Some defenders make plays. Some defenders win games. Then, there are the defensive players who make opposing players question why they even took the field. Alabama's defensive tradition isn't just built on scheme and discipline. or technique. It's also built on intimidation. Making your opponents mentally quit. It's built on collisions that echo through the stadium, then later appear on a hits compilation on YouTube.
So in the spirit of Friday the 13th, let's revisit the most terrifying defenders ever to stalk the field in crimson. Let's revisit the pure enforcers of various Tide defenses.
Alabama football's scariest defensive nightmares
Derrick Thomas- The Original Nightmare
Before sacks became mainstream stat candy for the pundits, Derrick Thomas was redefining terror off the edge. Thomas finished his Alabama career with 52 sacks in 44 games, routinely destroying blocking schemes before they even had time to account for him. Quarterbacks feared him. What encompasses him as an offensive coordinator's nightmare would be his performance against Texas A&M in 1988. He tallied 5 sacks, 7 TFLs, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. His strip sack of the A&M quarterback was textbook. Thomas came off the edge quickly, beating the o-line to the point where the QB wasn't even done with his drop back. He then smokes the quarterback from behind and chops the throwing arm. Just a simple YouTube search of Derrick Thomas highlights will show you why he was feared at Alabama and the NFL.
Jonathan Allen- Inevitable Destruction
Allen wasn't loud. He wasn't flashy. He was inevitable. Double teams didn't matter. Running the play away from him didn't matter. He collapsed pockets with brute force and bad intentions. He anchored one of Alabama's most dominant defensive fronts. Allen's most iconic hit for me is when he bulldozed Texas A&M's guard in their 2016 matchup. After that, he proceeds to dive over the running back that is trying to take his legs out, and flies into the quarterback for a sack. This is the same game where he had a scoop and score from a dropped handoff.
Mack Wilson- Calculated Violence
Mack Wilson hunted the middle of the field. Linebacker speed with safety instincts. If you caught a slant, Wilson was already accelerating toward you with bad intentions. If you were on the kickoff return team, you were praying someone blocked Wilson as he was running down the field. His most iconic hit has to be in that same 2016 game against A&M where he lays out Speedy Noil on the kickoff return. It's almost as if he was clotheslined, and he was in a wrestling ring.
Reuben Foster- Controlled Chaos
Reuben Foster didn't tackle. He erased. Foster's combination of speed, power, and violence is unmatched in modern Alabama history. Bama fans remember his famous hit versus Leonard Fournette right before overtime vs LSU on the kick return. Or, his hit on Deshaun Watson in the National Championship game that sent the Clemson QB helicoptering in the air. I would say his most devastating hit was in the open field in the 2016 season opener against USC. Foster came flying in to hit the USC running back and laid his shoulder into him.
After making this list, it is eye-opening how hard-hitting and physical that 2016 Alabama team was, and just how many of these hits happened against Texas A&M. On Friday the 13th, horror fans celebrate fictional monsters. In Tuscaloosa, the monsters were real and on vaunted defenses, inflicting fear on opposing offenses.