Alabama football countdown to kickoff: 58 days

If you can believe it, we are officially under the 60-day mark until Alabama is back on a live-game football field. After coming up short in the national championship game against Georgia back in early January, the Crimson Tide will once again be searching for its seventh title under Nick Saban.

This year’s season opener will be against the Utah State Aggies on Sept. 3 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

With today being July 7, that means we are only 58 days away from the return of Alabama football. The team here at BamaOn3 is ready to celebrate every day of the countdown standing between now and the start of football season. Let’s focus on a player — both past and present — who represents — or has represented — the No. 58.

*Note: BamaOn3 is also doing a Countdown to Fall Camp, which is only 29 days away.

Who currently wears the No. 58?

There are currently two players wearing the No. 58 for Alabama. The first is second-year offensive lineman James Brockermeyer. The other is walk-on sophomore Christian Johnson, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound linebacker from Flowery Branch (Ga.) who attended IMG Academy down in Florida.

James is one of two Brockermeyer twins — the other being former five-star offensive tackle Tommy Brockermeyer — who joined the Crimson Tide program prior to the 2021 season. As a four-star (No. 226 overall) in the On3 Consensus, James might not have been rated as high as his brother, but make no mistake, he’s also a promising young player.

No, he didn’t play any snaps as a freshman, but some of that was the result of two seasoned players — Darrian Dalcourt and Seth McLaughlin — being ahead of him on the depth chart. At only 6-foot-3, 281-pounds, it’s also beneficial for Brockermeyer to spend at least a year or two in Alabama’s strength and conditioning program.

The now sophomore probably won’t push for playing time this season, but he could become a factor at some point down the line.

Who’s a noteworthy former player to wear it?

When I think of a player who wore the No. 58 at Alabama, my mind immediately goes to Christian Barmore. The Philadelphia (Pa.) native was once a highly sought-after prospect coming out of Neumann Goretti High School in 2018, but we all knew then that he was far from a completed product.

In fact, Barmore redshirted his first year on campus to give him enough time to polish up his game.

Then in 2019, the big defensive lineman from up north made Freshman All-SEC as a situational player (12 games played, one start) while racking up 26 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks on 269 snaps. That being said, playing sound, assignment football consistently was still a work in progress for Barmore.

By 2020, he was ready to contribute even more. Barmore was in on 478 of the defense’s 747 snaps (64%) with five starts as a redshirt sophomore. On those snaps, he posted 37 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and a team-leading 8.0 sacks to go along with 3 pass deflections and 3 forced fumbles.

After helping Alabama win the national title over Ohio State in 2020, Barmore elected to forgo his final two years of eligibility to enter the 2021 NFL Draft. He was selected in the second round (No. 38 overall) by the New England Patriots, and is now considered one of the franchise’s bright, young defensive stars.

2022 Alabama Football Schedule

Sept. 3 vs. Utah State Aggies (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Sept. 10 at Texas Longhorns (Austin, Tex.)

Sept. 17 vs. UL-Monroe Warhawks (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Sept. 24 vs. Vanderbilt Commodores (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Oct. 1 at Arkansas Razorbacks (Fayetteville, Ark.)

Oct. 8 vs. Texas A&M Aggies (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Oct. 15 at Tennessee Volunteers (Knoxville, Tenn.)

Oct. 22 vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Oct. 29 – OPEN WEEK

Nov. 5 at LSU Tigers (Baton Rouge, La.)

Nov. 12 at Ole Miss Rebels (Oxford, Miss.)

Nov. 19 vs. Austin Peay Governors (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Nov. 26 vs. Auburn Tigers (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Dec. 3 – SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (Atlanta, Ga.)