The Alabama football team may not have to go into its season opener versus Florida State without one of the key members of its offensive line.
After missing a chunk of fall camp due to a concussion, Alabama guard Jaeden Roberts has been cleared to play on Saturday versus the Seminoles, according to Yea Alabama, the university's official NIL entity.
It should be noted, though, that the wording Yea Alabama used was that Roberts has been “officially cleared to play and will be available” for the season opener. That does not necessarily indicate that Roberts, who started all but one game for the Crimson Tide at right guard last year, will start for Alabama or play extensively, if at all, on Saturday in Tallahassee.
Just this week, Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer, while saying Roberts had been practicing, described the redshirt-senior lineman as “very limited, very limited.”
“I mean, he’s making progress, but it’s slow and steady. I know this has been going on for a couple weeks. A lot of the same, nothing more than that, really,” DeBoer said (h/t On3).
Roberts, listed at 6-foot-5 and 327 pounds, redshirted his first year on campus in 2021 before playing three games in a minimal role in 2022. He got extensive playing time as a redshirt sophomore, appearing in almost every game and starting eight. He returned in 2024 as the starting right guard, only missing a blowout win versus FCS Mercer in November.
In Roberts' absence, Geno VanDeMark has been starting at right guard with Texas A&M transfer Kam Dewberry anchoring the opposite side at left guard.
Whether Roberts plays much or not at all, DeBoer, the Crimson Tide, and their fan base certainly want to start the 2025 season off with a convincing win.
DeBoer's first season in Tuscaloosa featured highs like beating No. 2 Georgia and routing LSU on the road and also lows like losing to Vanderbilt for the first time in 40 years (while being ranked No. 1), falling to rival Tennessee two weeks later, and turning in a horrific performance against 5-5 Oklahoma, which certainly played a major factor in the Tide missing the first 12-team College Football Playoff.
Florida State and Alabama, which is ranked No. 8 to start the season, kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET in Tallahassee on Saturday.
