Alabama Football: 3 Tide players with most to prove in offseason

3. Daniel Wright – Safety (Sr.)

There were several new starters in the 2020 College Football season that had big cleats to fill. One example was Mac Jones having to be the full-time starting quarterback after Tua Tagovailoa left declare for the 2020 NFL Draft.

Junior safety Daniel Wright was a player that had to replace a vital position for the Crimson Tide after the 2019 season with Xavier McKinney declaring early. In his first year as the starting free safety for Alabama this season, Wright had some tremendous ups and some tremendous downs.

Wright showed some flaws in his ability to cover the deep pass throughout the season. He experienced missed tackles in his first game as a starter in the week one matchup against the Missouri Tigers. He was beaten early in the week two game of the season against the Texas A&M Aggies. Wright did record his first interception of his collegiate career as it resulted in a touchdown.

One of his worst performances of the season was in the 63-48 win over the Ole Miss Rebels. This was a game where the Tide’s defense allowed 647 total yards, the most allowed yards in a single game in program history.

In the National Championship game against Ohio State, Wright recorded two solo tackles. Wright experienced mishaps in man coverage schemes and failed to make the play in the short passing game.

Wright will be a senior in the 2021 College Football season and will be expected to be a leader on-the-field and off-the-field. He will need to perform more consistently in coverage schemes and avoid missed tackles. For that to happen, Wright will need to develop efficiently during the offseason and use the spring and summer to become a better player in every phase on defense.