Alabama Football: How and why defense will be improved

The 2021 Alabama football defense was good, but not great. It was good enough to finish No. 4 in rushing defense and No. 7 in total defense. It will be better in 2022. In today’s college football world, between equivalently matched teams, offense will consistently win over defense.

Given the dominance of offenses, the 2022 Alabama Crimson Tide defense can be very good, but not to the level of greatness of Alabama defenses in the 2011-2017 period. Current offenses torch even very good defenses and there is no sign of that changing. A good example is last season’s great Georgia defense. In two games, Alabama gained 935 yards against that great defense and scored 59 points.

Last season’s Crimson Tide defense fell short of fan expectations. There are a couple of reasons why. One reason is many fans hold unrealistically high expectations. An even bigger reason is a byproduct of explosive Alabama offenses. Unlike the period when Crimson Tide defenses would dominate, the Crimson Tide offense is now so explosive it puts an added burden on the Tide’s defense by giving opponents added possessions.

Neither fan expectations nor Crimson Tide offensive explosiveness will change in the coming season. The Tide defense will be better anyway. There are three primary sources for a stronger Alabama defense in 2022.

Stronger Alabama Football Defense

• The Crimson Tide pass rush will be the best in the nation. When Will Anderson Jr. and Dallas Turner are lined up on opposite edges, only one can be double-teamed. There is no guarantee either can be consistently stuffed, even with double teams. Without those doubles, opposing offensive tackles will often be overwhelmed. When Nick Saban and Pete Golding scheme the pair above, plus Chris Braswell into a formation, no offense will be able to know pre-snap, from where the most immediate pressure will come. In addition to the trio, Alabama has other defenders who can push the pocket and harass quarterbacks. The Tide will be at or near the top in the FBS for sacks and quarterback hurries.
• Alabama’s secondary will be better than last season. As we discussed a month ago, the Tide has seven defensive backs that could be considered starters (and at least two more capable backups). In addition to having the best safeties in the SEC, the Tide will have the best cornerbacks as well. A couple of weeks ago, I offered a prediction the team interception total will increase from 15 last season to 22 picks in ’22. That would not set a new team record, but it would be close.
• The Crimson Tide run game will be more effective. Even with the loss of Evan Neal to the NFL, the Tide’s offensive line unit should be improved. That improvement will show up in pass protection. More importantly for the Tide defense, it should produce better results on third-and-short. Alabama came close to losing the Auburn game because of two failed third-and-1s and a failed fourth-and-1. Against Florida, the Tide’s rushing attack averaged just 3.1 yards-per-carry. Against LSU, Brian Robinson ran 13 times for 18 yards and after 55 yards lost from sacks and other TFLs, the Tide’s net rushing against LSU was six yards. A more effective Tide rushing attack eats up more minutes, taking pressure off the defense.

Note: Stats from rolltide.com

The 2022 Crimson Tide defense will be improved. It may or may not achieve the Crimson Tide standard for ‘great’ but with another explosive Tide offense, it will not have to be.