Alabama Coaches Trusting Young Tight Ends

Alabama was without starting tight end Josh Cuevas on Saturday against Eastern Illinois, with the senior tight end spotted in a walking boot on his right foot during the Tide's 56-0 victory over the Panthers.

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Cuevas, a 6-foot-3, 256-pound senior from Los Angeles, California, has caught 30 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 11.4 yards per reception. His top performance of the season came in the Tide's 23-21 loss to Oklahoma, with six receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown. Cuevas reportedly suffered a practice injury during the Tide's preparation for the Panthers.

Behind Cuevas, Alabama relied on several young players against the Panthers. Freshman Kaleb Edwards has been a starter for the Crimson Tide at the 'Y Tight End' position, and behind him, Alabama saw good reps from fellow freshman Marshall Pritchett, graduate student Brody Dalton, and redshirt freshman Jay Lindsey.

"With Josh, we'll just keep evaluating him here throughout this week," DeBoer said about Cuevas's status for the Iron Bowl on Saturday.

"And that was certainly intentional with getting some guys some action out there even with the way Coach Grubb called the game, just making sure we got some reps, whether it be run game, pass game. You've got to attack the defense you're seeing. I thought we did a good job of getting those guys in spots. Testing them. A lot of it's been building up over the course of the year. You've seen Kaleb [Edwards] out there all season long. It's a combination of guys you're really focused on as much as anything. I thought Marshall [Pritchett] did a nice job. Brody [Dalton] did a nice job. Jay [Lindsey] did a nice job as well in their roles. Just getting them more snaps. We get better with reps. It doesn't matter who we are. That's what we're trying to do for those guys."

DeBoer was later asked about freshmen players and advice to them heading into their first Iron Bowl, and DeBoer again mentioned a big play from freshman tight end Kaleb Edwards during Alabama's 24-21 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs.

"Really, Kaleb, I can think of the big catch in a moment for me," DeBoer said. "He caught a crossing route against Georgia in a tight window there. Number one, Ty’s trusting him, and then Kaleb going across really fearless. Kaleb was a guy that didn’t come to us until really this summer. Most of our guys early enrolled. Seeing him be able to get on the field early in the year and do what he’s doing, again, every rep matters to him because these guys that have been all year, going back to January, they understood our culture, they were part of our weight program. I’m just really proud of these guys..."

DeBoer also mentioned Dijon Lee, Lotzeir Brooks, Michael Carroll, and Jackson Lloyd.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.