Kalen DeBoer raves about five-star freshman who’s expected to get significant playing time for Alabama in 2025
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer could not say enough good things about one five-star freshman who’s expected to get significant playing time in 2025.
The Alabama Crimson Tide have done an excellent job of continuing to rebuild and retool a defense that went through a significant transition following the retirement of longtime head coach Nick Saban. No position group represents how effective Kane Wommack and company have been than the secondary, which is littered with talent and depth at cornerback, Husky and safety.
With that being said, we know the coaching staff is willing to play young guys if they prove that they’re ready to take on a sizeable role. And apparently, five-star freshman Dijon Lee has done just that, even earning rave reviews from Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer during his Monday press conference ahead of the Florida State game.
“You have no problem putting him out there on the football field,” DeBoer said of Lee. “There’s a maturity, and I use that with Ty (Simpson) and Parker (Brailsford) and our team, but there’s a maturity that a freshman has. And I felt like Zabien Brown had that last year. There are other guys, too, but to specifically focus on Dijon, he’s had that. Even when he doesn’t even know what he doesn’t know in spring ball, there was something about his presence and the way he is.
“It’s not about being as tall or anything, it’s just about the confidence to go out there and play. And that’s all a part of it. You’ve got to have the skillset. And he’s just done a great job being consistent from the first day he got here, winter workouts, to where we’re at today. You keep throwing more and more on his plate, and he rises to the occasion. You feel very comfortable putting him out there on the football field.”
Last season, Brown earned a starting cornerback job out of the gate opposite former USC transfer Domani Jackson. Not only did he play 660 snaps, good for the fourth-most on the defense and second amongst all of the freshman, but he also started all 13 games en route to tying a team-lead three interceptions with safety Bray Hubbard. Now, he’s expected to be one of the top corners in all of college football in 2025.
Will Lee be next? Well, he probably won’t get the same number of opportunities as Brown because Alabama is in a much better position with its the secondary than it was at this time last year, but he’s at least expected to see a sizeable workload. In many ways, that’s even more impressive as what Brown did last year out of the gate. Alabama needed Brown more in 2024 than it needs Lee in 2025, so any playing time he earns will be taken, not given.
At 6-foot-4, 202 pounds, there aren’t many cornerbacks build like Lee, and he uses that length and size to his advantage while also being a more-than-capable athlete. And having that type of unicorn in the secondary can be advantageous, especially when matching up against those bigger-bodied receivers like Alabama will face on Saturday in Duce Robinson.
The USC transfer is now in Tallahassee after playing over 500 snaps with five starts in his first two seasons with the Trojans. At 6-6, 223 pounds, he can be a mismatch problem for most corners. His experience could give him a slight advantage over Lee too, but there shouldn’t be any problems matching up against him physically. Alabama could benefit sooner rather than later from having Lee on its 2025 roster.
