SEC Football: Spring 2019 storylines for every SEC team

Alabama: Rediscovering a defensive identity 

Never has a Nick Saban-coached Alabama defense looked more discombobulated and overmatched than it did against Clemson in the National Championship Game. Assignments were busted, tackles were missed, the pass rush couldn’t get home; it was a mess, a mess that Trevor Lawrence and Clemson took full advantage of as they routed the Crimson Tide 44-16.

Make no mistake, either, the complete defensive collapse against Clemson wasn’t an aberration; it was a product of a much larger issue, an issue that was largely masked during the regular season thanks to overwhelmed offenses and the superhuman efforts of Quinnen Williams in the middle.

Alabama still finished 7th in defensive S&P+, but a deeper dive into the numbers shows the issues that the Tide’s defense had. The biggest was Alabama ranking 86th in ISOPPP+, a measurement that shows when a team is having success against you, how much success are they having? When a team would find Alabama’s defensive weakness, they would exploit it time-and-time again for chunks of yardage.

Alabama also ranked 29th in passing down S&P+, a product of a mostly green secondary that held its own for most of the season until it was faced with injury attrition and the nation’s top signal-callers.

Alabama’s left to replace six defensive starters from last season’s group, with key members from every level of the defense moving on to the NFL. The biggest holes to be filled are left by DT Quinnen Williams, LB Mack Wilson, and S Deionte Thompson.

Williams masked a lot of Alabama’s defensive shortcomings a year ago by putting together one of the single most dominant defensive seasons for an interior lineman in the history of the sport. He was a Suh-like presence in the middle of the defense, and that won’t be easily replaced. Look for Alabama to take a committee-like approach to filling his shoes, with players such as Phidarian Mathis, Raekwon Davis, and potentially even five-star freshman Antonio Alfano working in the middle.

At linebacker, Dylan Moses will move into Wilson’s Mike role, but that leaves Moses’ Will spot up for grabs, and there will be a deep competition for that spot. At safety, Xavier McKinney will take on the alpha-role in the defensive backfield, and while the secondary suffered some growing pains in 2018, a lot of young players gained invaluable experience that should translate into increased success next season.

With Tua Tagovailoa back under-center, and a ridiculous array of talent at the skill-positions, the Crimson Tide has the offense to once again score a lot of points and lead the charge. They’ll still come up short of their national championship goal, however, if the defense doesn’t rediscover its identity.