Alabama key player reportedly set to exit

Dallas Turner was unequivocal about his future at Alabama.

After Alabama’s Rose Bowl loss to Michigan on Monday, standout edge rusher Dallas Turner was blunt about his future with the Crimson Tide. The probable first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft has stated his intention to forego his remaining eligibility and declare early.

“I’m gone,” Turner declared after the game, according to ESPN’s Alex Scarborough. “Ain’t no if, ands or buts about it.”

Turner had three tackles, including a sack, in Michigan’s 27-20 overtime loss in the College Football Playoff semifinal. Turner was a consensus First Team All-American at Alabama for three seasons, where he evolved into one of the nation’s greatest pass rushers.

Turner was voted SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Bednarik Award, which is given to the nation’s best defensive player in college football each year. Turner ranked second in the SEC and tenth nationally in sacks prior to the bowl season. This season, he has 50 total tackles, including a team-high 13.5 for loss, as well as 13 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, and a pass breakup.

Turner had an early impact on Alabama’s defense after arriving in Tuscaloosa as a true freshman in 2021. That season, he had 10 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks, helping the Crimson Tide reach the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

Turner concluded his three years at Alabama with 53 stops, including 15.5 for loss, 11 sacks, a pass breakup, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.

Alabama led 20-13 in the final minutes of Monday’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl before Michigan rallied for an overtime victory. The loss extended Alabama’s three-year drought without a national championship, the longest such span under Nick Saban.

“Obviously we’re very disappointed about the outcome of the game,” Saban said postgame. “I don’t think we played great in the first half, but I was really, really proud of the way our players played in the second half. We just didn’t finish the last four minutes of the game like we’d like to. We’re all very disappointed and the players are disappointed as well.

“But one thing that I told them in the locker room after the game, this is one of the most amazing seasons in Alabama football history in terms of where this team came from, what they were able to accomplish and what they were able to do, winning the SEC championship. Just really, really proud of this group. Just wish that I could have done more as a coach to help them be successful and help them finish. All we can do now is learn from the lessons that sometimes failings bring to us.”

Turner rated as a five-star prospect coming out of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas in the 2021 recruiting class. He ranked as the No. 1 edge rusher and No. 12 overall recruit regardless of position in the cycle.