1) DL...Saban/Capers D starts on the DL...the DL has to be able to set up the gaps for the LBrs to fill. We are solid with our starters, Taylor, Carter, Traylor, and Holliday. When we move to the 34 set, Taylor becomes the OE or WOLB... Taylor benefited from this alignment because he was able to surprise some, lining up in a two point stance and keeping the OL guess as to whether he was going to rush or cover and sometimes blitzing. He could be exposed in coverage tho. He did look a little out of place at times. They compensated that by using him mostly in short coverage and flat area coverage,. which he was adequate at. But allowing him the freedom to either delay blitz or rush at the time of the snap or drop into coverage, did give us an edge. I expect to see Wright and Roth in the lineup a lot in rotation with Traylor and Holliday. Roth had his moments as did Wright. These two can really benefit as change of pace guys. Niether can fill the role that Traylor plays, but they offer more speed and versatility than he does. The do lack the experience to start, but with time will do ok. Roth will kind of fill the role on the inside that Zgonina gives us now as Traylor's replacement. Wright is more like what Carter does, but not nearly as good or consistent yet. Look for those two to either have breakout years or we'll be looking for different guys next year...I don't know about Vickerson or Evans. Evans may need a year on the practice squad, the same with Fafita. Vickerson will have to show that he's learned something during his time on IR to get any PT...
2) LBs....Probably our weak link in the D right now. Crowder and ZT are locks at WOLB and MLB (in the 34 Crowder will move inside with Zach). As to the SOLB, we have some good guys, but none can do every phase of the job well. Spraghan is a run stuffer, but lacks on pass rushing and is, at best, adequate in coverage. Hodge is very good in pass coverage and has some burst off the line (not great, but better than average), but is weak in the pass rushing department. We could see a combo of these two guys playing. There is talk of Watson being added, who is probably better as an inside LBer, but has better pass rushing skills than Hodge or Spraghan. We'll have to see if they pull the plug on him. Pope is the guy we have now that is interesting. Mostly regarded as a "Wanny" type LBer, he has shown that he can play the SOLB well, but is not really a Saban/Capers sized LBer. He's quick in coverage and has a burst in getting to the QB, but in some of the lineups and schemes they use is just too small...he can't fill the gaps against the larger OL and tackles he'd be up against. Moore is a good as gone, the writing being on the wall for him...in fact, we'd have Watson now if he was healthy enough to pass the physical....Labinjo, McGrew and Bray are projects....I don't know much about them. Sinclair (now in NFLE) is doing pretty good there, but we'll have to see how that translates here. (he's not playing in a 34 D or a hybrid D. He's playing a straight SOLB in a 43 D...) Capers will add a wealth of knowledge and better play calling for he D...
3) Secondary is where it really gets interesting. The group that Saban is assembling is really a Saban trademark. They all are athletic, fast and sure tacklers. Saban plays more of a left side S and right side S rather than the traditional SS and FS...the lineup of the offense dictates which guy does which job and less emphasis is placed on run support from the safeties like in the JJ/Wanny/Bates D we've seen here. Poole was penciled in as a starter before his ACL last year. If he comes back healthy, he'll have the LCB spot and Will Allen is in place for the RCB... Poole has better coverage skills than Daniels and his footspeed is about equal. Daniels will move to the FS spot with Hill at the SS spot. Basically, Saban's 4 spots in the secondary are interchangeable. If Hill show better in more strongside coverage, then he'll fill in at the traditional FS spot, but it really won't matter...Goodman can't be left out of this equation. He'll see lots of PT at the slot CB in nickle and dime situations. He is capable of being in the mix as well. He does have more experience than Poole or Daniels. In fact, besides Will Allen, all are capable of playing either S or CB. Mitchell could be a factor, if he regains the speed he had coming out of college. He's probably the fastest guy (if he recovers 100%) of the group. He also has some return skills, so he could make the squad. Deke Cooper is more of the traditional SS but can play both spots. Other than Will Allen, every spot is open to someone...Bell had a pretty good year last year and should also be in the mix. He stayed healthy, which was his problem before, so we'll see improvement there as well. Daniels has the advantage to keep a starting spot somewhere because he's played them all for Saban, but he isn't a complete lock to have a starting role. We'lll have some guys not starting that are pretty good (Bell, Cooper, Mitchell, Goodman). The secondary will, IMO, be much improved over last year. Again, better tacklers, faster guys and good coverage guys.
