Alabama Football: Where the defense must improve this season

Alabama football must improve on defense this year.

There have been plenty of reasons to have faith in Alabama football this year, but they showed plenty of reasons for concerns past Saturday. Specifically, the Crimson Tide defense left much to be desired in one of the worst defensive performances in recent memory.

Against the Ole Miss Rebels, Alabama failed at every level on defense. However, it’s too easy to simply state that the Tide should improve. Let’s go over what specifically needs to happen over the coming weeks if Alabama football wants to compete for a national championship.

Tackling

There were times when Alabama was in the right position, but they simply failed to make the play. I’m not sure if a change of practice has made Alabama unfamiliar with basic tackling, but it must improve moving forward. We saw this two weeks ago when Daniel Wright’s gaffe gave Texas A&M a touchdown. We saw more of it in the running game against Ole Miss.

It does Alabama no good to be in the right position if they can’t make the play.

Pressure from the pass rush

All in all, our defensive line has left much to be desired. The Crimson Tide have failed to get consistent pressure, which puts the young secondary between a rock and a hard place. To fix this, look for Christian Barmore to get more snaps as he gets healthier. Someone must step up and cause opposing quarterbacks to move out of the pocket. Quick passes will always be efficient, but Alabama can’t keep giving quarterbacks too much time to take the deep shots down the field.

Dylan Moses

This is one of the keys to this Alabama defense. One of the reasons Alabama football struggled defensively in 2019 was the inexperience at inside linebacker. Dylan Moses has had a few games to get back in the flow of football, and he has not looked like his former self. He’s missing tackles, lacking pressure on blitzes and failing to make big plays for the defense. If he steps up, the entire defense around him will get better as well.

Alabama has to stop relying on turnovers

So far, Alabama has let teams beat themselves. That can’t work over the course of a full season. If Alabama football is lucky enough to play in the College Football Playoff, opposing teams won’t beat themselves. Alabama also can’t rely on turnovers to fall in their lap. Statistics show that turnovers are mostly faulty stats, and you cannot expect your defense to consistently force them. Just because Alabama has gotten a few interceptions and fumble recoveries does not mean that they will do that against quality offenses.

All in all, I still have hope for this season and this defense. However, these specific things must be improved as the Crimson Tide prepare for Georgia this Saturday.