Punter Skylar Delong's Status at Alabama Uncertain

Crimson Tide didn't have a scholarship punter listed on the roster for a while Monday

Although there's been no formal announcement about his status, punter Skylar DeLong wasn't listed on Alabama football's online roster for a while Monday. 

Alabama usually doesn't announce departures and DeLong hasn't entered the NCAA transfer portal. His bio was re-added later in the day, but the school hasn't updated the roster for fall practices yet. 

DeLong was the only known scholarship punter on the team last season, although kicker Will Reichard can also punt. Nick Saban traditionally doesn't release scholarship information on players. 

DeLong had 10 punts for a 33.0 average last season, with three inside the 20. Against Tennessee, he was replaced by freshman Ty Perine, who was named to the SEC's All-Freshman Team.

The walk-on averaged 44.7 yards per punt, with 13 attempts for a total of 581 yards. He had three punts of 50-plus yards and dropped two punts inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. 

In his last game with the Crimson Tide, Mike Bernier punted against Michigan in the the Citrus Bowl. He responded with a career game, punting six times for 254 total yards to average 42.3 yards per attempt. He had two punts of 50-plus yards, and four land inside the 20.

Reichard, who misses a lot of the 2019 season with a hip injury, had four punts, averaging 38.0 yards.

Although DeLong was considered one of the top punting prospects in the 2018 recruiting class, and selected to participate in the U.S. Army All-American Game, he averaged just 34.4 yards on 16 punts as a freshman in 2018. Bernier ended up taking over, ironically against Tennessee, even though he averaged just 38.0 yards per attempt. 

"The things about Skyler is he’s been a lot better in practice and done a good job in practice and actually had a really good week in practice last week," Saban said at the time. "We know he’s capable. I just think that maybe his confidence in the game is not what he needs it to be right now and I think we need to support him and try to help him develop the consistency in game situations that will allow him to have success, and we certainly need for him to do that."

Statistically, DeLong's best game was against Texas A&M in 2018. He punted a season-high six times for 216 yards to average 36.0 yards per kick, but two traveled 50-plus yards, including a career-long 51-yard boot. Three punts landed inside the Aggie 20-yard line and one resulted in a fair catch. 

This story was updated late Monday afternoon