Questions About the Defense

[crtuneman]

I was just wondering why our defense has been so bad down the stretch? We gave up 430 yds to LSU, 405 yds to A&M, and 400 yds to Ga. This is highly uncharacterisitc of a Saban defense. Are our boys just tired after all the tough games we have played? DO we just not have the talent that we have in years past? Are opposing offenses just that good? What are your opinions about why we have struggled? Also, how will we be next year? If Dee Millner comes back I think our secondary will be better. Fulton will be a senior and hopefully he will be ready to start. He has so much talent, he needs to step up next year. I was thinking that hopefully we could have Dee and Fulton at the corners, and Belue in the nickel. Also, Geno Smith will be much better with more experience. Same with HaHa. Hopefully Landon Collins will be ready to start next year. Overall I believe our secondary will be better next year. Lester and Vinnie were just too much of a liability in coverage, and I don't think Belue was ready to be a starter. At LB I think we will be stacked. CJ chould ocmeback, Hubbard will be much better, and Depriest and Dickson will be better with that year of experience. Add Devall, Reggie Ragland, Ryan Anderson, and Vinnie (I think he moves to LB) and other young guys, and our LBs should be unstoppable. The biggest question is the Dline. We lose JW, Square, and Quinton Dial. But we have Stinson coming back. Plus, Pagan, Pettway, and Fanning should be a major upgrade as far as the pass rush. The biggest question is the man in the middle. JW will be hard to replace. Will Ivory be ready to be the starter? Will Ball or someone else step up? That, I think, is our biggest question. But overall I expect our defense to be much better next year.

[BamaDave]

My thought all season long was we just lost so much on defense.  My opinion, just showing up now, late in the season.

[pmull]

First, LSU, Texas A&M and UGA are Top 10 teams so it is hard to shut down.

Second, our defense is very good. We are # 1 total defense, #2 scoring defense, #1 rush defense and #6 pass defense.

Third, it is not fair to judge this team against last year. Our defense last year was one of the best defensive teams of all time.

[Catch Prothro]

First, LSU, Texas A&M and UGA are Top 10 teams so it is hard to shut down.

Second, our defense is very good. We are # 1 total defense, #2 scoring defense, #1 rush defense and #6 pass defense.

Third, it is not fair to judge this team against last year. Our defense last year was one of the best defensive teams of all time.

^THIS^

The D is young this year and will be better next year.  Bama lost several key D players to the draft.

Commentators on ESPN suggest that Bama lacks versatile players on D and has instead gone to speciality players.  There may be some truth to that, but also, because the D is young, and because Bama is loaded with talent, Saban is trying to get the best players in the game for the right situation.  I think with more experience some of these players will develop into more all-around type players and see expanded roles.  But there is no substitute for experience, especially with Saban's complicated defense.

[crtuneman]

I keep hearing that our D is young, but how young is it, really? Square, Williams, Lester, CJ, Nico, and Dee Millner all started last year. Dial, Hubbard, Stinson, HaHa, and Depriest all played significant minutes last year. The only real new guys are Belue, Vinnie, and Dickson. And I understand that we have faced some good offenses, but we faced good offenses before and shut them down. My biggest concern is that the 3 best teams we have faced this year, LSU, A&M, & Ga, all  moved the ball on our defense with relative ease. As I said, I believe our D will be much better next year, but this year they have just not been that great. And the only reason we are ranked so high is that we have faced such bad competition at the beginning of the year. And a large part of it is that our offense had a lot of 3 and outs in those 3 games, which makes it harder on the defense. So it all plays a part. But we should be much better next year, assuming Millner and CJ come back.

[SUPERCOACH]

Part of the problem is that we don't really have a field general out there with the guys this year, like McClain or Hightower in years past.  But, we are still a good defense.  Just not up to the same level we were last year or 2009.  I honestly don't expect the Notre Dame offense to give us too much trouble.  They have a good defense too, but our offense compared to theirs will be a huge advantage for us.  I expect us to do very well in the passing game against them.

[pmull]

We lost Barron, Hightower, Kirkpatrick, Menzie and Upshaw to the NFL draft. We also lost reserves Gentry, Harris and Watkins. That is 8 major contributors to last years defense that is gone. Saying a team is young does not mean they are all freshmen. It means they have not played together as a unit. We also had to find new leadership. The defense struggled at times in 2010 but most of those guys were back in 2011. We will lose a lot this year. It is not easy to have the best defense in the nation every year.

Coach Saban and staff have 35 days to prepare the defense for Notre Dame. I would not want to be Notre Dame.

[crtuneman]

We lost Barron, Hightower, Kirkpatrick, Menzie and Upshaw to the NFL draft. We also lost reserves Gentry, Harris and Watkins. That is 8 major contributors to last years defense that is gone. Saying a team is young does not mean they are all freshmen. It means they have not played together as a unit. We also had to find new leadership. The defense struggled at times in 2010 but most of those guys were back in 2011. We will lose a lot this year. It is not easy to have the best defense in the nation every year.

Coach Saban and staff have 35 days to prepare the defense for Notre Dame. I would not want to be Notre Dame.

Good post. I like the way you put it. I guess we just didn't have an Upshaw or Hightower to step up this year. What do you think about next year? Who will be the dominant players next year? Also, losing Gentry was a huge blow, because he was so good at rushing the passer. He was small, but he could get in the backfield.

