To put it simply, the secondary got burned – time and time again. Whether by Robert Foster (two catches, 115 yards and a TD), by Calvin Ridley (four catches, 102 yards and a TD), or even by true-freshman Jerry Jeudy (five catches for 132 yards and two TDs). Quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa combined to go 33-54 (61.1%) for 614 yards and five touchdowns.
The losses of safety, Eddie Jackson, and cornerback, Marlon Humphrey, to this week’s draft left glaring vacancies in Jeremy Pruitt’s backfield. While returning starters like Minkah Fitzpatrick, Anthony Averett, and Tony Brown will certainly help smooth the transition, Nick Saban is going to need more of his favorite protégés to step up this season.
One in particular is Trevon Diggs. After playing receiver in his true-freshman season, Diggs may have to get comfortable playing on the other side of the ball. At 6-2, he has the size to be considered one of the tallest cornerbacks in the NCAA should he stick on defense. As detailed earlier today, Diggs’ first day on the new job was a slippery slope of inexperience.
Read More: https://tdalabamamag.com/2017/04/23/depth-look-nick-sabans-new-cornerback-project-trevon-diggs/
Beside Diggs, on the other side of the field, is Anthony Averett. A cornerstone defensive piece a year ago, Averett has all the tools to be considered a shut-down corner. In Saturday’s A-Day game, he continued to look the part despite the two QBs high passing marks. Averett led the team in pass break-ups last season with eight and tied for second on the team in forced fumbles with two. Additionally, he was fourth on the team in solo tackles and finished with more total tackles than NFL-hopefuls Tim Williams and Marlon Humphrey.
The quick-hitting cornerback Tony Brown – who Saban usually likes at ‘star’ in his nickel and sub packages – also returns for the Tide after a stellar showing late in the annual spring game. During last season, Brown managed 32 total tackles – 2.5 for a loss – and two interceptions in 2016. Brown specializes in speed and is commonly used as an extra blitzer from the secondary. He managed to do just that late in the game again on Saturday when he zipped around the offensive line for a ‘sack’ against Jalen Hurts.
Behind the corners, two of the most talented players on the field roam. Safety duo Ronnie Harrison and Minkah Fitzpatrick are a formidable force to be reckoned with – and both are above-average tacklers for their positions.
Ronnie Harrison – who finished second on the team a year ago in tackles with 83 – again showed his ability and willingness to come down and make a hit at A-Day. However, his desire to tackle may have gone a little too far, as he was called for a targeting penalty on this hit against Calvin Ridley:
While not the hard-hitter Ronnie is, the corner-safety hybrid Minkah Fitzpatrick can run with the best of them. He finished the spring game with 7 tackles and a pass-breakup. Last season – Fitzpatrick’s first at safety – he ended fourth on the team in total tackles (66), sixth on team in tackles for loss (5.5), and first on the team in interceptions (6) and pick-sixes (2).
The biggest problem with 2017’s version of the Crimson Tide defense will likely be depth.
Based on the spring game alone, Kyriq McDonald is the most likely candidate to see extended playing time in dime and quarter packages next season. His ball-stealing interception of Mac Jones made for one of the most impressive plays of the game for the Crimson Team’s defense.
Kyriq’s teammate, Aaron Robinson, struggled mightily throughout the scrimmage. Despite decent coverage, he gave up the first touchdown of the game to TJ Simmons on a deep corner route in the back of the end zone. This coming just a few plays after giving up a 20-plus-yard catch to Jerry Jeudy on an out route in which he was three yards away from the receiver on the cut.
Robinson’s biggest flaw when the ball is in the air – especially on the game’s first touchdown – is that he never looks for the ball and instead eyes the receiver. Should he see playing time this fall, he will need to make extreme changes to his game to avoid accruing pass interference penalties. More importantly, however, his defending quick-cuts in coverage is blatantly unimpressive.
Nice cut by Jeudy but the corner (Robinson) sank way too deep on the coverage and bit too hard on the head fake. pic.twitter.com/24ChO1XBrU
— Jake Weaver (@JWeaverAL) April 25, 2017
On multiple occasions – like in this play – Robinson was head-faked and taken completely off his routes, then easily taken advantage of by the quarterback. Robinson’s sporadic play will likely draw Saban’s ire this summer.
Fortunately, Hootie Jones looked much improved at safety for the second-string defense. Though he did not have any notable plays, he didn’t personally have any busted coverage down the field either.
The secondary did not impress in Saturday’s spring game overall – in fact they made both quarterbacks look like Heisman candidates. Fortunately for the Tide, though, young guys like Diggs will have the opportunity to learn more over the next few months. While Nick Saban will surely have a huge hand in the teaching and development of these guys, learning from players like Minkah and Harrison will do wonders for them by the time the season rolls back around.
Jake Weaver is a contributor for TD Alabama Magazine and Bama Hoops Hype. You can contact him via email at [email protected], phone at 205-612-5060, and follow him on Twitter for sports news/commentary @JAWeaver0
