Alabama Football roster chaos is a challenge Kalen DeBoer can overcome l College Football Podcast

Intro well the roster chaos at Alabama continues Caleb DS and kayen Proctor are in the portal and I think kayin dor is going to be just [Music] fine you are locked on college football your daily podcast on all things college football part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome everybody to another episode of lock on college football I'm your host sper mcgoffin thank you so much for making this your first listen or your first view every day part of the locked on podcast Network do you find it hard to stay up to date with all the craziness of the portal and the coaching Carousel this is the podcast for you and today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get 115 bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet visit fel.com slocked on to get started so Alabama's Roster Chaos roster is going to be so very different in 202 four and fanduels got their win total at 9 a half which is is not exactly uh the norm for Alabama so they are perhaps anticipating there could be a little bit of a pullback even if there is in 2024 compared to the Alabama standard kayin dor is going to win at Alabama I have made that claim since this show began I will continue to make that claim because kayin dbor has been a winner everywhere he's gone now a curious Factor that's going to be really put to the test this fall when they play out their entire 12g game regular season schedule is just how much kin dor can do with the roster Alabama has had because at Washington for the last couple years they had some talented players at key positions but if you were to dial up their 247 Sports composite ranking it would not would absolutely not be the top roster in college football it would not have been that it it would also not have been a top 10 or probably not even a top 20 it's not a roster in which kayin dor went into games and won because he had more Talent it's a roster that kayin dor won with because he knew the players he had how to maximize their talents and he was able to do more with less now that's relatively speaking because there were NFL players on that roster when I say more with less so he was a fantastic coach at winning with what he had well he's not going to have very much at Alabama next year compared what a Crimson Tide had in 2023 this is an Alabama roster that is going to be without Caleb DS their five-star safety Kaden Proctor their five-star tackle those two guys were both starters as true freshman they they were going after Talia tagoo in the transfer portal instead it looks like it'll probably barring some changes be jayen milro again at quarterback they won't have Seth mlin their Center uh Germaine Burton Isaiah Bond their their leading receivers those two guys are gone they are bringing in Alabama the number three overall High School recruiting class in the 2024 cycle but it's the 52nd ranked portal class so how many of those guys are ready to make an impact right away how often can you rely on true freshman in today's portal heavy world of college football it's rather challenging now the reason I think that kayin dbor can overcome all of that in the short run somewhat but in the long run definitely is he's assembling a great staff kayin dore's staff is now going to consist of Kane w well who is that Spencer who's who is this guy why should I know his name for the last several seasons he's been the head coach in the sunbell not the entire conference but he's been in that conference at South Alabama a place in which he has assembled a 22 and 16 record uh he had a double digigit win season now two seasons ago in college football and this is a guy who's going to be kayin dore's defensive coordinator well this past year at South Alabama the defense allowed just under 22 points per game and South Alabama is not a premier team in the sunb conference but they were relevant and competitive in that league with him at the helm that's the first of two not one but two head coaches that kayin debor has brought on to his defensive staff and this is the key because he's also brought in Maurice linguist who was the head coach at Buffalo he is going to be an assistant on the defensive staff so the defensive pedigree there is readily available you combine that with kayin dore's track record having Ryan grub as his offensive coordinator these two guys are going to be able to score points and they've assembled a good defensive staff they know how to win the roster situation though is still going to be precarious for this fall I'm joined now here on locked on college football by Luke Whats going on in Tuscaloosa Robinson the host of locked on Alabama and I just want your reaction to everything that's going down do you are you guys going to put together a 24 Man team or 22-man team next year what's going on in Tuscaloosa I think it's going to be okay I'm not going to lie some of these are are hurting um Caleb DS leaving and probably going to Georgia that hurts uh Kaden Proctor but now uh obviously he's probably gonna go somewhere close to home the thing about some of these is I believe some of these guys are going to transfer anyway um Kaden Proctor I believe was really going to end up leaving he had to be talked out of transferring um right after the Rose Bowl to begin with I think he's just a little bit homesick and I think he wants to be closer to home and that's understandable then um Caleb DS I mean look Jimmy Stein put this very well my co-host that Caleb DS now if he stayed at bman you have to learn a new system I mean and it's a totally new system it's vastly different if you go to Georgia you've got your same DB coach that was at Alabama they just hired him you're going to the head coach who who is now not only probably the best coach in college football now that Nick sabin's gone he's also very familiar with