re: Bama Football Tidings

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This idea won’t be well received, but I believe they need to let the DBs be more physical before the ball is in the air and give them a little more leeway. I’m more of a defensive guy anyways, so my views are likely skewed

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Football leans toward the offenses nowadays, I would love for them to let the DBs more physical, that’s why you are seeing fewer lockdown corners. If you can’t use your hands, you’re already at a disadvantage.

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I don't know if this is just a normal evolution (the wishbone lasted for two decades), but it seems that the spread/HUNH system has really resisted a definitive defensive counter scheme for a long time, for most all teams.

Rule changes have also certainly helped.

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I don't think there is a scheme that can counter it. You just need a flat out dominant defensive front that is able to shut down the dive play on the RPO without stacking the box so you can force enough obvious passing downs to stall enough drives to win the game. Basically everyone is now reduced to playing bend don't break defense.

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Anyone want to post a, "projected", depth chart ?

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You're just trying to get us yelled at by Saban!

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I don't think there is a scheme that can counter it. You just need a flat out dominant defensive front that is able to shut down the dive play on the RPO without stacking the box so you can force enough obvious passing downs to stall enough drives to win the game. Basically everyone is now reduced to playing bend don't break defense.

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In large, I think this post hits the nail on the head. Pretty much in any time period of football, a good offense will gain yards/score points. With the current rules in place and offensive schemes, this theory is magnified even more.

I don’t think that the “bend don’t break” style of defense is now the new norm of defense though. Maybe on average across all teams this will be true, but the elite teams - particularly those with elite/NFL defensive talent - will still be able to get lots of stops and create lots of headaches for even the best offenses. While the days of the 2011 ‘Game of the Century’ defensive performances are most likely over due to evolution of offenses, there are still examples of elite defenses all but shutting down great RPO offenses. UGA last year in many games shut down their RPO opponents and the LSU Defense vs. Clemson in the second half of the Natty last year didn’t give up jack shite; I’m sure there are others, but those are the examples of teams that came to mind.

From a very vague schematic breakdown, this is really only attainable by what was pointed out in other posts - a VERY strong defensive front (especially D Line) that can stop the run with 4 AND get pressure on the quarterback. I know that is pretty obvious, but it’s really the only way - as someone else previously stated, there really doesn’t appear to be a scheme to stop this new era of fast pace offenses that can run and pass on the same play. It boils down to elite, NFL-type players in the front seven, and really you need a few at every level.

If you’re getting gutted by runs up the middle from RPO plays, it’s over. You will never be able to stop the other team between the 20s, and then your only hope is to truly play “bend don’t break” defense. But if you can stop the RPO running game on early downs, the defense can play the offense much more honestly.

As far as the Bama defense goes, those defensive lineman sound like they need to both stop the run and be able to rush the passer more consistently. Players that can do one but not the other will have a hard time contributing in this era of football. It’s imperative that we can get consistent run defense play from Barmore and Will Anderson, as they seem to be the best at getting to the quarterback. Conditioning will also be more important than ever moving forward, as subbing is much more difficult. I’m really hoping that one of Dale, Eboigbe or Byron Young can develop into one of the versatile DLineman that I, and others, have been talking about. It all starts upfront in the middle with defense today, and you need an incredibly strong anchor that requires two blockers to stop on nearly every play (à la a Da’Ron Payne/Quinnen Williams/Jon Allen type player).

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The biggest difference in the last two Bama defenses were teams had success running the ball.

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Agree completely, and that's where you see the result of injuries, recruiting misses, and transfers hit us the hardest. I may be wrong, but I don't think our front seven has been intact at any point from the end of spring to the start of the season over the past two years. It's hard to stop the run effectively if you're using second- and third-string players as starters most of the time -- especially if those second- and third-stringers are freshmen.

I've defended Golding because of these personnel issues, but those issues are gone now (or should be, barring another catastrophic run of injury luck). Our defense should be very experienced and motivated this year, and there's no reason we can't field a unit more in line with Alabama expectations.

Yep, completely agree. Got to stop the run and absolutely have to get off the field on third down. To me, the defense performance and progression will be the most interesting part of this season. On paper we should be very good, but that doesn’t mean shite in two weeks when the Tide take the field against Mizzou.

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Not just Golding.... We struggled against Clemson in 2019 championship game. We've struggled against RPO offense for long time.....Ole Miss, Auburn, and running qbs.

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Guys that can run and throw give every defense fits. I feel good about the defense if we can rush the passer with four guys. Anderson gives me hope.

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All we keep hearing about in these practice reports is Will Anderson. So much intel and it keeps coming back to this guy being as good as any freshman we've had in the Saban era. Makes you believe he will see the field early and often vs Missouri.

If Saban is willing to march Bryce Young on the field in Columbia in 2 weeks and give him a substantial role, and he is as advertised, it will say a lot about what the immediate future holds for our offense this season. Clemson 2 years ago being willing to roll the dice when they put Trevor Lawrence ahead of Kelly Bryant once the season took shape may very well end up being the blueprint for Young.

I was really looking forward to not seeing Justin Fields this season, but if the B1G can get it together by mid-October, Ohio State is going to be a real threat to Clemson and Alabama. Now you're talking about 2 QBs, who will probably finish 1 and 2 in the Heisman voting, who are going to be racking up the points and wins. By mid-year, Saban may decide it's going to take something special at QB to give Alabama the best chance to best these teams in the playoff.

An insider posted on BOL that the QB competition is a lot closer than what people think, said Bryce was super impressive Saturday and outshined the other QBs

What’s this with Barmore?


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