[pmull]

As long as CNS is our coach we will have a good defense. I hope we do not lose Kirby Smart. He is going to be a head coach one day. It could be next year.

We will lose Williams, Johnson, Lester, Square and Dail to graduation. They are seniors we know they are gone. I expect to lose Millner to the NFL draft. I think everyone else comes back.

DL: Losing Jesse Williams will hurt. Ivory should replace him. Ivory has done a good job resting Jesse this year. We have so much DL talent I can not quess who the starters will be. If Ivory can fill the nose guard spot we have no problem filling the other positions.

LB: We are loaded at LB. We lose a solid run stopper and leader in Nico Johnson. Mosley, Depriest, Hubbard, Dickson, Devall, Patrick and Atchison are all good. I look for Reggie Ragland to be the special player McClain and Hightower were.

DB: We lose Millner (maybe) and Lester. We have a lot of depth here. Even with good players they have to learn to play together. Smith, Fulton, Perry and Belue will need to step up. Landon Collins could be a special player. Sunseri and Clinton-Dix will be solid.

Punter: Maddell improved this year and will be back for his senior year. It is very important for the defense to have a punter that can flip the field.

Leaders: Sunseri and Mosley. You can not have enough leadership.

[Catch Prothro]

I would not want to be Notre Dame.

[crtuneman]

I am not sure if Millner will go early or not. I have not heard his name mentioned in potential first-round picks, but I didn't think Kareem would leave early and he did. I hope Millner returns, but will not be surprised if he leaves. Another thing, I my biggest  hope is that the kid from Ga is ready to take over kicking duties. I am tired of Cade Foster. He did well against Ga putting the KOs into the endzone, and the blocked kick wasn't entirely his fault, but he has been inconsistent all year and our kicking game, aside from Shelley, has been deplorable. I just want a reliable kicker like Tiffin again. Someone we can count on in the clutch. Whenever Foster comes in to kick a FG I never believe that he will make it. Thanks for trying Cade, but it just didn't work out. We desperately need a dependable kicker.

[SUPERCOACH]

I am not sure if Millner will go early or not. I have not heard his name mentioned in potential first-round picks, but I didn't think Kareem would leave early and he did. I hope Millner returns, but will not be surprised if he leaves. Another thing, I my biggest  hope is that the kid from Ga is ready to take over kicking duties. I am tired of Cade Foster. He did well against Ga putting the KOs into the endzone, and the blocked kick wasn't entirely his fault, but he has been inconsistent all year and our kicking game, aside from Shelley, has been deplorable. I just want a reliable kicker like Tiffin again. Someone we can count on in the clutch. Whenever Foster comes in to kick a FG I never believe that he will make it. Thanks for trying Cade, but it just didn't work out. We desperately need a dependable kicker.

I haven't heard anything about Milliner going or staying, but just by watching him play he is ready for the NFL and would be a pretty high pick if he entered the draft IMO.  The guy Murray was actually throwing to on that last play was covered up by Milliner and there was no way that pass would have been completed if it wasn't batted down before it got there.  He is a better cover guy than Dre IMO.  Dre was a little better at bringing the big hit, but Milliner is a little better in coverage.  I can't remember very many passes being completed to his guy in man coverage.

[hscoach]

There are a few problems with the D.  First, they have missed more tackles this year.  Second, they have broken down in assignments.  How many times have the opponents gotten outside contain.  Third, the corners are not as physical as last year.  Fourth, Bama has played hot QB's at the wrong time.  Combine this without a dominant pass rush and you have problems.  Fiith, VS was discovered by the opponents offensive coordinators and he was attacked.

[hscoach]

I am not sure if Millner will go early or not. I have not heard his name mentioned in potential first-round picks, but I didn't think Kareem would leave early and he did. I hope Millner returns, but will not be surprised if he leaves. Another thing, I my biggest  hope is that the kid from Ga is ready to take over kicking duties. I am tired of Cade Foster. He did well against Ga putting the KOs into the endzone, and the blocked kick wasn't entirely his fault, but he has been inconsistent all year and our kicking game, aside from Shelley, has been deplorable. I just want a reliable kicker like Tiffin again. Someone we can count on in the clutch. Whenever Foster comes in to kick a FG I never believe that he will make it. Thanks for trying Cade, but it just didn't work out. We desperately need a dependable kicker.

He is rated as one of the top corners in the nation, I beleive.
I haven't heard anything about Milliner going or staying, but just by watching him play he is ready for the NFL and would be a pretty high pick if he entered the draft IMO.  The guy Murray was actually throwing to on that last play was covered up by Milliner and there was no way that pass would have been completed if it wasn't batted down before it got there.  He is a better cover guy than Dre IMO.  Dre was a little better at bringing the big hit, but Milliner is a little better in coverage.  I can't remember very many passes being completed to his guy in man coverage.

[crtuneman]

I agree Millner is a better cover guy than Dre. I would not be at all surprised to see him in the 1st round. Like I said, there just hasn't been a lot of chatter about him from the talking heads. So if Dee goes, who is our best corner then? Will Fulton finally step up? Will Belue be better? Geno Smith? Somebody else? That will be a big question coming into next year.

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