Alabama Freshmen Defensive Back Impressing Early Despite Inexperience

The first comment out of most mouths when Zabien Brown's name comes up usually involves gawking at the young man's maturity.

Zabien Brown / Alabama Athletics

The Alabama Crimson Tide was back on the practice field for its fifth session of fall camp on Tuesday morning as they prepare for life after Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide kicks off the 2024 season on Aug. 31 against Western Kentucky but there's still a lot of work to get done over the next 25 days. The Crimson Tide is implementing a new offensive and defensive scheme under new coaches, leaving questions on both sides of the ball. Alabama's biggest question is, who's holding down the back end of the defense after experiencing significant roster turnover this offseason?

Two potential answers come in the form of freshmen Red Morgan and Zabien Brown. Morgan, out of Central Phenix City is pushing for playing time at Alabama's new Husky position, while Brown, out of Mater Dei in California is looking to be one of the Crimson Tide's two outside cornerbacks.

"Red's just Bama through and through. He gets it. He works his butt off. He loves the game of football. He's a great man cover guy. Somehow he just seems to find the ball every day and it's fun to coach kids that have great instincts," said Alabama safeties coach Colin Hitschlier on Tuesday.

Both athletes enrolled in Tuscaloosa in January before Saban's surprise retirement. Both decided to stick with their original commitments and stay with the University of Alabama. Both impressed to such a degree that they had risen near the top of the Crimson Tide depth charts by the end of spring practice.

"Well, Zabien was so impressive to me right off the jump. To walk out of high school early as a mid-year enrollee and then to be able to play the way that he has been playing from the springtime. What I've been most impressed with him is when he makes a mistake he gets it corrected and I can't think of a time where I saw him make the next mistake again, that same mistake," said Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack on Tuesday. "So it's been impressive the level that he's been able to do with that. Again, I think I'm overusing the word confidence here, but that's really what it comes down here with all these guys, having confidence in our system, having confidence in themselves as a younger player, going through spring ball and realizing I can do this at a high level and I can come play here and I think that's what you're seeing with Zabien."

The two freshmen both saw the Crimson Tide hit the transfer portal in the spring for experienced defenders. Alabama brought in Dashawn Jones from Wake Forest, King Mack from Penn State and Kameron Howard out of Charlotte, but through the early days of fall camp the two freshmen are still holding their own, impressing the decision makers as playing time decisions are starting to be made.

"[Brown} doesn't act like a freshman at all. He spends extra hours in the film room, just getting extra knowledge of the game so he can go out and perform like he does," said former Mater Dei and now Alabama teammate Domani Jackson on Tuesday.

Alabama will likely need both players as the year goes forward with the new college football playoff taking the maximum amount of games in a year to 17. The Crimson Tide may start transfers at both cornerback positions, but Brown looks like the next man up should anyone sustain an injury. Morgan has a little more experience standing in his way, but looks like he'll be one of the first names waiting in the wings if some veterans don't quite pan out.

“[Brown] just doesn’t feel like a freshman out there. He does not. We felt that way this spring, and he just followed that up with another big jump like you really would expect. He’s just out there, and I don’t think of him as young or anything like that. I think of him as a guy that’s just fitting into the defense, and I’m proud of the way he approaches it. He doesn’t take anything for granted. He works his tail off. He’s up there with Coach Mo non-stop, and he’s just a fun guy to have around each and every day in the program. I have a lot of trust in him already," said Kalen DeBoer on Sunday.

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