Our defensive secondary is better than people think

[Pluck and Grit]

Utah exploited a problem we'd been masking all year, that problem being inability to get good pressure on the QB from our down linemen. A lot of secondaries can look good when the heat is on the QB, but it's tough to cover everybody while he's just standing there looking around. But this is exactly what our secondary did for a large part of the year. Throughout the '08 season, we were not a team that was able to consistently pressure the QB.

Last night, this weakness got exploited by a Utah passing game that was clicking on all cylinders. The surprising thing isn't that our secondary looked a lot more mortal. The surprising thing is that they held up through as many games as they did.

Lest you think I'm getting down on our DL, I'm not. All year long, it looked to me like everyone was giving 100%. But as much as I love Greenwood, Deaderick, Washington et al, we just don't have pass rushing DEs who can be counted on to bring that heat. In recent years, we have had some guys like that..... Wallace Gilberry, Kindal Moorehead, Antwan Odom, and some others. Right now, we just don't have any, or the ones we do have are redshirts/freshmen who haven't developed yet. Unfortunately, this is a problem that will only be solved by recruiting, and hopefully by player development of some guys who are already on board.

I've always believed, and still believe, that pass rush is the most important part of pass defense. Any secondary can and will get victimized by a QB who has plenty of time. If you don't mess up their rhythm, they'll find a way to beat you sooner or later. It's a testament to our coaching staff and our players that this was a "hidden" weakness for so much of the season. And mainly, it's a testament to our secondary. A lot of secondaries that look better than our's wouldn't have done as well as our's if they'd had to rely on the pass rush from our line.

 

[BamaJ]

I can see your point, to an extent, but there's one player who has gotten his brains beat in the past 2 games. He can't cover a decent WR at all. We have another one who missed 2 tackles on a critical drive last night when he could have stuck his helmet into the middle of the WR's back and at least tackled him and possibly mad him drop the ball. Instead, he decided to put his arm around him and try to tackle him that way. Those 2 things cannot be blamed on the DL or DE's.

 

[BAMAHD]

Its hard to get much of a pass rush when the Qb gets the ball off in 2-3 seconds, Next year i see the DL staying pretty much the same and the DBs getting a total overhaul. We`really need Dre Kirkpatrick in this class and players like Barron,BJ Scott and Zo Lawrence to really step up their games.

 

[bamabryan]

I can see your point, to an extent, but there's one player who has gotten his brains beat in the past 2 games. He can't cover a decent WR at all.

Agreed.

Every time we go into our nickel package, our opponent goes to the receiver he is covering almost exclusively. This has been a glaring weakness all year.

 

[GrayTide]

Lack of any kind of pass rush, WRs who have more speed than our DBs and poor tackling led to disaster against UF and Utah. We did a great job of covering AU and UT's WRs because they weren't any good and both teams had terrible QBs. IMO the last 2 games proves we need help in the secondary.

 

[Ark-Tider]

We do not have any lock down corners. Javy is probably our best d-back. He tackles well and he rarely gets beat deep.

 

[jps1983]

While I agree that the pass rush has been a big problem this year, both UF and Utah exploited one CB in particular. Others gave up plays (usually thru missed tackles). We really need Dre to lock up the side opposite KJ. KJ is a solid player, just had some mistakes last night (again, usually missed tackles). We also really need people like Upshaw (hopefully Cox and/ or Stinson) to step up next year for the pass rush. Utah never ran the ball because our personnel is very good at run stopping. Our problems on O didn't give our D much of a chance, even though the D did ok (not well, but average) after that horrible first quarter.

 

[WoodyInPelham]

I agree Gray. This Bama team was quite good, but I think it peaked out after game 12. The level of competition for games 13 and 14 was a bit better than in the first 12, and I believe the Tide simply hit their ceiling. In those last two games the competition was elevated to a point were Bama needed to play games with minimal mistakes on order to win, and they just couldn't do it. In time Coach Saban will get them to the point where they can break through that ceiling. Still, this was a darn good year. I expected 9-4 and got 12-2. Awesome!

 

[Tideski]

I dont know if you guys have noticed but at times our DBs play bad technique. It really surprises me how poorly they play in their technique with the way Saban watches over the DBs in practice. The only thing I can think of is that is the best we have right now at that position. Javy is good, but he even makes mistakes in technique. His speed helps to save him. We are gonna miss Johnson next year.

 

[Relayer]

Against the better teams our DBs looked less than stellar. We need more talent and more bodies there, in all positions.

A good D-line rush would sure help, but many of Utah's completions were quick throws (not because of the lack of D-line rush).

 

[rolltidescott]

Against the better teams our DBs looked less than stellar. We need more talent and more bodies there, in all positions.

A good D-line rush would sure help, but many of Utah's completions were quick throws (not because of the lack of D-line rush).

We need a rush up the middle, not just from the corners, too.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

A pass rush would have gone a long ways last night. Not all of their passes were quick hitting. Many of them the qb sat in the pocket three to four seconds.

 

[rolltiderman]

Yes, our DB's are not terrible, but one seemed to get beat often on the last two games. That being said, our DL is not as good as it has been in the past. If you look at the 1992 D, the difference was that nobody could block our DL. They were sick...but that helps out our secondary so much. We will get better and we will get better talent in those positions. Great year...we overacheived this year.

