Jumbo Package: TE Josh Ford sees “tremendous player” in Keelon Russell
· Yahoo Sports
Happy Friday, everyone. College football season is officially upon us, and we already got our first zany moment of 2026.
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✅ The FIRST touchdown on the 2026 CFB season
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) August 27, 2026
✅ Deflects off the receiver’s foot into his teammate’s diving arms
✅ Dylan Evans (#23) hits the penguin waddle on Youngstown St to celebrate
I can think of no better way to start this season. pic.twitter.com/fugAH1njxa
It was overturned because the ball hit the turf before the catch, but still a great moment.
Devan Thompkins spoke to media about some of the offseason work the defensive line put in, and his jersey number selection.
“I think it’s a chemistry thing that it’s not just one person because when you’re out there, you’re not only playing against one person,” Thompkins said. “You got to have the chemistry with the other guys.”
That chemistry experiment started in Atlanta during the offseason, teaming up with players like Isaia Faga, Edric Hill, Jeremiah Beaman and freshmen Corey Howard Jr., Mhari Johnson and Jamarion Matthews.
“It’s really a feel thing,” Thompkins said. “If one guy gets hot, I got to learn to loop around. Learning my teammates was the best thing.”
“I already had a single-digit number, eight,” Thompkins said. “That’s the number I originally wanted. But I just wanted to keep my single-digit number just because growing up, you see college players have single-digit numbers. They’re typically people’s favorite players. Mine was Reggie Bush (who wore No. 5 at USC) growing up. So I just wanted a single digit and I kept that one.”
The No. 1 was free on defense after Jackson left for the NFL draft. No. 8, however, was not. Justin Hill wears that. Plus No. 2 (Zabien Brown), No. 3 (Keon Sabb) and No. 5 (Dijon Lee) already had owners.
No. 1, 4, 6, 7, and 9 were free, and Thompkins ultimately went with the first. Linebacker Luke Metz, a returner, switched to No. 4. Defensive back Red Morgan switched to No. 6, and transfers Caleb Woodson and Desmond Umeozulu picked No. 7 and 9 respectively.
Louis Riddick thinks that Keelon Russell is under immense pressure after winning the job.
“This team, with the way it struggled last year in terms of offensive line continuity and consistency, being one of the worst rushing teams in all of FBS, Ryan [Coleman]-Williams struggling. … A lot of this, though, is all going to come back to what can Keelon Russell do in order to infuse some energy and some excitement and some optimism into this offense,” Riddick said.
Russell is a former five-star recruit with tremendous talent and has received extensive praise from people like Nick Saban, so everyone knows he is capable.
But whether or not all of that ability translates on to the field is another story.
We need to see better play around him, but expecting Russell to play like a veteran right off the bat is unreasonable.
Or it should be, anyway. To hear Josh Ford tell it, Keelon is doing some unreasonable things.
“It feels like he’s [Keelon Russell] taken another step. I was just saying this to one of the tight ends. I was like, ‘As soon as he got named the guy, it seems like he just kind of exploded,’” Ford told the media. “It seems like kind of all the fluff and the worry of not being the guy, you know, he doesn’t have to worry about that anymore, so it seems like he’s extremely locked in right now.”
“We always start with ‘Crimson Ball,’ which is a team period versus us (starting offense) against the first D (defense), and I don’t think in the last week and a half or since he was named the guy that we haven’t driven the ball 80 yards down the field for the first team period of the day,” Ford said. “It’s just really cool to see, and I’m really excited. I think he’s gonna be just a tremendous player this year.”
Ford talks like a Landon Dickerson playing tight end. Hopefully we see this on the field.
“I just love to hit people,” Ford said. “That’s my passion for the game. Of course I love to catch balls, catch touchdowns, that’s awesome too, but just the (sheer will) of putting someone on their back is the best feeling ever.”
Alabama somewhat lacked that at tight end a season ago after the departure of Robbie Ouzts and CJ Dippre to the NFL after the 2024 season.
“I don’t know them personally but I know they’re some studs,” Ford said. “I know Ouzts just won a Super Bowl. That’s fricken’ awesome in his first year. I’ve watched a lot of film of him hitting people, and he was definitely a tone setter for sure.”
A slobber-knocking tight end is key to running on the edges, and there is ample speed in the backfield to find explosives out there if we can seal them off.
Last, The Athletic staff put out their big college football preview edition. 48% of them voted Texas as SEC champion, and 41% have Notre Dame winning it all.
Why Notre Dame?
It’s all aligning for the Irish in 2026. The defense is stacked, led by All-America cornerback Leonard Moore. They have a Heisman candidate at quarterback in CJ Carr. Head coach Marcus Freeman has experienced the duality of leading the team to the national championship game and narrowly missing the Playoff the past two seasons, the latter fueling a potential revenge tour. And the schedule is very favorable, to the point that missing the CFP would mean something went spectacularly wrong. I’m banking on the opposite.
The Irish getting overhyped in the preseason?
Maybe everything about college football hasn’t changed after all.
That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.
Roll Tide.