Jay Lindsey stepped up as last scholarship tight end standing this spring
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama entered its 2025 spring season with four scholarship tight ends on campus. But by the final A-Day practice, only one of them was able to be on the field.
Jay Lindsey was the last man standing after injuries to Danny Lewis, Josh Cuevas and Marshall Pritchett. When asked about how the redshirt freshman stepped up in the absence of other tight ends at Alabama, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb couldn’t help but laugh.
“When you say others, you mean all?” Grubb said.
Lewis missed all of the Crimson Tide’s 15 spring practices, while Cuevas and Marshall missed the final stretch, which left Lindsey as the only scholarship tight end for two closed scrimmages and a handful of practices. But the second-year player rose to the challenge.
“He did a good job,” Grubb said. “It was great. Jay, you always look for those type of opportunities where somebody has to make an impact in a tough stage. For Jay to have to step in in that role and really take over after the rest of the guys that went down, he got better.
“I mean, it was kind of necessity as a mother of invention, right? And for Jay, it certainly was. And I thought he answered the bell well.”
A 3-star recruit out of Butler, Alabama, Lindsey played in three games as a true freshman last year and caught one pass for five yards in the Crimson Tide’s win over Mercer on November 16. With veterans like CJ Dippre and Robbie Ouzts moving on this offseason, Lindsey can move up in the pecking order, but this spring provided even more opportunity.
Those reps could prove to be invaluable this fall as he looks to play a larger role in Year 2 at UA. They allowed him to work on areas he needed to improve while doing so with the first unit.
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“I thought for him, pass catching and things like that, being able to separate and find opportunity at the second level, was something that he needed to work on, and I thought he did a good job with that,” Grubb said.
“I think that Jay can be a run blocker kind of guy, like your true anchored Y that gets a couple throws here and there, but is kind of that tough guy mentality, and I thought he showed up.”
Alabama is thin at tight end with only four players on scholarship this spring and another coming in this summer (Kaleb Edwards). Cuevas is the Tide’s top option at the position, while Lewis and Lindsey are the only returning players. This spring, as the leader of the tight end room, Cuevas took Lindsey under his wing, but they both helped each other improve.
“Jay’s my brother, man,” Cuevas said earlier this spring. “I love Jay. We’re kind of sticking together on this one, just kind of like developing each other. He’s coming off, I’m coming off the field, we’re asking each other, ‘Hey, did you see my last rep?’ Just building off of one another and just working to get ourselves better with the offense.
“He’s developing great, but we’re trying to get everybody to be at a good point to reach the standard.”
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