Alabama Football: Power Ranking 2022 SEC football defenses
By Ronald Evans
Ask Alabama football fans and most will say the Alabama Crimson Tide, 2022 defense will be the best among all SEC football teams. In fact, many of us will make an argument Alabama Football will be the best in the nation.
A more difficult question to answer is how important are elite defenses to National Championships. Alabama Football had a good, but not elite defense last season. The Georgia Bulldogs’ defense was elite and the Dawgs stopped the Tide when it needed to, to win a National Championship.
The 2019 National Champions, LSU did not have an elite defense. The Bengal Tigers’ offense was so exceptional, that a top defense was not needed.
Going back more than a year, some college football experts have sensed the game’s pendulum has swung away from explosive offense being enough to win championships. Will there be a return to suffocating defenses from five to ten seasons ago? In this RPO era of college football, such a return is not expected.
It is likely that defensive coaches have become better at reducing the number of explosive plays opponents produce.
The SEC Football Power Ranking that follows counts down from worst to best. Except, there is no need for suspense about Alabama Football having the No. 1 ranked SEC defense. If the Crimson Tide has a serious weakness it is the defensive line and with the quick emergence of Jaheim Oatis, plus seniors DJ Dale, Byron Young and an improved and talented Tim Smith, the DL should be better than good.
The Tide’s question marks at inside linebacker and cornerback are not real problems. By October, both areas will be added strengths of the Crimson Tide defense.