{"id":896096,"date":"2026-05-20T05:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T05:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/896096\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T05:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T05:06:17","slug":"the-alabama-crimson-tide-football-team-just-got-an-appraisal-that-will-force-fans-even-lower-on-kalen-deboer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/896096\/","title":{"rendered":"The Alabama Crimson Tide football team just got an appraisal that will force fans even lower on Kalen DeBoer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Alabama Crimson Tide football team just got an appraisal that will force fans even lower on Kalen DeBoer<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Alabama Crimson Tide<\/a>\u2019s inability to reach the Nick Saban era \u201cBama Standard\u201d<\/a> under head coach Kalen DeBoer could test the fanbase\u2019s patience even more profoundly this fall. CBS Sports\u2019 Brad Crawford<\/a> ranked Alabama at No. 6 in the SEC, shutting them out of the top third of the conference, and projected trouble ahead amid what\u2019d be considered moderate success in Tuscaloosa.<\/p>\n

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Crawford claims, \u201cOpponents now believe they can go toe-to-toe with the Crimson Tide offensively, and that matters,\u201d and believes the team \u201cdoesn’t cast the same intimidating shadow it did under Saban.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crawford had worries about the passing game, with the answer between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack in the QB room<\/a> still up for debate, and the running game, while also believing one slip-up defensively means this team could get worse than a four-loss unit by the 2026 season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuarterback uncertainty could become a weekly storyline if Alabama fails to establish consistency early with either Austin Mack or Keelon Russell. DeBoer’s system works best with balance and efficiency, but the SEC punishes finesse teams,\u201d Crawford wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cNine or 10 wins get celebrated almost everywhere else. In Tuscaloosa, that sparks questions about whether the dynasty can return. That’s the burden DeBoer inherited. And if Alabama slips defensively or fails to develop a physical rushing attack, regression becomes less of a hot take and more of an expectation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Alabama has an extremely favorable schedule that will barely test the Tide before the CFP<\/p>\n

DeBoer\u2019s saving grace in 2026 is a schedule that doesn\u2019t really test Alabama much before a potential CFP appearance. The Georgia Bulldogs<\/a> and Texas A&M Aggies are the only CFP teams from a year ago that look likely to make the field again, if everything breaks right, and will challenge the Crimson Tide on both sides of the ball. Particularly defensively, for both teams.<\/p>\n

Other than those two, things are very favorable, outside of a potentially troublesome Third Saturday in October on Rocky Top and a possible pesky Iron Bowl with Alex Golesh\u2019s scrappy squad coming from the Plains.<\/p>\n

Alabama could win nine or 10 games, make the CFP, win a game or two in the playoff, and quell the hot-seat talk about DeBoer for at least another season. If the Crimson Tide bottoms out for any reason, though, this schedule is easy enough to justify drastic action from AD Greg Byrne on DeBoer and\/or staff. Byrne may end up on the chopping block himself for having hired DeBoer.<\/p>\n

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A weak schedule doesn\u2019t mean many good things for an untested team trying to win it all. With how dominant teams like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish<\/a>, Texas Longhorns<\/a>, and the Big Ten\u2019s Ohio State Buckeyes<\/a>, Oregon Ducks<\/a>, and Indiana Hoosiers<\/a> project to be, there may not be an adequate test on the docket before the CFP. If Alabama even makes it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Alabama Crimson Tide football team just got an appraisal that will force fans even lower on Kalen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":896097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2026],"tags":[930,28661,12010,120499,406,4838,7,450,4725,4842,30918,8342,4732,185,28660],"class_list":["post-896096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-austin-mack","tag-brad-crawford","tag-crawford-claims","tag-crimson-tide","tag-deboer","tag-football","tag-georgia-bulldogs","tag-indiana-hoosiers","tag-kalen-deboer","tag-keelon-russell","tag-nick-saban","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-team","tag-the-crimson-tide"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116605169697682039","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}