Lack of Defense in the SEC

I think one of the factors is defense has to play together more than offenses (All 11 have to do their thing) so are more effected by the reduced practices. Individual effort can certainly make plays on D but it is usually in pass rushes or coverage. The team factors seem to be returning experience and an existing scheme. Squads that have both are generally doing the best where those with the least are doing the worst.

Don't get me wrong, the offenses are just much better than they were years ago but I think the defensive fall off we've seen this seen isn't just because of that.

As I said in another thread, the week before Arkansas, and we got torched by Florida I admit, held the Vols to 13 points total and shut them out in the second half.

It is a question of how well you match up. We matched up well with the Vols. We matched up very poorly with Florida.

Good point. You hear DCs say you are better if all 11 are wrong together than if 1 or 2 guys are wrong by themselves

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And it’s not just the bottom feeders. Bama, LSU, Fla are nowhere near what they were defensively a few years ago

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uhh, LSU is feeding at the bottom this year. The decline is real. Real damn bad

This is the worst year of defense I’ve ever witnessed and I have been critically watching college football for 30 years.

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The defenses aren't worse. The offenses are just that good. 2018-2020 Alabama, 2019 LSU, and 2020 Florida are some of the best offenses the sport has ever seen.

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I think this year is the worst for defense in my whole life and should have an asterisks in the record books.

Anyway, your statement, at what point do you start to ask if defenses are getting worse? How many years in a row will you claim “some of the best offenses of all time”?

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And defenses shutting the bed this year , en masse.

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Well, that's the discussion. The offensive evolution that has contributed to it.

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I just wanted to point out the pathetic attempt at defense that is marking this year in particular.

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Short offseason, hands tied by current rules and more teams going to high octane offenses. Before you had 2-3 teams in a conference that ran it, now its the majority. Look at the Big 12 pre Mike Leach and look at it now. That's where the SEC is headed.

It starts in high school. Most high schools are more focused on offensive creativity and the best athletes want to play offense.

Defense has always been at a disadvantage because the offense knows what the want to do. It's more noticeable now because more offenses are spreading the defense out and putting defenders into one-on-one situations where the offensive player has an innate advantage (again, offensive player knows where he's going but the defensive player has to react).

So to have an elite defense you need players that are more talented than the ones on the other side of the ball. Problem is those players that have the blazing speed and size to play corner and safety end up playing WR.