Kalen DeBoer confirms suspicion surrounding the injury status of key transfer portal addition at wide receiver for Alabama
Here is the latest on NC State transfer Noah Rodgers, and what happens next at WR for Alabama.
One of the biggest question marks heading into the 2026 season for the Alabama Crimson Tide is what happens at the wide receiver position? With Isaiah Horton hitting the transfer portal, Germie Bernard declaring for the NFL Draft, and Ryan Coleman-Williams regressing in 2025, there are a lot of questions left to be answered.
Spring ball answered some of those. Coleman-Williams looked like his 2024 self, just with a rebranded image, and highly anticipated true freshman Cederian Morgan, alongside Derek Meadows, have made their presence felt. Well, following the latest news out of Tuscaloosa, that’s going to have to continue.
NC State transfer WR Noah Rodgers to miss the beginning of the 2026 season
“Unfortunately, he suffered an injury that’s gonna take a little while to recover,” Kalen DeBoer told The Game, with Ryan Fowler on Monday. “It will bleed into the season here a little bit — I’m not gonna give a timeline exactly. He won’t be ready to go right when the season starts. We expect it to be a situation where he will be back during the season.”
The loss certainly stings, as Alabama was and is hoping that Rodgers will bring a veteran presence that the team is missing. Even returning players like Lotty Brooks and Rico Scott don’t have a ton of collegiate starts under their belt, making the experience of Rodgers critical. When he was carted off during Saturday’s scrimmage, it wasn’t a good sign, but a potential return at some point in 2026 is a silver lining.
“Noah came in and really adapted to things so quickly,” added DeBoer. “Our team just loves having him here. Just to give you an idea of how positive he is, his response to me even just with how excited he was to get back and be around the team, and knowing how disappointed he is that he’s gonna have a little recovery here that he’s got to work through — for his focus be on the team and not about himself just gives you an idea of the type of caliber, not just — you guys can see what type of player — you didn’t get to see a lot of what type of player he is like we had the luxury of seeing him — but the type of person he is.”
Alabama starts the regular season on September, 5 vs. East Carolina.
