Alabama Football 2026: Meet the New Defensive Backs

Alabama defensive backs Josh Jobe (28) and Patrick Surtain, II, (2) against Duke in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., on Saturday August 31, 2019. Db001 | Mickey Welsh / Advertiser via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The secondary is likely Alabama’s strongest and most veteran position group going into 2026, as they return all five starters at corner and safety, so there’s going to be a lot of “this guy is going to be a backup this year” in today’s article. However, in 2027, Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb will both graduate, while Zabien Brown is on track to being an early exit to NFL. So building that depth now is critical for the future.

And as fortune may have it, the Tide brought in a big haul of exceptional talent, particularly focusing on height and length across the entire secondary. So let’s take a look at all of the new guys.

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.

Zyan Gibson

Position: CB

Stars: 4

Hometown: Gadsden, AL

National Rank: 68

Position Rank: 8

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 194

As a high 4-star prospect from in-state, Gibson was one of Alabama’s very first recruiting targets, and committed to the Tide way back in 2024. He’s an elite track star, pulling off a 10.53 100m dash. On top of the athletic make up, he’s also added 20 pound to his frame after being listed at only 174 in high school. Essentially, he’s got an NFL frame and athleticism already.

Playstyle

Gibson is a guy who excelled at close man coverage on the outside and was rarely targeted throughout his high school career. He’s got impressively quick feet and can stick with guys on the short slants and quick out routes from an outside corner position, and then has the speed to break on things if the ball gets thrown. On the other hand, we saw very little from him in zone coverage, particularly anything downfield.

He’s a surprisingly effective run defender, too. He’s not a big hitter or anything, but he’s always shooting up or across the field to get involved in tackles, and often does a great job of sniffing out runs or passes to the flats.

Another big part of his game is his special teams contributions. Gibson has a whole host of return TDs, and he’s got a knack for delaying his initial burst on punts, making a guy miss, and then exploding up a crease, which is a very specific timing that tends to what you see from guys who are actually returners, and not just someone fast. On top of that, he’s also got quite a bit of experience as a gunner, using his speed and tackling prowess to really be a danger there.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

I think Gibson has a lot of potential to be a future starter for Alabama, and I could see him being either an outside corner or developing into a nickel due to his short-area quickness and tackling ability. It may be a year or two before he gets there, but I think he will.

Where I don’t think we’ll have to wait to see him is on special teams. I think he’ll be a gunner as a freshman, and I think he’s going to be right in the thick of things competing to be a return man from day one, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins it outright.

Jorden Edmonds

Position: CB

Stars: 5

Hometown: Marietta, GA

National Rank: 28

Position Rank: 4

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 188

Edmonds is a strong 5-star prospect that Alabama went head-to-head with Georgia to pull out of the Bulldogs’ backyard, and he’s the son of a former NFL fullback/linebacker, Chris Edmonds. He’s also a legitimately good wide receiver, and likely would have been a top-100 recruit on offense as well.

Like many others, he’s already added 15 pounds since arriving at Alabama to get up to a more college-ready playing weight, and he’s been called out by the coaching staff as a guy that’s really impressed (he’s also rumored to have gotten a pick-6 in the most recent scrimmage).

Playstyle

Edmonds is a boundary corner through and through. He’s a monster at cover 3 and cover 4 zones, using his unique combination of height and fluidity to stay on top of deep balls, undercut sideline routes, and break on short routes. On top of that, he hits like a truck when coming up to make tackles in the flats. He’s got an excellent feel for positioning getting in front of receivers and boxing them out to make a play on the ball without ever putting his hands on them, particularly on deeper post and corner routes. He didn’t do a whole lot of pressing or man coverage in high school, so that’s something that may be an area that keeps him from being a complete player early in his career, and he may have some issues with receivers breaking to the inside on him.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

Edmonds will be an outside cornerback as a backup to the similarly-framed Dijon Lee. I think he’s one of those freshmen that Kane Wommack is going to rotate in somewhat regularly and randomly throughout the season to keep getting him experience early on. I think he’s a guy we wind up seeing quite a bit of this year

Rihyael Kelley

Position: S

Stars: 3

Hometown: Cincinnati, OH

National Rank: 526

Position Rank: 40

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 196

Kelley had a rather quiet recruitment, flipping his commitment from Rutgers to Alabama in June and generally staying under the radar since then. He comes from a high school that also put out current Alabama linebacker Justin Hill, and he’s got some seriously impressive measureables, with a sub 4.5 forty with a 78” wingspan. Essentially, he’s got production, from a high school with a good reputation, and has elite size/traits. Alabama is hoping this all means he’s really a hidden gem that schools like Ohio State overlooked in their own backyard.

Playstyle

Kelley lined up all over the defensive backfield, but generally did most of his best work as a box safety or lined up in the slot. He’s an excellent run defender and open field tackler. He’s quick to attack downhill and can get into the backfield to blow up a run in a blink, and don’t even think about throwing screens to his side of the field, as he’ll take out some poor receiver trying to block and kill the whole play. Even when he gets isolated in the open field as a deep safety, he can make that saving tackle.

In coverage, he’s at his best in short-area routes, like breaking on slants and flat routes. On the other hand, he tends to have some issues with being a step behind when covering guys on deeper routes, and I think his comfort with the ball in the air is going to be questionable.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

I’m interested to see where Kelley plays at more. He’s generally been talked about more as a safety, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he winds up learning a few different spots and finds he’s best at the Husky/nickel position. Early in his career, I could see him getting a role as a 6th defensive back in a dime linebacker package. And if he gets more comfortable in downfield coverage, then he’ll have a shot for a bigger role later in his career.

