re: Is anybody worried about the defense?

We have a lot of returning games played and great talent as always. I just see a couple more questions than you from a proven and experienced leadership standpoint I guess. There have been years where I had no questions at all. If I get time later in the week I may look at it position by position if I want to go further in depth and compare specifics to prior years.

But I'm not saying that I dont think this d is going to be very gooda and I never said I was worried. There is of course tons to be excited about, as I said in a previous post i view this as a changing of the gaurd of sorts so younger guys coming in to take ownership of the d.

I'm not trying to be optimistic or pessimistic just giving my feeling. I guess the easiest way to say it is gun to the head if I have to make a call right now of whether or not i feel this d will be a "top 3" saban d (not that I really know how to quantify that) I would say no, not quite. Could they end up there, sure, but that isnt my expectation of what will happen as of now. Thats all I really mean by take a half step back.