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The Beef Index: How Alabama and Auburn stack up with the SEC’s heaviest offensive lines

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The Beef Index: How Alabama and Auburn stack up with the SEC’s heaviest offensive lines


In 2023, Alabama football had the heaviest offensive line, based on average weight of starters, in the SEC. It wasn’t even close, the Crimson Tide weighed in at 339.4 pounds, with Vanderbilt in second place at 325.

Fast forward to 2024 and the Crimson Tide dropped to 13th, according to Beef Index data, released Thursday by AL.com. So what happened?

First of all, the Beef Index numbers take into account only Week 1 starters. For Alabama, that means losing the heaviest member of its offensive line unit, Kadyn Proctor, who was hurt in pregame warmups before the Tide faced Western Kentucky.

Had the 369-pound Proctor taken the field, Alabama’s average would have climbed to 323.6 pounds. That wouldn’t have placed the Tide back to the top of the list, but would have put it up to seventh.

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Second, the unit simply slimmed down. Under new head coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic, Alabama prioritized movement, bringing in transfer center Parker Brailsford, who weighs 290 pounds and having other players, like Tyler Booker, lose weight.

Alabama moved significantly year-over-year in another metric as well. The Tide climbed from 12th in the SEC in offensive line total weight to first, counting every player on the online roster.

There’s an extremely simple reason for that. Alabama went from carrying 18 to 23 offensive linemen, and thus jumped from 5,534 pounds to 7,025.

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When averaging out the weights of every offensive linemen on the roster, Alabama slipped several spots from 2023. The Crimson Tide weighed in at 307.4 pounds via that metric last season, 12th in the 14-team conference, but dropped to 305.43 pounds in 2024, last in the 12-team league.

Auburn

The Tigers took a huge drop down the standings in terms of starter average weight. While AU checked in third, at 321.4 pounds last season, the 2024 first five weighed an average of 311.8 pounds, dead last in the league.

The big loss there was Kam Stutts, whose 343 pounds topped out the group by a large margin. This year, Jeremiah Wright is the heaviest starter, at 333 pounds, with other weight drops around him.

Auburn sits 13th in total weight. Again, that’s the easiest metric to manipulate, simply by carrying more linemen.

The Tigers have 19 offensive linemen listed, and sit third among the four teams carrying that number. Last season, Auburn carried 18, sitting 13th among the 16 teams now in the SEC.

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AU lost several places on the final metric, which averages the weights of all rostered offensive linemen. The Tigers checked in 13th for 2024, at 309.79 pounds, one of just four teams to come in below 310.

Last season, the Tigers sat 10th of the 16 current SEC teams, at 311.22 pounds.



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Alabama D-lineman LT Overton cleared to return for playoff quarterfinals

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Alabama D-lineman LT Overton cleared to return for playoff quarterfinals


Alabama defensive lineman LT Overton has been cleared to return from an undisclosed illness, sources confirm to BamaOnLine. Overton will play in the Crimson Tide’s Rose Bowl matchup with Indiana on New Year’s Day. CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz first reported the Overton news.

Earlier on Tuesday, Overton stated, “Back like I never left,” on his Instagram story.

On Monday, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer provided an update on Overton’s progress.

“LT, just continue to monitor him,” DeBoer said. “Definitely not ruling him out right now, but we’ll continue to evaluate him and see how things go here in the days ahead.”

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Overton has missed the last two games because of an illness. The senior started the first 12 games of Alabama’s 2025 season before being ruled out for the SEC Championship Game. He is second on the team in sacks (4) and has recorded 35 tackles and six tackles for loss.

Overton’s return will be a boost for an Alabama defense that recorded a season-high five sacks in its 34-24 playoff win over Oklahoma. One of Overton’s backups, Keon Keeley, had one of the five sacks. The senior was missed in the Crimson Tide’s SEC title game loss to Georgia.

DeBoer said on Monday that Alabama was “as healthy as we’ve been in a long time.” The Tide offense was nearly at full strength in Norman. Now, the defense is healthy with Overton back.

Alabama will play Indiana in Pasadena, Calif., on Thursday, January 1, at 3 p.m. CT (ESPN).

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Alabama in the NFL: Former Heisman winner among best from Week 16

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Alabama in the NFL: Former Heisman winner among best from Week 16


Yet another week of NFL action has passed, and once again, it was a huge slate for Alabama Crimson Tide football.

A slate of games in which multiple teams clinched playoff berths, former Alabama players were back in action this past weekend at the professional level, with many going on to make significant impacts in their respective games. Some of those same names were also recently named to the 2026 Pro Bowl, only adding to what has been a solid overall season for the Crimson Tide in the NFL.

With the likes of Jalen Hurts, Malachi Moore, and Bryce Young among the names who also enjoyed a big week, here are five of Alabama’s top performing former players during Week 16 in the NFL.

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Derrick Henry, Running Back – Baltimore Ravens

The former Heisman Trophy winner was likely Alabama’s top offensive performance of Week 16, even despite losing a fumble in the Baltimore Ravens’ 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots. In all, Henry rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 18 attempts, translating to an average of 7.1 yards per carry.

Jonathan Allen, Defensive Tackle – Minnesota Vikings

In a week loaded with impressive defensive performances, there were likely none greater than that of Allen during a 16-13 win for the Minnesota Vikings over the New York Giants. Allen finished the game with eight total tackles, four of which were solo, along with one sack, two TFL, and one quarterback hit.

Will Reichard, Kicker – Minnesota Vikings

Another member of the Minnesota Vikings who made an impact in their 16-13 win over the New York Giants was the former Alabama kicker. Also making his lone extra point attempt, Reichard finished 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, a trio of makes that came from 43, 31, and 30 yards.

Jordan Battle, Safety – Cincinnati Bengals

Battle enjoyed a huge performance during the Bengals’ 45-21 win over the Miami Dolphins, leading Cincinnati with a total of 10 tackles. Of those 10 tackles, six from Battle were solo.

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Marlon Humphrey, Cornerback – Baltimore Ravens

Rounding out Alabama’s top performances from NFL Week 16 was Humphrey, who enjoyed a solid showing despite the Baltimore Ravens’ 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots. Humphrey finished with six total tackles, all of which were solo, two pass defenses, and an interception.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.





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McDaniel has 23, Memphis defeats Alabama State 88-67

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McDaniel has 23, Memphis defeats Alabama State 88-67


MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Dug McDaniel scored 23 points as Memphis beat Alabama State 88-67 on Monday night.

McDaniel went 8 of 16 from the field (7 for 12 from 3-point range) for the Tigers (5-7). Curtis Givens III scored 18 points and added three steals. Ashton Hardaway shot 4 for 8 (2 for 4 from 3-point range) and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line to finish with 15 points, while adding seven rebounds and five steals.

Asjon Anderson led the way for the Hornets (3-9) with 16 points. Damarien Yates added 13 points and nine rebounds for Alabama State. Tyler Mason also recorded 12 points. The loss is the sixth in a row for the Hornets.

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McDaniel scored 14 points in the first half to help Memphis build a 42-33 halftime lead. Memphis pulled away with a 12-2 run in the second half to extend a nine-point lead to 19 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.



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