Alabama's defense and they run just about the exact same one so you don't have to learn anything new and it's his home state so it makes a lot of sense I don't think that one's all about money or anything like that um I think in the end everything's going to be okay the part of the problem is Alabama's in that 30-day window where uh and a coach has retired so a lot of people are bailing a lot of people have bailed Washington too people aren't talking about that as much because Alabama's the bigger brand Nick sa is the bigger brand and Alabama hired Washington's coach and um that is uh that's making it seem a little bit worse this 30-day window thing is is kind of dumb the way it's set up but I'm hoping they don't fix it necessarily anytime quickly because Alabama may need to take advantage of it here in the near future yeah Washington's roster is certainly going to look very different next year as well so to will Alabama there are a couple players back for Bama next I mean Bama at least has got a quarterback in in in theory for next year I know they poked around on tal atago vioa and Nick Sabin was advocating that he get another year that was denied by the NCAA I still don't know what that entity does for college football really but make people's lives harder but that's a different conversation so as you look to 2024 Alabama's win total on FanDuel is at 9 and a half which is by the Crimson Tide standard a little bit lower that that's lower than what fans in Tuscaloosa are used to is seeing and it's lower than what they're used to feeling there how do you feel right now with all the departures and the decommitments as well in the 2024 class and there have been a couple in uh 2025 how are you feeling about the roster kayin dor is going to put together this fall I think ultimately he'll be fine it's good right now people just don't have to panic I mean I get it it's scary I mean all these 25 commits have decommitted um some of your top 24 commits like Ryan Williams have decommitted but you may get them back you may get Ryan Williams back you may get Jamie French back you might get Zion Grady back you might um you might not but um I think you got to give the guy a chance he hadn't been here five days let's let's give him a minute and let's everybody take a step back from the ledge unbolt the medicine cabinet it's going to be okay um now when you talk about the over under look let me put it in perspective because I don't think a lot of people outside of Alabama know this Alabama has not won fewer than 10 games since 07 they've not won fewer than 11 since 10 so this team they've not lost more than uh two games since 10 and that was a 10 and three season where they lost to the eventual National Champion um they lost to Steve sper and they lost to a good LSU team that was it um so what I think people need to do is take a minute take a breath this transfer portal thing's probably not even over but what might happen is Michigan's looking for a new coach their transfer Port will open same thing for LSU same you know who knows who knows what's going to happen here so give it a minute and let's see what happens Kaylin dor is one of the best coaches in the country he took Washington from practically nothing to the national championship game in two years give the man a minute and not only that he's following the greatest coach of all time nobody's going to do that very easily Alabama's going to take a step back it just doesn't have to be a leap back I think the Michigan aspect of that is interesting because players are allowed to transfer for an extended window if their head coach leaves from the time in which the head coach announces his departure that's why all these players from Alabama are leaving here I in the middle of January as we move kind of towards the end of it so if Jim Harbaugh does end up taking an NFL job that could be an opportunity they they have a very different roster going into next year as well but that could certainly be an opportunity for Alabama to go and find some players via the transfer portal but as I talked about earlier on the show I I think kayin dbor and the staff he's putting together it might not be a national championship in year one but I I'd expect him to be at a very high level in year number two Luke Robinson host of lockon Alabama at LS Robinson 21 on X formerly known as Twitter thank you so much thank you uh by the way coming up next who are the best wide receiver rooms in college football Texas has got one of the best ones that's coming up next right here unlocked on college football first things first today's episode is brought to you by eBay Motors Sponsor passion drive and patience what brings home the winning trophy like what Michigan put on display this year is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance from superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style whatever tickle tickles your fancy eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 Million 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college sports it's true in the business world too that's why LinkedIn jobs has created the tools to help find the right profession for your team faster and for free LinkedIn is not just another job board LinkedIn has a vast network of more than a billion professionals which makes it the best place to hire and hiring is easy when you have that many quality candidates so easy in fact that 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours it's why LinkedIn jobs is number one according to small businesses in delivering quality hires versus leading competitors post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon colge that's linked in.com onol to post your job for free terms and conditions Texas apply it's a passing world out there isn't it which means wide receivers have become more important in the game of football in college and pro than they ever have