It always seems a little strange that the National Football League hits the halfway point of its season at about the same time the college game begins its home stretch, but that’s the reality of scheduling. If anything, it’s only becoming more and more misaligned with the NCAA starting its regular season earlier and the pros entering February with the Super Bowl.

So, yes, the college game is heading into its final month of the regular season, while the NFL heads into Week 9, and Week 18 will be played in January, so there’s a lot more football to be played in 2024 -25. The only constant between the two is that teams want to play their best the closer they get to the postseason, and with the NFL loosening restrictions on trades, more and more transactions are being seen. The trade deadline is next week, Nov. 5, but a series of moves have already impacted numerous former Alabama Crimson Tide players.

We’re only going to list five, but first we need to get the quarterbacks out of the way because Alabama fans should already be keeping an eye on them in the future. Tua Tagovailoa is back playing after his latest concussion setback, Mac Jones remains in Jacksonville as a high-profile backup, and young bryce He has returned to command Carolina, but for how long? Last week he had a season-high 224 passing yards and two touchdowns in Denver.

that leaves Jalen hurtsof course, as the Eagles (5-2) have Super Bowl aspirations but are in second place in the NFC East behind the surprising Washington Commanders. Last week, he had two rushing touchdowns and a 119.3 rating at Cincinnati to become the first player in NFL history with multiple rushing touchdowns and a 100-plus passer rating in consecutive games. The only other player in NFL history with three rushing touchdowns, one touchdown pass and a passer rating over 130 in a game was Greg Landry of the Detroit Lions on October 1, 1972 in Chicago).

However, here are five whose roles are on the rise:

With Amari Cooper be transferred to Buffalo, Jerry Jeudy has a significantly larger role with the Browns, who also have a new starting quarterback in Jameis Winston. He had a season-high five catches for 79 yards last week as Cleveland defeated the Ravens, while Elijah Moore had a season-high eight catches for 85 yards and Cedric Tillman had seven catches and 99 yards. the highest of his career, to go with his first two touchdowns. The Browns also have running back Nick Chubb. Despite having a 2-6 record, it is a team that no one wants to play with again.

It’s not that the Jacksonville Jaguars suddenly thought that Cam Robinson He was expendable, but he was in the final year of his contract and the team’s chances of making the postseason are bleak. In Minnesota, he replaces Christian Darrisaw, who tore his ACL and MCL last week. The Vikings didn’t have to give up much to get it, as Robinson is 29 years old and, despite losing two games in a row, they still look like a playoff team.

With back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances, Jahmyr Gibbs is becoming a unique offensive threat for the Lions. Last week the running back had 137 rushing yards and his sixth touchdown. He has surpassed 70 yards in every game this season. He is seventh in the league in rushing with 591 yards, one yard behind. Najee Harrisbut with only 92 carries. In comparison, Harris has 136. By the way, jose jacobs He is fourth with 667 yards on 145 attempts. There’s no doubt that Alabama is still Running Back U.

It’s a little unfair to say that. Daron Payne is helping to fill the void by Jonathan allenSeason-ending injury as Allen is a more versatile player, but the Commanders need him to take a step forward anyway. Last week he had his first sack of the season. He always seems to play well against this week’s opponent, the Giants. In the last game he had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Ridley tied his career high with 10 receptions last week after the Tennessee Titans traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Kansas City Chiefs. The 143 yards marked the seventh time he surpassed 125 yards in a game, but it was the first since the 2020 season.

He’s clearly the top receiving option at Tennessee, where quarterback Will Levis has been struggling and dealing with a shoulder injury.

For the full set of stats on how former Crimson Tide players fared this week, check out our Bama on NFL Week 9 tracker. It will be updated over the weekend until each game ends.

It has to be Miami at Buffalo because of Tagovailoa’s history, as he faces the same division rival against whom he suffered his last concussion in Week 2. In his first game last week, he competed 28 of 38 passes (73, 7 percent) for 234 yards. . He has surpassed 200 passing yards in each of his four previous visits to Buffalo and the Dolphins (2-5) desperately need a win.

We’ll go a little outside the norm here and highlight the defensive line between the Texans and the Jets. Will Anderson Jr. He is third in the league in sacks with 7.5 this season and aims to get at least one for the fourth consecutive game. Meanwhile, Quinnen Williams He had 1.5 sacks last week and appears to be warming up for the Jets. Get linebacker CJ Mosley recovering from a toe injury obviously helps too, as DeMeco Ryans The team could essentially deliver a knockout blow to the Jets’ dwindling playoff chances.

By the way, Anderson was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month. He recorded 17 tackles, seven tackles for loss, five sacks, one fumble recovery and one pass defensed. Tackles for loss led the NFL and five sacks led the AFC. Anderson was the third former Alabama defensive lineman to earn the honor, joining Antwan Odom (September 2009) and Williams (October 2022).

Active Crimson Tide players by team, position
Contracts, status of former Crimson Tide players
All-time Crimson Tide players in the NFL
All-time Crimson Tide draft picks
The Crimson Tide’s impact on the NFL is nothing short of immense

“When you have a guy like McKinney, who is instinctive and has very good ball skills, you can see it, feel it, he has six picks right now. So if you go up against the quarterback and make him take a throw that he shouldn’t and it’s a little off, that guy is going to make you pay.”

– Lions coach Dan Campbell.

Teams at rest: Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers