Alabama Crimson Tide receive unwelcomed injury news at a position they couldn’t afford it following loss to Florida State
Alabama suffered more unfortunate injury news on Wednesday, which includes losing an emerging player on defense who’s playing a critical position.
The Alabama Crimson Tide have had a tough week. After losing 31-17 to Florida State in the season opener on Saturday and losing star wide receiver Ryan Williams to a concussion in that game, there’s now been another injury, but this time, it’s season ending.
On Wednesday, reports began to surface, originally from Charlie Potter with BamaOnLine, that defensive lineman Jeremiah Beaman had suffered an injury in practice earlier in the day. That news has not only been confirmed, but we now know the injury is severe enough that Beaman will miss the remainder of the 2025 season.
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer confirmed the news on Wednesday night.
“We unfortunately had an injury this morning in practice. Jeremiah Beaman suffered a lower-body injury, and right now, we’re expecting him to be out for the year,” DeBoer said during his weekly Hey Coach show.
Jeremiah Beaman injury devastating news
Look, a season-ending injury is devastating news for Alabama.
The defense was already working without starting nose tackle Tim Keenan this past Saturday, and now his primary backup, who got the start against Florida State, will miss the remainder of the 2025 season. Yes, Keenan is expected to return soon, maybe even as early as next week against Wisconsin, but the Tide didn’t have much interior defensive line depth heading into the year. And just when Keenan’s return was inching closer to help get that group back to full health, another key piece of the rotation goes out.
Beaman played 21 of a possible 65 defensive snaps (or 32.3%) in the season opener. This was after closing out the 2024 season with 17 snaps against Michigan in the bowl game back in January. The former top-100 recruit had continued to bulk up in his second season, going from 265 pounds to 296 last year. Now, he’s up to 314, which is the second heaviest defensive lineman on Alabama’s roster. He only trails Keenan, who’s 320.
Simmons, Faga should continue key roles
London Simmons didn’t enroll until the summer, but he’s already having to play a key role in Alabama’s defense. In fact, the true freshman played 22 snaps in Week 1, which was one more than Beaman. At 6-foot-3, 303 pounds, he’s one of only three defensive linemen on the roster who weighs more than 300 pounds. Of course, the other two are Keenan and Beaman.
Despite limited time with the program, I thought Simmons performed pretty well against Florida State. He’s a powerful guy who can hold the point of attack, so at least there’s another power profile available for this weekend’s matchup against Louisiana-Monroe. Plus, redshirt freshman Isaia Faga continues to emerge, and even drew 21 snaps of his own in the opener. No, he’s not quite as big as the other nose options (6-2, 296), but he’s a squatty presence who possesses a quick first step.
This past weekend, Faga saw 16 of his 21 snaps (or 76.2%) as either a zero or one-technique nose. Simmons saw 15 of his 22 snaps (68.2%) in the same alignment, so you’re almost certain to see them continue to have sizeable roles as long as Keenan remain out with Beaman. In fact, I suspect that you’ll still see them quite a bit once Keenan manages to return, which will hopefully be before Wisconsin rolls into town for Week 3.
Here’s how I see the interior depth playing out once Keenan is back:
- NT: Keenan / Simmons OR Faga
- DT: James Smith / Edric Hill / Kelby Collins
Smith will obviously have to play some further inside too. He only played 6.3% of his snaps as a nose on Saturday and 5.5% in 2024, but he’s got the strength and power to hold up with continued situational reps there. I’m sure Alabama would like to get Smith on the field with Hill some, as long as Keenan remains out.