I could also see him being a core special teams player for Alabama for years to come on coverage and return teams.

Jireh Edwards

Position: S

Stars: 5

Hometown: Upper Marlboro, MD

National Rank: 32

Position Rank: 2

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 221

Edwards is built like a tank, and, honestly, is as big most of the linebackers that Alabama has signed the last few years. ESPN’s recruiting folk actually have him as high as the #9 overall recruit in the country, with 247 having him in the top 30 and Rivals being more bearish, ranking him all the way at 84th, which is a pretty interesting spread of opinions. You don’t usually see that much difference, especially among guys at the top.

Edwards is a multi-year All-American that played for the powerhouse St. Frances high school in Maryland (just won a national championship and is ranked #1 in the whole country), following in the footsteps of plenty of other highly ranked prospects coming to Alabama from there. With that, you know that he’s entering college as a guy that’s already been given upper-echelon football coaching and strength training, so he should be coming in ready to contribute. He’s already made some waves this spring among the coaches and beat reporters as someone that’s stood out.

Playstyle

Edwards is sort of the quintessential hybrid slot/safety player who hits like a brick wall and yet also has the quick feet, fluidity, and field awareness to be a maestro at pass coverage out of the slot. While his size and powerful tackling get most of the press (as they should), I think Edwards is almost underrated in how good he is at navigating zones and intelligently swapping between receivers to cut off throwing lanes, not just dropping into a predetermined spot – and it got him a whole lot of production on the ball in his career. In man coverage, he’s also way better than someone his size should be at sticking right with some speedy slot receivers. He’s got a quick burst on the quick cuts, and then he’s got the closing speed to cut off those out routes, even if a receiver starts with a step on him.

What we haven’t seen from him is any real work as a deep safety. I think he’s the kind of talent that could most likely learn it, but we just don’t know what his long speed is like, nor how he’d do in the deep open field.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

I think Edwards will play both Husky (slot) and the Rover safety position for Alabama, as well as likely working as a true linebacker at times in passing downs in dime formations. I fully suspect he’ll get playing time as a freshman, likely competing with (and eventually overtaking) Zay Mincey for the dime back role, and probably rotating a little with Red Morgan.

And in 2027? Full time starter.

Nick Sherman

Position: CB

Stars: 3

Hometown: Tuscaloosa, AL

JUCO: Itawamba C.C.

National Rank: 79 (JUCO)

Position Rank: 8 (JUCO)

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 201

Originally from Northridge High in Tuscaloosa, Sherman was a barely-recruited wide receiver in high school that wound up converting to defensive back in his second year in JUCO. So he really only has one season of total experience playing defense, making him something of a long term project.

Playstyle

Sherman has really good closing speed, often looking like he’s given up some space a wide receiver, then closing that last 3 feet in a blink to break up a pass. He got his hands on a whole lot of passes that way, and did it in both man and zone coverage. He’s a better man coverage defender at this point, showing a strong ability to stick with a receiver right through the release and shows a little more polish with his press than you see from most freshman corners. In zone, he mostly just ran deep quarters zones, and I thought he had a tendency to play a bit too far off and then rely on his speed to get back into place on any shorter throws.

As a run defender, he’s fairly good at slipping around blocks and seems more than willing to go for the big hit. He does have a tendency to turn his back as he makes the tackle (I call it the Justin Woodall), so he’ll have to work on that to improve tackle consistency.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

Sherman can play both in the slot and on the outside, but I think he’ll be a little more suited to the outside where he can use his speed and length up and down the sidelines. I suspect he’ll be at the tail end of the depth chart for Alabama this year, and will be more of a long term depth player with some eventual potential to develop based on his height/speed.

Carmelo O’Neal

Position: CB

Transfer School: Mercer

Class: Junior

Stars: NA (recruit), 3 (transfer)

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

National Rank: NA (recruit), 802 (transfer)

Position Rank: NA (recruit), 75 (transfer)

Height: 6’4”

Weight: 209

O’Neal was an unranked recruit that Mercer was the only to recruit and offer a scholarship to, and he rewarded the Bears by taking over at corner near the end of his freshman year and then all of last year. Last year, he allowed 33 catches on 57 targets, giving up 556 yards and 3 touchdowns. Not great stats, but not terrible, either. He also had 10 pass deflections, 12 run stops, a sack, and a forced fumble.

Kane Wommack has mentioned him by name as someone they found when they were watching film on Auburn and noticed how much O’Neal stood out on the field as a big guy who could really move. He also broke up a pass to the endzone from Jalen Milroe back in 2024.

Playstyle

O’Neal is the football equivalent of Gumby on turf. As tall as he is at 6’4”, I think his arms are even longer. And you can bet any receiver trying to make a catch near him is getting a face full of arms chopping right into their chest and raking at the ball. He’s not the fastest player around, but the long strides allow him to hold his own down the sidelines, and he’s got good burst to drive on in-breaking routes (and, again, those arms give him a little bit of cushion to be a step behind and still break up a pass.)

I didn’t see him get too involved in the run game, but he didn’t seem to be a liability there when a run did come to his side, either.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

O’Neal is absolutely an outside corner back for Alabama, though there could be some flexibility there for him to play safety. He’s a player with legitimate college starting experience and a really unique trait (those arms!), so I do expect that Alabama took him in to be more than back-of-depth-chart fodder. I don’t think he’ll have a major role or anything, but I do think we’ll see him for a handful of snaps in a lot of games this year, and he’ll be a primary backup in case of injury.