 

[bamar]

i believe, as said, utah exploited a glaring weakness, that was not capitalized on, because we just did not meet teams with stellar offense, or qbs, and receivers. gas. stafford passed us silly in the second half, miss, snead kept them in the game, only fla, and utah had a qb with quality receivers, and off line. we met our waterloo last night. the pass rush was not there, and little chance to provide blitz support, when they constantly were sending 4 receivers out in patterns. our young linebackers were of little help on the underneath passes, and our corners were just awful. they had chances to turn the game around, but could not cover, and did not tackle well at all. i would like to know the statistics for yards after catch. yes, we need either teach some coverage technique or replace them.

 

[bamafloyd]

:BigA: Maybe next year our QB will not need all day to find a receiver. The other team seems to get it out quick. Last night our weakness in the secondary was obvious. They could not tackle. They did not seem to know to turn around and look for the ball. I do not believe all of this was how they were coached. They looked like they were out all night at a party, and by the time they realized they were getting beat, They were beat!

 

[gamersfuel]

actually our defensive secondary is an obvious weakness that i've seen since the season started. this is the reason of moving guys to the CB position. Coach Saban knows that this is a problem. As much as I like Arenas, he's not your prototypical CB. He plays hard but his footwork and technique is not up to par for a #2 CB..Those slants can be tough without pressure but teams with good CB's can stop those slants with deflections and big hits. One thing i'd love to see us have is a big hitting safety this year. Hopefully Woodson can provide that as well as Barron. Next year could be a tough year IMO unless Barron is ready to take over at FS. I think Alonzo Lawrence is the real deal and BJ Scott has the quickness to really excel vs those spread teams. I'm hoping to see Jackson, Scott, Lawrence, and Arenas as our top 4 CB's next year. Scott and Lawrence have that huge intangible of sticking to the WR which our guys right now cant do. that alone beats a spread offense.

 

[KC Bama fan]

While I don't post much, I have made reference to this very problem and one side in particular, earlier this year. I was shot down a little by others so I'm glad some of us can now state/see what the weakness is and how bad it is. I do agree with the level of competition theory too. I do not totally agree with the pass rush theory. That is part of it but one CB in particular was burned repeatedly throughout the year regardless of rush or lack there of. In the sugar bowl I think it was a total secondary problem. I think Saban made some nice adjustments on the defense but the hole was just too big to dig out of given our offensive state.

Everyone deserves a pat on the back however. It was a great season and the same secondary got us to 12-0 and had most if not all of us thinking title. It's just nice to be back. I expect us to stay there for a long time now.

 

[thunderz7]

A Safety can be made, a CB is born,
and I hate to have to tell all these "we need tall CBs" folks - but
1999 out of 2000 CBs born are under 5'11" and under 190.

WR is about action, 6'2"/200 + can have that action.
CB is about reaction, 6'2'/200 can't react like 5'10/180.

If you had 2 of JJ,
a WR-JJ, and a CB-JJ,
and you try to cover WR-JJ with CB-JJ,
WR-JJ will be open 99.9 percent of the time.

A speed rusher on the D-line will greatly help the DBs,
the CBs will continue to get beat by goood QBs until that happens.
JA is by far the best we had this year at CB.
JA gets beat far less than the others and is a much better tackler,
but when we go the nickle, JA is usually the nickle back and then both CBs are exposed.
We didn't face many good QBs this year.

 

[CrimsonPride]

A Safety can be made, a CB is born,
and I hate to have to tell all these "we need tall CBs" folks - but
1999 out of 2000 CBs born are under 5'11" and under 190.

WR is about action, 6'2"/200 + can have that action.
CB is about reaction, 6'2'/200 can't react like 5'10/180.

If you had 2 of JJ,
a WR-JJ, and a CB-JJ,
and you try to cover WR-JJ with CB-JJ,
WR-JJ will be open 99.9 percent of the time.

A speed rusher on the D-line will greatly help the DBs,
the CBs will continue to get beat by goood QBs until that happens.
JA is by far the best we had this year at CB.
JA gets beat far less than the others and is a much better tackler,
but when we go the nickle, JA is usually the nickle back and then both CBs are exposed.
We didn't face many good QBs this year.

I agree. It is a coincidence that the majority of the CBs in the NFL are under 6 feet?

 

[yesitsmed23]

I can see your point, to an extent, but there's one player who has gotten his brains beat in the past 2 games. He can't cover a decent WR at all. We have another one who missed 2 tackles on a critical drive last night when he could have stuck his helmet into the middle of the WR's back and at least tackled him and possibly mad him drop the ball. Instead, he decided to put his arm around him and try to tackle him that way. Those 2 things cannot be blamed on the DL or DE's.

Yea it was more than 1 db too!! not naming names "cough-cough" #3 and #24 "cough-cough" LOL!! they were the two guys that got beat all year long!! i hope some of our young guys step up next year and we can sign Dre Kirkpatcrick because if i'm coach saban, i'm opening up the race for starters in the secondary.