Alabama's departed transfers: Horton leads A&M, Ohio State trio settles in, Carter breaks out

Alabama lost more than 20 players to the transfer portal last offseason. Eight weeks into the 2026 season, some are producing more away from Tuscaloosa than they did there. Others are doing about the same job they had before. A Roll Tide Wire review of the departures shows the biggest numbers came from players who went looking for more snaps, while the best-known names landed together at Ohio State.

Isaiah Horton has made the clearest impact. One of Alabama's top receivers in 2025, he leads Texas A&M with 23 catches for 314 yards and three touchdowns through eight games. He and starting offensive lineman Wilkin Formby went back to Bryant-Denny Stadium last Saturday, a reunion KBTX previewed by recalling Horton's three touchdowns in last year's Iron Bowl. Alabama won 31-20.

The largest jump belongs to Noah Carter. He was a backup edge rusher in Tuscaloosa for two seasons and has 12 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble in four games at Georgia Tech. Jalen Hale, who had no stats at Alabama last year while coming back from injury, has 13 catches for 242 yards and two scores at SMU. Aeryn Hampton followed former Tide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard to Oregon State and has 21 receptions for 245 yards. Olaus Alinen is starting on Kentucky's offensive line.

The Ohio State group is producing less than its profile suggests. Defensive tackle James Smith, a two-year starter at Alabama, has eight tackles and one tackle for loss in seven games. Edge Qua Russaw has 14 tackles, 3.5 for loss and a sack in six games. Cornerback Cam Calhoun has seven tackles. At Notre Dame, Keon Keeley has eight tackles and two pass breakups after a breakout 2025 with the Tide. Within the SEC, Kelby Collins has 17 tackles and a sack at South Carolina, and Jordan Renaud has six tackles, two for loss and a sack at Ole Miss. Most of the rest, including Richard Young at Colorado, Cole Adams and Micah DeBose at Vanderbilt and Roq Montgomery at Western Kentucky, are in reserve roles much like the ones they left.

For Alabama, the takeaway is that letting those players go has not hurt much on the field. The Tide have already played three teams built partly with their former players, Kentucky, South Carolina and Texas A&M, and won all three by a combined 125-55.

What it means for LSU

Those results did not stop a mid-season slide. Alabama won its first six games, five of them by at least 14 points, including 56-23 at No. 16 Mississippi State. Then came a 20-17 loss to No. 2 Georgia and a 26-10 loss at No. 14 Tennessee, the offense's two lowest scoring totals of the season. The 31-20 win over Texas A&M ended that skid and moved the Tide to 6-2.

Next up is a trip to No. 15 LSU on Saturday, November 7, on ABC. It is Alabama's third straight game against a ranked opponent away from Bryant-Denny or at home, and its record against ranked teams this season is 1-2. The Tide scored 45 or more in five of their first six games but have not reached 32 in the three since. Whether the offense can get back to its early-season pace in Baton Rouge will go a long way toward deciding what kind of November Alabama has. Vanderbilt, home to two more former Tide players, is also still ahead on the schedule.