been before let's go to our friend Jonathan Davis over at lock on Texas Longhorns to hear about the Texas receiving room which is getting a major bump via the transfer portal so when we look at this wide receiver room in 2024 I think we had some legit question marks going into the SEC next year right because you lost your top three pass catchers in that room to the NFL draft right a lot of explosiveness and a lot of production in terms of Adonai Mitchell Xavier worthy and Jordan wittington and even though you had some really talented players in that room to move forward with next year there's a lot of Youth and a lot of unproven talent in that room right and I think that you know going into next season in the SC this is a year where Texas must maintain what they did last year in the Big 12 in 2023 in their first year in the right you don't want to go into the SEC and prove those foolish narratives right that you know Texas only could win in the Big 12 and they're G to get humbled and you whatever when they get to the SEC Texas will be one of the best teams in the SEC next year I know that but they have to go out there and prove it on the field because there will be doubters that will pretend like Texas is not good enough to compete with the marginal teams right in the SEC on a week- toe basis because you are going into next season in the SEC with a little bit of pressure to compete and win at a high level it makes sense that Sark wanted to hedge his Bets with this wide receiver room right and bring in a lot of explosive proven and experienced talent in that room and he's done that over the last month and a half by completely rebuilding this room in the transfer portal and creating one of the most explosive wide receiver rooms in my opinion in the entire country Steve Steve Sarkisian sarkeesian's track record with wide receivers in college football historically is quite good Aden I Mitchell Xavier worthy Jordan Winnington yeah they're all off to the NFL I'm sure they'll have successful careers there especially Mitchell and worthy Steve sarkeesian is the most recent offensive coordinator most recent is what I meant to say there who coordinated an offense that produced a Heisman winner that wasn't a quarterback that was of course Devonte Smith at Alabama back in 2020 this Texas wide receiver room is in indeed one of the best in the country with the way they have revamped it through the transfer portal they've added Isaiah bond from Alabama I I think everyone is well aware at this point in time what he's capable of they added Matthew golden from Houston which is a really nice addition and and under the radar move and one that I know quite well is Silas Balin from Oregon State this is a guy who has done a little bit of everything over the last couple of seasons in Corvalis he can stretch the field he can work underneath he can be a gadget guy if those are your core three wide receivers and Steve sarkeesian is your OC which he is of course as the head coach at Texas that's a good wide receiver room I I could even say it's a very good wide receiver room but what other wide receiver moves have stood out across the country I want to go up to Penn State Penn State's offense this past year was a tough watch it was a difficult watch it was an ugly watch part of the reason it was tough to watch is not because they didn't have good running backs or a good offensive line I thought they had those things Drew Aller quarterback was okay you know what can take an okay quarterback and make him above average and bring an element that was not present for your offense the previous year a dynamic wide receiver and via the transfer portal James Franklin and Company went out and landed Julian Fleming from Ohio State former five-star recruit guy has been down on the depth chart at Ohio State which can mean that you can be a number one receiver in the NFL according to recent Trends because once upon a time Chris ol wasn't necessarily the number one guy Jackson Smith and jigo was but then Garrett Wilson was further down but he's the number one this is wide receiver you and Julian Fleming is a guy who will bring experience and I think untapped potential up to Penn State and there is nothing that Penn State could have done better than bring in a veteran talented receiver who is hungry to have his best year I think he can be poised for just that up there for the nitty Lions as they try to make the 12 team playoff so I like that move as well back out west Oregon adds Evan Stewart love love this move for the Ducks why because Troy Franklin is going to the NFL the rest of Oregon's wide receiver room is returning TZ Johnson's a thousand-yard receiver Treon Holden I think has got a lot of untapped potential and jion dicki former five-star recruit battled an injury last year might be poised to pop they've also got former USC receiver Gary Bryant Jr but they go out and add Evan Stewart who can do a lot of the same things that Troy Franklin did it's not easy to replicate his production he just had the best wide receiver season in the history of Oregon football he set the record for receiving yards and touchdowns and he had the record for receptions until the bowl game when TZ Johnson who's coming back took it over from him so losing Troy Franklin and adding Evans Dort that's a really really good fill for Dan Lanning on the offensive side of the football this one's not a move but it is definitely a win tetar Roa McMillan is staying with the Arizona Wildcats so too is his quarterback Noah ffid some other guys have hit the transfer portal but they were slated to have 18 returning starters going into 2024 we'll see how many of those guys end up being there but Jed fish is gone Brent Brennan is in the San Jose State head coach and he has got a lot to work with he's got a situation that you don't see at Washington or at Alabama in which the rosters are being decimated by