t suspect he’ll see the field as a freshman just due to a lack of experience and consistency. Even year 2 might be a stretch. But once he gets a few years of practice under his belt, Wilson has a very good shot of being the level of player that is “best player on the defense” level of good.

Devan Thompkins

Position: DL

Transfer School: USC

Class: Redshirt Senior

Stars: 3 (recruit), 4 (transfer)

Hometown: Stockton, CA

National Rank: 635 (recruit), 30 (transfer)

Position Rank: 44 (recruit), 5 (transfer)

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 298

Thompkins has had an interesting rise through college football. He was a 6’5” 220 lb 3-star edge rusher in high school who took a couple of years to grow into his body at USC before becoming a big role player in 2024 and a full time starter in 2025, racking up 6.5 tackles for loss last year. He played about 2/3 of his snaps at defensive tackle and the rest at defensive end, so he brings inside and outside positional versatility.

One other thing that has been repeatedly brought up about Thompkins is his professional demeanor and leadership abilities. So make no mistake, Thompkins was brought in to be a day 1 impact starter for the Tide.

Playstyle

On top of displaying incredible quickness off the snap for a big man, Thopkins also has a relentless bull rush and an absolutely nasty rip move that allow him to make that coveted second-wave of pocket collapsing up the interior. Once he gets a little open space, he’s got the closing speed and length to really hunt down the opposing QB.

What we didn’t see a lot of from him at USC was two-gap defending. He was generally more of a B-gap splitter, and at only 285 pounds, they used him more as a speedy interior rusher than a true defensive tackle. However, he’s up to 298 at Alabama, and in Kane Wommack’s defensive front scheme, he’ll be asked to hold up in a two-gap mush fairly often, unless he make a permanent transition to Bandit.

As a summary, his interior pass rushing skills are elite, and he’s done it at the highest level of college football. There’s some work to be done as a run stopper still, but he’s also a guy that’s only started playing defensive tackle in the last couple of years, so there’s a lot of room for growth despite being a senior.

Scheme Fit and Prediciton

A lot of people have projected Thompkins to be a Bandit for Alabama, but I think he’s mostly going to stay as a defensive tackle that can occasionally kick out to the edge in specific packages. He’ll be Alabama’s starter at DT this year, and likely will lead the entire defensive line room in snap count this year before headed out to be a day 2 pick in the NFL draft.

Kedrick Bingley-Jones

Position: DL

Transfer School: Mississippi State, from North Carolina

Class: Graduate Senior

Stars: 4 (recruit), 3 (transfer)

Hometown: Charlotte, NC

National Rank: 152 (recruit), 905 (transfer)

Position Rank: 15 (recruit), 94 (transfer)

Height: 6’4”

Weight: 302

Bingley-Jones was granted a 7th year of eligibility after taking advantage of the free covid year and a couple of medical redshirts. He was originally a fairly highly rated recruit going to North Carolina, where he was a reserve for 4 years. In 2024, he transferred to Miss State and was looking like a full time starter for them, but then missed most of the season with injury. He returned in 2025 and played 343 snaps for the Bulldogs at defensive tackle. Interestingly, the original reports when he signed with Alabama is that the staff viewed him as a nose guard, but he’s dropped 18 pounds from 320 to 302 since joining the Tide, so you have to wonder if he’s going more for a DT role.

Playstyle

Bingley-Jones is thicker player who’s at his best when he can get a step of momentum and bull-rush a guard one on one. He does a good job of getting lower than the blocker and cutting just to the inside of them to really get them off balance. That said, that strength doesn’t quite translate when he’s taking on double teams, and he often finds himself getting washed out in the run game. He tends to try to get low to win those battles of strength, but just winds up on his knees as a running back goes by.

