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The quarterback battle going on in Tuscaloosa is the story that’s grabbing most of the national headlines for the Crimson Tide, and for good reason.
On one hand, you have Jalen Hurts, who has played in 29 games and is 26-2 as a starter. He has experience, throwing for over 2,000 yards in his two seasons, and has led Alabama to the National Championship game two times in a row.
On the other hand, you have Tua Tagovailoa, who overcame a 13-0 halftime deficit in last year’s championship game, throwing for 166 yards and three touchdowns in just the second half. He was the main reason Alabama won yet another National Title.
This isn’t the main task that head coach Nick Saban says he’s focused on however, it’s rebuilding the defense.
“This is going to be, in my opinion, the most challenging part of our team,” Saban said during College Football Live on ESPN 2.”Can we rebuild the defense? Can we create enough depth with what we have? How do the young players respond? How do the returners take on leadership that are going to help the young players respond? That’s why it’s still going to be determined.”
Saban lost some big-time playmakers on the defensive side of the ball last season, players like Minkah Fitzpatrick, Rashaan Evans and Da’Ron Payne. In all, Alabama only returns three starters on defense.
“It’s all a work in progress,” Saban said. “We had 10 guys on defense sign NFL contracts and that’s hard to replace. But it’s going to create a lot of opportunity for young players who don’t have a lot of experience but are going to need to do a great job of developing and understanding and playing with confidence so they can go out there and compete and gain the confidence and chemistry you need as a defense to be a good defense.”
Saban also is working with newly promoted defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi after Jeremy Pruitt left for the Tennessee head coaching job.
It will be interesting to see how quickly Saban and Lupoi can prepare their new defense, but if anyone can do it, it’s this staff.
Jordan Dajani covers SEC football for Saturday Down South and is a University of Tennessee graduate. He also has experience working in the NBA and with ESPN.
