Jumbo Package: Will Alabama see a flurry of activity before the portal closes on May 1?

Happy Friday, everyone. Baseball is at home this weekend hosting 10th-ranked Georgia, while softball travels to College Station for what should be a relatively easy series against the Aggies.

Also, the NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday, and Nick Kelly has you covered on the latest mock draft results for Alabama players.

You may have heard that senior DL Stephon Wynn has decided to become a grad transfer in search of more playing time in his last season of eligibility, which is fully understandable. As Chase Goodbread notes, the portal is about to close for summer.

The NCAA deadline for athletes to enter the portal and still be eligible this fall is May 1, after which most any portal news of significance will be only of destinations, not departures. A year ago, college football entered a new phase after the NCAA dumped its longstanding rule requiring transfers to sit out a year, creating a frenzy of portal activity. In landing two starters, linebacker Henry To’o To’o and wide receiver Jameson Williams, Saban hit a pair of home runs — Williams being a grand slam.

Players who are on the fence have about a week to notify their coaches of their intent to transfer. We will see if any other Alabama players decide to move on.

Gene Stallings isn’t a fan of the portal era, and is very concerned about the NIL disparity between skill positions and linemen.

Stallings said he sees too much focus on the individual and not the team in today’s college football. Stallings said a key to the success of his team winning the national championship was that it wasn’t a group of selfish players.

“Now it’s the individual that’s important because he’s going to be able to generate a certain amount of income himself,” Stallings said. “I think that’s going to hurt the team. Here I’m the offensive guard and I block for somebody who generates a certain amount of money, he wouldn’t have made all that money if I hadn’t blocked for him. We’ve got to appreciate the guy who blocks for the runner. Otherwise, we’re going to have some problems in college football.”

Gene is spot on here. Thus far, Saban has seemingly been able to navigate these new times and continue to get buy in on collective goals, with some notable exceptions that he dumped on Sark’s roster in Austin transferred out. This will be the key to success going forward.

Ohioans now have the opportunity to purchase Alabama Crimson Tide specialty license plates.

The idea for the plate came from Republican state Rep. Adam Bird, who told cleveland.com last year that he wanted to honor his father Ron Bird, who played for the 1964 Crimson Tide football team.

According to the report, the license plates would cost an additional $40, $30 of which would go to fund scholarships for Ohio students attending school in Tuscaloosa.

Ohio is a state that requires tags on both bumpers, so specialty plates are the only way to express one’s allegiance in that form.

Last, Najee Harris played the role of hype man for a female pro wrestler from western PA named Dr. Britt Baker, DMD because she is an actual dentist in Florida.

That man seems to have fun all the time. He is a joy to watch and root for.

That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.

Roll Tide.