Alabama lands its first early transfer portal commitment by stealing a big target out of his home state and away from SEC rivals
Alabama lands its first transfer portal commitment with TE Josh Ford picking the Crimson Tide over home state Oklahoma.
The Alabama Crimson Tide is preparing for its first-round matchup in the College Football Playoff against the Oklahoma Sooners, but there’s always work to do for the future.
Between recruiting and the transfer portal, Kalen DeBoer still has to focus on the task at hand, while capitalizing on the college football schedule off the field. Alabama got its first win of the offseason via the transfer portal by stealing an Oklahoma target out of his home state.
Alabama lands its first transfer portal target in former Oklahoma State TE Josh Ford
Yes, the two-week transfer portal window officially opens on Jan. 2, but players are allowed to enter the portal early if their teams fire their head coach, which is exactly what happened with TE Josh Ford at Oklahoma State.
Ford entered the portal in October and made many visits to help with his decision. He narrowed it down to Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Illinois, and the home state team, Oklahoma. After taking time to decide, the Oklahoma native announced today that he will roll with the Crimson Tide.
Ford will bring size and grit to the Alabama offense at 6-6, 265 pounds. He only had 13 catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns in 16 games with Oklahoma State, but he can be a chain mover and also a great run blocker to get the running backs an open lane. He could essentially have the same role that Robbie Ouzts had at Alabama, but with a higher upside at tight end while doing the dirty work in blocking.
Alabama’s tight end room next season could be deep
Alabama will be losing a big target in Josh Cuevas and Brody Dalton, but there’s also a lot of youth coming back with Kaleb Edwards, Marshall Pritchett, and Jay Lindsey.
The Crimson Tide also has 4-star TE Mack Sutter coming in next season, and he can contribute right away, so someone could end up transferring out when the portal opens. Alabama needed that one tight end with experience who can be a blocker, and that’s what Ford will bring, while the others go out in the slot to help the receiving game.
DeBoer and the coaching staff will be active in the transfer portal with the roster losing some key players when the season ends, and they got a head start with the official window still two weeks away. Hopefully, Alabama will still be playing for a national championship by then, and they need to follow up this off-the-field win against Oklahoma with an on-field win against the Sooners on Friday night.
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