For the most part, Bingley-Jones was used in the B-gap, but I thought he actually did best when he was lined up against and OT rather than a guard or right up the middle, and he could use his strength and low center of gravity to win against tackles, particularly in a pass rush.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

I’m not really sure where Bingley-Jones fits in Wommack’s defense. I don’t think he has the strength to be a nose guard, and while he has a nice bull rush on passing plays, I’m not sure that would get him playing time over some faster interior rushers. He’s a veteran presence that will add some nice practice depth and brings plenty of SEC experience, so that’s always a positive to have as a reserve piece. Still, I don’t foresee a whole lot of playing time for him.

Caleb Smith

Position: DL

Transfer School: Washington

Class: Redshirt Freshman

Stars: 3 (recruit), 3 (transfer)

Hometown: Birmingham, AL

National Rank: 936 (recruit), 959 (transfer)

Position Rank: 105 (recruit), 104 (transfer)

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 277

Smith is originally from Alabama, but wound up going to Washington for his freshman year. Interestingly, it seems like the Huskies offered him his scholarship after Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama, and Alabama never recruited him as a high school prospect. But a year later after Jeff Fisch left, he entered the portal to come back, and DeBoer got him a spot on the roster. Smith took a redshirt last year, so we’ve not yet seem him on the field at the college level.

Playstyle

Smith reminds me of some of those defensive ends from early in the Nick Saban era. He’s sort of a jumbo-sized end player that excels at setting the edge in the run, playing clean up, and mush rushing into pass lanes and getting swats on passing downs. He’s not someone who’s going to wow you with speed or quickness, but he’s fast enough to keep things contained on the edge, and his length gives him a lot of leeway to make tackles. And again, he’s excellent at taking on a block on perimeter runs and just walling off that side of the line, then making the tackle as soon as the RB tries to cut inside.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

I think Smith’s best long term fit is at bandit where he can really put his edge-setting ability to good use. I think he can be a plus run defender at the SEC level, and will occasionally affect the passing game with his ability to get in the QBs way. What’s going to hold him back is the lack of dynamic pass rush, and I think it might be a year or two before he can work his way into a rotational role, particularly as an early-downs jumbo edge.

Terrance Green

Position: DL

Transfer School: Oregon

Class: Redshirt Junior

Stars: 4 (recruit), 4 (transfer)

Hometown: Cypress, TX

National Rank: 254 (recruit), 29 (transfer)

Position Rank: 34 (recruit), 4 (transfer)

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 319

Green was one of the top-rated players in the transfer portal this past year after playing a decent bit for Oregon as a rotational piece in 2025. He’s a massive player at 6’5” 319, and was listed at 330 when he was with the Ducks, so he definitely brings an intimidating physique to go along with plenty of experience playing for one of the best programs in the country (and for what it’s worth, I thought he had some nice flashes in the semifinal game against Indiana).

Playstyle

Green played both defensive tackle and nose tackle for the Ducks, typically as a rotational piece that played more on early downs and short yardage sets. He’s got impressive size and strength to hold his own against double teams and clog the middle pretty well, but I also thought he displayed more quickness than I expected for someone his size, and I saw him blast a guard into the backfield from the backside of an outside run play and very nearly catch the RB from behind. He also occasionally will flash that same burst in pass rushes, surprising a guard or center with his quick burst and getting them off balance before bowling them over and beelining for the QB.

The biggest thing for Green at this point is that we haven’t seen him do it in a full-time role over the course of a game. How’s his stamina to keep flashing like that when he’s not just coming off the bench to add juice?

Still, in the limited snaps we’ve seen, he’s an excellent run defender and a surprisingly bursty pass rusher for a big nose tackle. There’s definitely a lot of upside, and that’s why he was one of the top-ranked players in the portal.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

Green will be right in the competition to be Alabama’s starting nose tackle, and, despite the Tide having plenty of returning players with experience there, I think that Green most likely has the inside track to being the main starter. That said, I also expect he will only play 300-400 snaps even as a starter, as I think the staff will want to rotate him a lot to keep him as fresh as possible.

Alabama Football 2026: Meet the New Defensive Linemen

Tags: