Alabama Football: The future of the ’19 defense hangs by a nose

The 2019 Alabama football defense must improve over last season and do so without one its best interior linemen ever, Quinnen Williams.

Healed Alabama Crimson Tide players and returning players should make the 2019 Alabama football defense better than last season. Better that is, if someone steps up at nose to replace Quinnen Williams.

Crimson Tide fans are mostly realistic in knowing no one on the 2019 roster has the physical and mental tools to match Quinnen’s performance last season. As great as Da’Ron Payne and Dalvin Tomlinson were as Alabama football interior defensive linemen, Quinnen’s quickness made him the best pass rusher and run-disrupter of the three.

The traditional role of a Nick Saban nose tackle is to play multiple gaps either side of center, clog the middle and demand double-teams. The double-teams on the nose allow inside linebackers to make more tackles. Quinnen’s quickness and ability to anticipate an opponent’s upcoming play allowed him to penetrate the interior of opposing offensive lines. Those skills pushed him to become No. 1 on the 2018 Crimson Tide defense in tackles-for-a-loss (18.5) and No. 3 on the team in sacks (7).

How good was Quinnen?

In 24 career games for the Crimson Tide, Williams had 25 tackles-for-a-loss (TFL) and 10 sacks. In 35 games for Alabama football, Da’Ron Payne had five TFLs and three sacks. In his 38-game Crimson Tide career, Dalvin Tomlinson had 10.5 TFLs and four sacks.

As good as Quinnen was, it is sobering to remember no Crimson Tide defender sacked or even much pressured Clemson QB, Trevor Lawrence.

The 2019 Alabama football nose tackle or tackles will not be as good as Quinnen Williams. At least they will not be in 2019 – maybe in later years. The Crimson Tide will have more depth in 2019. The d-line rotation could certainly include 10 players once four or five of the true freshmen prove they can make a meaningful impact.

Who replaces Quinnen at nose?

Assuming Raekwon Davis plays mostly on the exterior, along with LaBryan Ray, the nose position will likely feature two young players. Redshirt sophomore Phidaran Mathis and freshman D. J. Dale are the two currently in position to start at nose.

Given the 2019 depth, the starter is less important than what pair rotates and shares most of the snaps. Alabama football fans expect summer-arriving freshmen, Ishmael Sopsher and Byron Young to push for playing time. Much depends on what shape they are in at the start of fall camp.

In  an interview with Bama OnLine, Young said,

"The Laurel, Miss., native has spent the last several months preparing for the next level. “It’s been a whole lot of working out, a whole lot of running,”"

While Ish Sopsher has been the most known by Alabama football fans, Byron Young, Antonio Alfano, Braylen Ingraham and Justin Eboigbe are all judged to have tremendous potential. Alfano, Ingraham and Eboigbe will compete to find time at defensive end. Young can play on the interior or at end. Sopsher is likely to contribute on the interior only.

Can any of the true freshmen crack the two-deep by the end of fall camp? It will be tough, particularly for those who are summer enrollees. But by the second half of the season, some of these guys should be providing solid depth.

Chasing down information on the summer arrivals is difficult in June and July. The opinion Crimson Tide fans are most interesting in learning is Scott Cochran’s.