the portal no the the the core of Arizona for the most part is still intact and that was a 10 and3 football team one that going into next year if Jed fish had stayed would have been a trendy pick to both win the pet the Big 12 and at least get to the college football playoff keeping Teto McMillan there who's the highest rated recruit in the history of Arizona football he's going to be an NFL receiver he's going into year three it'll be year two with ffid those guys will be really good keeping him around not letting him get pulled up to Seattle and the Washington huskys that's a big win for Arizona and has ramifications throughout the Big 12 couple receiver moves here that I I've gotten a tie because I couldn't quite decide this one bigger is this one bigger juice Wells going from South Carolina to ol miss you talk about who's got the best receiving core in the country the answer might be down in Oxford ol Miss might have the best wide receiving Corp in all of college football you look at Trey Harris who led the team in receiving yards yeah he's coming back you add juice Wells they have other key returners in that room Jackson dart back at quarterback I'm going to talk more about ol Miss later but that is a team that very much feels like they were not a flash in the pan but could actually Elevate from what they were a season ago because of both the returners and the newcomers that they'll have going into next season London humre most people didn't know who that was you will this fall because he'll be suiting up for the Georgia Bulldogs Carson back will have a new Target to look at as Brock Bowers goes off to the NFL they've still got a bunch of talent in that receiving room I like that move coming from Vanderbilt that's not always big and flashy and exciting but I tell you what that's a move that I bet come Saturdays you're going to look back at this very show and say oh wow all the way back in January he was hitting on London Humphrey's going from Vanderbilt to Georgia I bet you he makes an impact there honorable mention on this list CJ Daniels going from Liberty 13-1 Conference USA champion Liberty to LSU that's an LSU team that lost its top two receivers and its quarterback as well Jaden Daniels to the NFL draft if you're going to go about replacing those guys I think CJ Daniels is a really nice piece so those are some of the biggest wide receiver moves of which there have been so very many I think Texas has got a great room I love what M Miss has done in the transfer portal and that deserves further discussion our our friends over at FanDuel Sportsbook have got some lines FanDuel for 2024 games that are more than a little interesting which we're going to get to here momentarily but did you know that you can still get in on the action even though the NFL regular season is over the playoffs are here and you can get in on that action with FanDuel America's number one sports book right now is kind of the best time to join because new customers get 150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet that's 150 bucks in bonus bets whether you win or lose the app is super easy to use and there are so many different ways to bet like live same game parlays you can find bets in the new explore tab make a parlay in the parlay Hub which is the best spot to find popular parlays you can do all those things and even more so what are you waiting for go check out fanduel.com lockon and make your first bet a layup you put down $5 win or lose you get 150 in bonus bets that's fanduel.com lockon FanDuel official partner of the NFL SEC a couple of lines I find to be highly interesting as they pertain to 2024 so let's start in the SEC Georgia is a three and a half Point favorite at Miss I'm just going to say that again make sure that we're all operating in the same world and we understand what that exactly means three and a half Point favorite for Georgia at all Miss now that means of course it would be greater if the game were played in Athens instead of in Oxford but Vegas appears to be liking what ol Miss has done in the transfer portal this off season and guess what so do I I don't just like moves like adding Walter Nolan or having guys back in the receiving Corp I talked about earlier or having Dynamic playmakers all over that offense or having a head coach in Lane kein who isn't exactly in his first year at the helm and knows what he's doing offensively he's got a culture down there in which they score plenty of points remember ol Miss beat LSU this past season well that that's not typically what Old Miss has done they don't typically beat the big boys but LSU in year two under Brian Kelly was defeated by these Rebels well not exactly these rebels of course but Jackson Dart returning Walter Nolan coming in five-star transfer from Texas A&M these are the sorts of moves that make you look at what ol Miss is going to prepare to do in the SEC and say that looks like a contending team to me and Vegas is telling you well we think they're at least within Striking Distance of Georgia I am unsure of how anyone is going to pick anyone besides Georgia to be the preseason favorites to win the national championship you look at that roster you look at the way that Kirby's recruited we know what Kirby's pedigree is as a head coach Carson Beck coming back at quarterback I am very very high on Carson Beck I think he is fantastic and I don't think he's going to get worse next year I think he's going to do the opposite I think he gets better so as you look at the Georgia Bulldogs and say well going into Old Miss well certainly I mean Old Miss they they can't do X Y or Z and Georgia Canon georg's got this three and a half points three and a half points in Oxford I wonder what that line feels like as we get closer to game day which can't get here soon enough because this is of course the greatest sport on planet Earth and I miss it just as much as you