Alabama continues to inch closer to the start of fall camp, and we continue on with our summer roster rankings where we take a look at almost every player individually. 

The only ones who won't be included are the three summer enrollees (Chuck McDonald, Kaleb Edwards and London Simmons) and freshman punter Alex Asparuhov, who was out this spring due to injury. That brings the total number to 78.

Previous roster rankings: Nos. 74-78, Nos. 70-73, Nos. 66-69; Nos. 62-65; Nos. 58-61; Nos. 54-57; Nos. 50-53

No. 49 – K Conor Talty

Previous ranking: No. 47 (+2)

I have no idea what to expect from Talty. As far as his importance to Alabama, he'd be much higher than barely cracking the top 50, but while that does play a factor in these rankings, it's also about the talent relative to others.

So here's what we know about Talty so far…

He was rated as the No. 3 kicker coming out of high school back in 2023, but with Alabama kicking legend Will Reichard electing to return for another season, Talty was limited to backup duties as a freshman. After Reichard made his move to the NFL, Alabama's coaching staff elected to bring in the reigning Lou Groza Award winner Graham Nicholson rather than hand over placekicking responsibilities to Talty.

Now, he did handle kickoffs as a redshirt freshman, and he has converted all four of his point-after-tries, so he's at least had some action. Plus, him getting to be a part of some of these environments while watching others going through those pressure moments should help him too. We'll have to wait and see how much that matters in the end, but we're hoping for a steady, reliable season.

Projected role in 2025: Starting K/KOS

No. 48 – RB Dre'lyn Washington

Previous ranking: No. 36 (-8)

Washington was a nice addition to Alabama's backfield after losing Justice Haynes to the transfer portal. The Louisiana transfer is a compact running back at 5-9, 216 pounds, and over his last three seasons in the Sun Belt, he totaled 1,498 yards (1,343 rushing, 155 receiving) on offense and 11 scores while playing 528 snaps and getting six starts.

While he's compact and brings some power, there's more juice here than a lot of people realize. The problem for Washington will be the competition, and I'm not just talking about on Saturdays. I'm talking about him competing for snaps and touches. Jam Miller is likely to be the lead back, but you're almost certain to see Richard Young and Daniel Hill, too.

Yes, the running backs should see an uptick in opportunities with Jalen Milroe taking his carry volume to the NFL, but we're also expecting more passing attempts to eat up some of those opportunities. For those reasons, I can't see any sort of significant workload for Washington, but he should be efficient with his limited touches/snaps. 

Projected role in 2025: RB3-4/ST

No. 47 – QB Austin Mack

Previous ranking: No. 40 (-3)

There are a couple of things still working in Mack's favor as far as his development.

First, the former four-star reclassified to 2023, so while he's technically going into his third collegiate season, he's a true sophomore as far as age. The second is this offseason is the first chance he's gotten to truly be in a quarterback competition where he's getting valuable practice reps.

Mack still has some growing to do. Not physically, as he's already 6-6, 235 pounds, but mentally. From what we saw and heard during the spring, the young signal-caller was pressing a little too much and making too many costly mistakes. That should improve as he gets more seasoned, but will it be too late with five-star phenom Keelon Russell pushing him for that No. 2 job?

Projected role in 2025: QB3

No. 46 – WR Jaylen Mbakwe

Previous ranking: No. 39 (-3)

Mbakwe is one of the best pure athletes on the team. No one should doubt that, but after spending his freshman season playing a healthy 221 snaps at cornerback, the instate product is now making the move to wide receiver. Either position makes sense in long term, but that year of development on defense feels like somewhat of a waste.

Not only that, but Mbakwe was a do-it-all type of player in high school where he saw reps at a number positions on both offense and defense. So, this is his first chance to focus exclusively on one offensive position. As he gets more comfortable with the nuances of playing wide receiver at a high level, I can see him beginning to make a move up the depth chart, but also keep in mind that his position group is loaded with top talent.

As things sit, I can only see him being a situational player on offense in 2025 as a guy who gets manufactured touches that puts his athleticism on display. Moreso, I see him making an impact on special teams as a return man. Then once he learns the ropes, maybe he can become more — as long as others haven't permanently passed him on the depth chart by that point.

Projected role in 2025: WR7-8/return specialist