8/1 Preseason Defense
I’ve been meaning to jump in and blog about Alabama football for some time now, but this offseason has been so eventful that I never seemed to find a break in the action long enough to post. Now that fall practice is approaching, I thought I’d post my thoughts on the upcoming season. As you know, we’re predicted to have another great year. Our consensus preseason ranking is Number 2, behind Oklahoma, but some publications have us at Number 1. Regardless, we’re supposed to be good, so let’s take a look at this year’s team, and explore our strengths and weaknesses. Today I’ll focus on our defense, and in the next couple of days I’ll take a look at our offense.
In short, this year’s defense should be special. We had issues last year in our secondary, but that absolutely should not be the case this year. Remember last year we somewhat unexpectedly lost Kareem Jackson to the NFL draft, and DeQuan Menzie tore an Achilles tendon before the season and was never at full strength. Demarcus Millner, true freshman, ended up being our starter opposite Dre Kirkpatrick, and even though his play was decent, a few busted assignments cost us dearly throughout the year. This year DeQuan is fully healthy, and by most accounts is our best cornerback right now. Coupled with Dre, we have a ferocious one-two punch at cornerback, and we have last year’s starter, Millner, who now has a full year of experience under his belt, available for nickel situations. Filling out our secondary we have the best safety combination in the nation. Mark Barron and Robert Lester are both pre-season first team All-SEC, and both are true playmakers. Barron will be a first-round draft pick next year, and Lester has a nose for the ball that simply can’t be taught. Remember, he led the SEC in interceptions last year (and Barron led the SEC in interceptions the year before!). It’s hard to use too many superlatives when talking about an Alabama secondary because we’ll always have 1992 as a point of comparison, but in my opinion, this should be our best secondary since then.
As talented as our secondary is, you could argue that our linebackers could be even better. Dont’a Hightower had not fully recovered from his torn ACL last year. This year he has, and he has another year of experience in the system. CJ Mosely had a breakout true freshman season, and this year he should be a monster. Nico Johnson was a real difference maker when he saw the field last year, and I expect him to be substantially better this year. Jerrell Harris is a senior, and should be a force as the Sam linebacker when the situation dictates the need for a Sam. Of course, I haven’t even mentioned Courtney Upshaw, who as a Jack linebacker might be the most disruptive player we have on that side of the ball. So yes, our linebackers should be tremendous this year, and if they play up to their potential, they should be the best group of linebackers we’re ever had at the Capstone.
If there is an area of concern on our defense, it’s probably our defensive line. Josh Chapman is pre-season first-team All SEC, and Damion Square is poised for a breakout year. But other than those two, there is not a lot for us to hang our hat on. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of talent there. Ed Stinson has developed pretty well, and might take his game to the next level. Nick Gentry has shown some ability to pressure the QB from the interior of the line, but can he do it with consistency, and can he be used in running situations? Quinton Dial is a tremendous talent, but he is a JUCO transfer, so it’s hard to predict how he’ll do. The same can be said for Jesse Williams. If our defensive line can hold their own, then we’ll have some serious fun watching our defense this year. My prediction? We’ll have some serious fun watching our defense this year!
Look, I know we’re all still reeling a little bit after last year. Some games (especially road games), our pass rush looked like a high-school rendition of “Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance,” and our secondary would often inexplicably make an opposing receiver feel like the Omega Man (remember Reuben Randle on that 3rd and 13?). I’m also acutely aware that last year’s best defender is now a Buffalo Bill after being drafted as the overall Number 3 pick in the NFL Draft. All that being said, we just have too much experienced talent on the defensive side of the ball to not be a good (if not great) defense. No, I don’t think that this will be 1992 all over again, but I think we should be comparable to if not better than 2009, and that was a pretty decent year!
That’s it for now. Like I said, I’ll take a look at our offense in a couple of days, and while our outlook on that side of the ball isn’t quite as rosy as it is for our defense, we definitely have some potential over there. Until then, as always, feel free to send me any questions or comments.
Roll Tide!
Kenny
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