Alabama Football: Success In 2017 Depends On The Defensive Line
By Ronald Evans
For an Alabama football Championship to be achieved in 2017, it comes down to the defensive line, new starters and key reserves.
There are many interesting position battles for the 2017 Alabama football team. On the offensive line and in the secondary, new starters will greatly affect the 2017 record.
The most important determinant in the success of the 2017 football season comes down to one area and three positions. This make-or-break area for the Tide is the defensive line. The positions are the three, hand-on-the-ground slots the Tide typically uses in its nickel defense.
Everyone understands that Nick Saban builds his defense from a 3-4 alignment with two defensive ends and a nose tackle. That defense was Alabama football’s base defense until the proliferation of spread offenses. To counter the spread attacks, the Tide’s most used defense and thereby its new base defense is the nickel or the 4-2-5.
The nickel gets its name from the additional defensive back employed in the formation. In the 4-2-5 front, the Tide usually adds a linebacker who lines up similar to a defensive end position. Most often last season that fourth defensive line slot was filled by Ryan Anderson.
In 2016, the two interior positions were filled by Da’Ron Payne, Dalvin Tomlinson, Jonathan Allen, Anfernee Jennings, or DaShawn Hand. Of those five players, three are moving to the NFL. Last season, those three former players combined for 192 tackles.
Add Reuben Foster with 115, and Tim Williams with 31 for a total of 338 tackles from the 2016 season needing to be replaced in 2017. Alabama football is loaded with linebackers for 2017. Foster was a great player, but the Tide has an abundance of talent at linebacker for 2017.
The defensive line is an entirely different situation. Let’s look at the 2016 tackle numbers again in another way. In 2016 the Alabama football front four and edge rushers Tim Williams and Christian Miller made 342 tackles.
Five, now former players, made 235 of those 342 tackles in 2016.
Not somebody, but some bodies have several big shoes to fill in 2017. Let’s look at the options in 2017 and we’ll start in the middle.