do I might miss it even more than you do it's not a competition though but I would win anyway so I think that for ol miss the moves they have made in the transfer portal are are getting the trust of Vegas is Vegas always right no no Vegas is not always right is Vegas right a lot more often than they are wrong 100% now there are teams that come along like Washington this year or TCU the previous season of college football that Vegas can't quite figure out they don't have a feel for and they don't often set lines that are appropriate and accurate but this is a situation in which I think Vegas is nailing it on the head hitting the nail dead Square Vegas because I think this UL Miss team with Jackson Dart having another year under that system with the offensive weapons that he's got I know quinon Judkins isn't there I think Miss will be just fine in that department I think they will be just fine scoring points with or without quinon Judkins there I think the way that they ended their season showed me that this is a team that feels they are ready to take that next step and the transfer portal moves they have made indicate as much and Vegas is looking at what they have done and they're saying yep we think that team deserves a fair amount of respect how many other teams think about this how many other teams could be a favorite of or an underdog rather of less than four points against Georgia whether you're playing Home Road or neutral how many I I I could think of a few maybe but they're all top 10 teams that are going to be playoff contenders I think if Old Miss hits their ceiling in 2024 you will see them in the 12 team playoff you might not see them in the college football playoff national championship game you might not see them in the SEC Championship game but could you see them in the 12 team playoff in year one as an at large team perhaps I 100% believe that that's the first line that stood out to me second one Oregon minus one and a half against Ohio State now the reason I bring this line up is because of what Vegas thinks right now currently this is before we know what Jim Harbaugh is going to do next year but I don't know how much he would move the line maybe a couple points Ohio State and Oregon have something in common and it's a good thing if you are a duck fan or a buckeye fan so Oregon Oregon and Ohio State are two teams that were very good this year that won 11 regular season games and came up short of the ultimate goal but had very good teams they are also two programs that have had very good off seasons in two ways number one they have made good transfer portal additions Oregon's brought in Dylan Gabriel Ohio state has brought in will Howard the these are experienced veteran quarterbacks that have won quite a few college football games and thrown for a lot of yards but number two and this is the commonality that makes me look at these teams and think boy that could be a heck of a game later this year in a big 10 Showdown I had to pause because it's a big 10 Showdown Oregon and Ohio State kind of gross but exciting nonetheless Oregon and Ohio State are both teams teams that have had a lot of guys decide to return you go up and down the roster and you can look at examples of hey that guy was going to go to the NFL wait he's coming back wait that guy's coming back this is a cultural thing where both of these teams feel like they have got some unfinished business and there are players that feel they can accomplish those goals come 2024 Ohio state is a Sixpoint favorite over Michigan right now six point favorite doesn't mean automatically they'd win the game means that Vegas thinks if the game goes as Ohio state would like it to the best possible outcome they could beat Michigan by double digits and Ohio State then conversely being an underdog at Oregon is a testament to how hard it is definitely to play at Aon stadium in Eugene a place where Ohio State to my knowledge has not been before they were supposed to go there in 2020 that got uh that that got canceled because of covid so that game will be played but is also a testament to the fact that Oregon's roster and Ohio State's roster these could be the two best rosters in the Big 10 Michigan is reloading Washington's roster has been torn down to the studs Penn State has got a good roster you know that but we also saw a year ago Ohio State's better than Penn State and if Ohio state looks very similar to last year but is just getting better quarterback play well that would keep them ahead of Penn State in my book and if Vegas thinks that Oregon is just a tiny bit ahead at least at home over Ohio State tells me they believe in the Ducks the way that a lot of national figures seem to believe in Oregon and you know what I think they've got good reason to because I think Dan Lanning is getting better as a coach I think the roster is great they've got a good quarterback and they've brought in some key Playmakers they're losing Troy Franklin to the NFL what do they do bring in Evan Stewart five-star wide receiver recruit all of these things add up to Ohio State in Oregon being set for what could be one of the Premier games in the Big 10 in 2024 and I think that those two teams and those two lines are indicative of how Vegas is feeling about the teams right now and how closely it reflects how I feel about both of those teams which is that they are big 10 contenders right away and those might very well be the top two teams because Michigan and Washington their Rivals who were in the playoff last year while they were sitting at home and watching it yet those teams are just going to be vastly different these two teams Ohio State and Oregon have been able to stay closer to the level that they were at a season ago appreciate everyone listening I will see you next time subscribe please and thank you if you have not already and until next time hope you have a wonderful rest of your day