re: Next year’s defense

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Sopsher looked pretty good to me the one time I saw him this year. Granted it was against Western Carolina. He may have a role in the bowl game with Dale out.

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Yea I mean I kind of feel like we've all written him off/forgotten about him. I'm really curious to see how he progresses this off-season. It SEEMS like he's done what they've asked so far during the season and he looked in much better shape against WCU.

If he steps in and can be productive you've got a pretty solid DT rotation there (Dale, Barmore, Sopsher, Smith).

It's really just another example of how so many of the unknowns in 2019 were possible negatives where so many of the unknowns in 2020 are possible positives.

I think Sopsher has the most potential of the D-linemen in his class; maybe all the D-linemen on the roster.

Until we get us a DC it's pretty much a moot point. I don't see how our better defensive juniors are willing to sign up for one more round unless they believe they are getting better coaching.

Didn’t Josh McMillon start his career as an OLB and switch to ILB about his JR season? Maybe I’m tripping. Could he could fill Jennings’ OLB position?

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And finally, just the fact that we are going to have 11 guys on the field

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If Golding is still here, there’ll be even more than that at times!

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how much better do you think our defense could get?

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I see no reason why we can't get back to being one of the best units in the country.

Granted, given the offense we run, we'll be behind certain teams statistically, but I think we can be a team that's really hard to score on.

However, this improvement entails significantly improved ILB play, as well having a true 6-man rotation of SEC caliber Dlinemen among the 3 spots. I am actually very optimistic about getting significant improvement from those units, as I have very high hopes for Ale Kaho at ILB, and I think Harris has a very bright future as well. Kaho looks to me to be the best combo of athlete and wrecking ball, and I hope the light comes on between the ears this offseason. Harris reminds me of Mosley and I think he'll find his way onto the field. I think Lee can get where we need him to be, but he's gotta get MUCH more flexible. If he becomes a yoga nut this offseason and gets his hips and shoulders to bend much more, he can pick up 2 steps on his speed. He's got to become a longer strider in the open field. Of course, if Moses and/or McMillon are back, I expect both to be starters. I also am not writing off Benton or Moody, as either one could step up his game and contribute. Hell, say what you will, but we'll be experienced at ILB next year.

We have also recruited very well on the DLine of late, and I don't believe that we have to have significant contribution along our front 7 from any 2020 signees, with the exception of any fast-twitch pass rusher whose body is ready for the college game.

Thinking about the DLine unit, surely between he likes of Young, Mathis, Ingraham, Barmore, Ray, Wynn, Egboigbe, Dale, and Sopsher, we can find 6 dudes who want to each people's faces. I gotta believe this group is capable of great things.

As I go through each defensive position in my mind, I can't think of a position where we won't have talented options. Remember: no player from 2019 needs to be "replaced" - that's not how it works. It works by our DC and staff taking the talent we have and turning it into a unit that's hard to score on, and that formula can be changed from year to year fairly significantly.

In the secondary, without going through names, I expect us to finish Spring Ball with a Nickle and Dime that Saban feels good with and build depth in the fall. I expect this unit to be good, and I see no reason to overly question it's future success.

I'll put it this way: I think if we can finally after 3 years of crazy injury luck, go through a 2020 season with simply a normal amount of injuries on defense, I believe we can be a top 15 defense, which is plenty good for a Title.

Absolutely 100% agree prevatt. With all of that.

The depth that is both talented (yet perhaps unproven) and experienced is as much as I can remember. We had the awful 1-2 combo of losing guys we didnt expect to lose to the NFL AND massive injuries last year. This year, we could have the opposite. Keep 2 guys we expected to lose AND get back the guys who stepped in for them last year at ILB and at DE with Ray.

Like you said, at the very LEAST we are going to be extremely experienced at important positions.

As you guys have said, Moses coming back would be monumental for this defense. If that happens, I see our front 7 returning to elite status in 2020. Key will be secondary, but have some solid pieces to build around in PS2 and Battle.

I'd also really love to see us hire a veteran DC who knows what he's doing instead of a young dude getting on the job training like Tosh and Golding have been the last few years. Both of those dudes are solid position coaches and recruiters, but both were YEARS away from being ready for the keys to an SEC defense. Saban took some risks there, and we paid a heavy price for gambles that went south.

DEFENSE:

DE - Ray
NG - Dale
DE - Barmore
Jack - Allen
WLB - Harris
MLB - Lee
SLB - Mwukita
CB - Surtain
CB - Jobe
S - Battle
S - Hellams