Alabama junior DT Jeheim Oatis will redshirt this season and enter the NCAA transfer portal

Alabama defensive tackle Jehiem Oatis has opted to redshirt the 2024 season and will enter the NCAA transfer portal.

The junior said the reduced playing time was the main reason for his decision. Oatis, who is listed at 6-foot-1 and weighs 245 pounds, appeared in five games for the Crimson Tide this season, collecting one tackle and one deflected pass. In his three seasons at Alabama, he has 57 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, three tackles for loss and five passes deflected.

“I get the reps and the looks I get,” Oatis told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “I feel like it’s better for me to move to a new place.”

Oatis, a former four-star recruit and the sixth-ranked defensive tackle in the 2022 recruiting class, played an average of 16 snaps per game this season. In comparison, he averaged more than 22 snaps per game last year and more than 24 in the 2022 season.

In Alabama's two biggest games so far this season against Wisconsin and Georgia, Oatis played a total of 25 snaps. Oatis did not play in the Tide's surprise loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday due to a knee injury.

In the spring, he had to undergo surgeries on his shoulder, knee and ankle, which limited his ability to practice. Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack referenced Oatis' injuries when discussing the matter with reporters on Monday.

“He's been dealing with some injuries and, as you know, not been able to perform or perform as well as any of us would like,” Wommack said, via The Tuscaloosa News. “But my focus is really on the players who will do everything they can to help us win football games. And that’s exactly my focus at the moment.”

At his press conference Monday, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said the coaches felt Oatis was leaning toward that decision.

“It felt like it was going that way,” DeBoer said. “I think what we also need to understand is that there are other elements, right? There are elements of health, there are elements of life. I love these guys, they worked hard. Jeheim’s decisions and things, there are reasons for that.”