As of
Hubbard's 2025 was a do-everything safety season: a career-high 74 tackles, four interceptions to tie for the SEC lead, eight pass breakups, two sacks and three forced fumbles — first-team All-SEC (coaches) and AP third-team All-America. He was a top-six safety on draft boards and chose to come back anyway. The forward stakes are leadership as much as production: with all four of Alabama's 2025 captains gone, Hubbard returns as the veteran centerpiece of a young defense, the established ballhawk a rebuilding unit organizes around. For a player who could have left, 2026 is about leading the Tide's defense back to the standard — and cementing a first-round profile while he's at it.
Update (Oct. 28, 2026): Alabama lost 26-10 at Tennessee on Oct. 17 as a 7.5-point favorite. The Crimson Tide beat Texas A&M 31-20 on Oct. 24 and are 6-2, No. 10 in the AP poll.
Sources
Play style
Hubbard is a ball-hawking, blitz-capable safety — the modern do-everything piece. The interceptions (four, tied for the SEC lead) and eight breakups are the range-and-anticipation element of a center-fielder who reads the quarterback and drives on throws, while the two sacks and three forced fumbles show a safety his defense can send and trust to make plays near the line. The 74 tackles say he's a willing, physical presence in run support, not just a coverage specialist. He's the versatile, communicating safety the two-high era is built around — cover deep, rob underneath, blitz off the edge — and the leadership of a returning captain-in-waiting is the part that doesn't show up in the box score.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
42 tackles. 2 passes defended. 2 interceptions. 0.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Fans first named Brayson Hubbard vs East Carolina.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 8): 5 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 48-10vs East Carolina | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 45-17@ Kentucky | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 50-36vs Florida State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 49-18vs South Carolina | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 56-23@ No. 16 Mississippi State | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 17-20vs No. 2 Georgia | 8 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 7 | L 10-26@ No. 14 Tennessee | 10 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 10 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 31-20vs Texas A&M | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 19 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 |
Oct. 24 · W 31-20 vs Texas A&M, play by play
5 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 4 of his 5, sacks included.
His game this year: taking the ball away — 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble in the 8 games with play by play.
How Alabama’s defense played that day
Texas A&M’s 11 drives: 7 stopped (3 takeaways) · 4 scored. While the game was within a score they held 5 of 9.
10 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
8 tackles, including 1 interception, 1 pass broken up. His interception ended Georgia’s drive (int).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 9 for him; the box score credits 8.
Intercepted. Second quarter, down 10-7. Ended Georgia’s drive (int).
6 tackles. The fumble he forced ended Mississippi State’s drive (fumble).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 5 of his 6, sacks included.
Forced a fumble. Second quarter, up 21-7. Ended Mississippi State’s drive (fumble).
5 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
2 tackles, including 1 interception. His interception ended Florida State’s drive (int).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Intercepted. Fourth quarter, up 50-36. Ended Florida State’s drive (int).
3 tackles. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 4 for him; the box score credits 3.
3 tackles.
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -4 to +27 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
5%2 pass breakupsInterceptions
2interceptionsTackle volume
42tackles this seasonTFL rate
1%0 TFL42 tackles · 0.5 for loss · 2 pass breakups · 2 interceptions.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 4.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road3g | 6.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 5.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 5.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kalen DeBoer
Pass share
45.8%
225 pass / 266 run
Plays / game
61.4
8 games
Team sack rate
9.0%
267 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2026
42 tackles in 8 games, about as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #70 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-SEC
Based on 2025: #1 of 57 SEC DBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 49% of returning players who ranked #1–3 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 43–54%).
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 34 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Nick Saban → Kalen DeBoer. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
