Alabama will be without one of its top safeties in Keon Sabb when it faces Missouri on Saturday. The Michigan transfer is expected to miss extended time with a lower-body injury after a bright start to his first season in Tuscaloosa.
To combat a blow to its safety room, Alabama will be calling upon a relatively young group of defensive backs. Fellow safety Malachi Moore’s leadership will be leaned on more than ever, while sophomore Bray Hubbard is likely to see extended action after coming in relief of Sabb during Alabama’s 24-17 loss to Tennessee.
Alabama is also getting creative when it comes to moving its defensive backs around and creating depth at the position after losing on of its starters. During his weekly “Hey Coach” radio show, Kalen DeBoer said Alabama has been intentionally training some of its young defensive backs at multiple positions to be prepared to step in when they’re called upon.
“Some of it I want to keep on the down low just as far as positions,” DeBoer told Crimson Tide Sports Network host Chris Stewart. “But that position and just all the safeties and defensive backs will continue to work and there’s some crossover between safety and different safety positions. We call it our Husky or our nickel back position there and also some corners and safeties that can intermix. We call it cross-training and we do it a little bit here or there just for these moments and there’s more of that that’s happening.”
While some of Alabama’s defensive back depth pieces lack experience, they’re developing a versatility that can assist the Tide when the secondary is banged up. Hubbard has filled in across the secondary this season. Penn State transfer King Mack is listed at the Husky position on the Tide’s depth chart but filled in at corner against Tennessee. DeBoer also praised freshman cornerbacks Zavier Mincey and Jaylen Mbakwe, who have made contributions both on defense and special teams this season.
“Bak had an interception here this weekend,” DeBoer said. “The reps he’s been getting the last two weeks have just been climbing. Zay Mincey has been out there on special teams. He’s been a key part of our special teams all season long. Red Morgan’s been out there a lot all season. So just keep working a lot of those guys in. We know they’re gonna be really good football players and they’re just climbing at this pace just with the amount of reps they’re getting.”
Alabama’s secondary will have one of its toughest tests of the season when it faces a depth Missouri wide receiver room. The Tigers have a future NFL talent in Luther Burden, while Theo Wease was Mizzou’s second-leading receiver a year ago as part of a tandem with Burden made up one of the best receiver duos in the country last season.
Mizzou’s weapons will certainly pose a challenge, but DeBoer isn’t looking at it that way. As Alabama continues cross-training its corners to face a strong wide receiver unit, DeBoer sees the matchup as an opportunity for Alabama’s depth pieces to gain some key experience.
“Sometimes there’s positives that come from it,” DeBoer said. “That’s what you’ve got to look at it is there’s opportunities for guys that maybe at some point knew their body type might be one where we move them to another position and now that process is just sped up a little bit. It’s been really good seeing the guys take the opportunities and be open-minded and I really appreciate how they’ve adjusted here with anything like that that’s happened with our depth chart.”
