Young Alabama players like Ty Simpson and Keon Keeley discuss what they’ve learned from the 2023 campaign.
The 2023 Alabama football season came to an end in the College Football Playoff semifinals as Alabama lost to Michigan in overtime. In other words, a number of veterans, like Justin Eboigbe, Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Dallas Turner, participated in their final games with the Crimson Tide.
As with every other college football season, the arrival of winter signals the transition of the team’s younger players into leadership roles. In 2024, they’ll want to demonstrate their progress and gain more playing time when spring practice arrives.
AL.com spoke with a few of the team’s younger players during the Crimson Tide’s media day in Pasadena before to the Rose Bowl. These are their thoughts regarding the things they discovered during the 2023 season.
Simpson Ty
Somewhat surprisingly, Simpson allegedly decided to play his 2024 season in Alabama. Simpson fought Tyler Buchner and Jalen Milroe for the starting position during camp, but he was on the bench when the cake was taken out of the oven.
The redshirt rookie assumed the position of Milroe’s principal backup. He played in six games, but the one that garnered the most attention was when he dropped the ball just short of a big touchdown run against Chattanooga.
He made a vow not to repeat that learning experience. However, Simpson claimed that his growth was quite good for the entire year.
“A lot has been gained,” Simson declared. Particularly after participating in the games against USF, Chattanooga, and Kentucky, I feel like I’ve matured and gained a lot of experience. I believe that as a player, I’ve changed drastically, and the team has faith in me to contribute if necessary I have the confidence of coaches. I’m quite enthusiastic about the future.
Dylan Lonergan
In the Chattanooga game, the true freshman quarterback from Snellville, Georgia, saw action and completed two passes. Prior to the Michigan game, he was unsure about his future as a baseball player despite coming to Alabama as a two-sport athlete with ambitions to play the game.
Lonergan had a solid preseason camp, and wound up competing for playing time, something he said was unexpected. He said the most difficult part of the transition to college was picking up the speed of the game.
He said he saw definite growth throughout the year.
“I’ve been able to pull a lot from a lot of different people, especially coach (Tommy) Rees,” Lonergan said. “Just being able to learn the offense. Especially reading defenses more and just learning how to be a quarterback the best I can, it’s been great.”
Keon Keeley
Keeley joined the Crimson Tide as a five-star edge prospect. He then didn’t see the field during the 2023 season.
For some, the experience might have been discouraging. But Keeley, who plans on remaining at Alabama, didn’t feel that way.
Wilkin Formby
A Tuscaloosa native, Formby might best be known as the grandson of the founder of Taco Casa. However, he was also a four-star offensive line prospect in the class of 2023 and played in three games for the Crimson Tide this season.
“The games that I’ve gotten to play in, I’ve realized that practice has really prepared me,” Formby said. “They don’t even match up to practice because of how intense practice is and the talented players that I get to go against in practice every day.
The way his seasoned teammates responded to Alabama’s early-season setbacks taught him another valuable lesson.
Formby remarked, “They stayed together like a team.” Nobody even mentioned names. They resolved to endure it by banding together like a fraternity.
Leave a Reply