Which Alabama players landed on ESPN's Way-Too-Early All-America team?
It’s never too early to look ahead to the next football season, and ESPN did exactly that on Wednesday morning with its Way-Too-Early All-America team for the 2024 campaign.
Two Alabama players were first-team selections by ESPN senior writer Chris Low, including one of the Crimson Tide’s newest additions. Linebacker Deontae Lawson, a returner from last year’s team, was named to the first-team defense, while center Parker Brailsford landed on the first-team offense. A Washington transfer, Brailsford committed to UA on Saturday.
“Brailsford was one of the top run-blocking centers in college football last season at Washington, and he’s following coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama,” Low wrote. “He had the nation’s fourth highest run-blocking grade by Pro Football Focus as part of a group that won the Joe Moore Award as the top offensive line in the nation. He started two games at right guard and 13 at center and will be key addition in the middle of the Crimson Tide O-line.”
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Lawson returns to Tuscaloosa as one of Alabama’s top leaders for the upcoming season. He was the signal-caller of the Crimson Tide defense as a redshirt sophomore this past year and played in and started 11 games this past season, missing three due to injury. Despite not being on the field for a full season, Lawson finished second on the defense with 67 tackles and tallied 5.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, four pass breakups and four hurries in 2023.
In addition to Brailsford and Lawson, two other Alabama players were second-team selections by ESPN, including offensive guard Tyler Booker and punter James Burnip. One former Tide player was recognized on the first team – safety Caleb Downs, who transferred to Ohio State after head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement back on Jan. 10.
OSU led all teams with four first-team selections. Georgia and Michigan each had three.
To see ESPN’s full Way-Too-Early All-America team for the 2024 season, CLICK HERE.
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