Alabama Football: Can Jalen Milroe capitalize on LSU’s suspect secondary?

Heading into this week’s game against LSU, much has been made of the deficiencies of the Alabama Football offense, as well as those of the LSU defense.

Statistically, the LSU defense has been borderline atrocious in several facets, ranking in the bottom-three in the SEC in run defense, pass defense, scoring defense, and total defense.

An area where Alabama Football could take advantage of the LSU defense is in the passing game. Quarterback Jalen Milroe has had his inconsistencies, but he is one of the best in the nation at attacking the defense vertically. As a result, he is graded as one of the more efficient passers in college football and averages well over 10 yards per attempt.

In theory, he should be able to expose an LSU secondary that surrendered 359 passing yards to FSU, 389 to Ole Miss, and 411 to Missouri. Additionally, the Tigers have been plagued by injuries and will be missing their top cornerback and a pair of reserves.

LSU will rely heavily on contributions from freshman corners Ashton Stamps and Javien Toviano, neither of whom have much career game experience. Given how poorly LSU’s first-team secondary has played this season, the change of pace could prove to be an upgrade. However, conventional wisdom says that these true freshmen (who couldn’t beat out the guys ahead of them) will be in over their heads against the Alabama receivers.

Expect Milroe to take deep shots early and often to guys like Jermaine Burton, Isaiah Bond, and even tight end Amari Niblack. This game could also provide an opportunity for talented receivers such as Ja’Corey Brooks and Malik Benson to have statement performances.

The offense for Alabama Football has struggled all season to consistently sustain drives. However, it has routinely delivered explosive plays and quick-strike scores in the passing game. Such plays should be available for the taking against LSU.