Social media completely exploded on Monday night.
Dylan Moses, one of Alabama’s draft-eligible juniors, decided to forgo the NFL Draft and return to the Crimson Tide for next season. He made the move official via his Instagram and Alabama fans believe the “Revenge Tour” that was meant for this year will be for the 2020 campaign.
For a defense that allowed 203 points to Southeastern Conference opponents (25.4 ppg) and surrendered an average of 18.8 points per game, returning Moses is huge in restoring the “Bama factor” that Nick Saban discussed all season.
While the Tide was not completely terrible on defense, it was not the product that fans were accustomed to. Also, the return of Moses could potentially be huge for Pete Golding.
Golding, like Moses, is a Louisiana native who earned his first opportunity to be the defensive coordinator at Alabama.
The 35-year-old entered a situation where his best two linebackers were hurt and a veteran defensive lineman got injured as well.
RELATED: BREAKING: Dylan Moses returning to Alabama for 2020
He mentioned the difficulty of preparing a pair of true freshmen at the position and having them line up next to each other. Not having Moses robbed Shane Lee and Christian Harris of getting the confirmation on calling plays, especially if they were not sure the right call was made.
Golding had the entire defense with Moses in mind for this year and when he went down, he was forced to change a lot of things on the fly.
Nothing has been stated yet; however, Moses’ return could allow for Saban to provide Golding with another opportunity.
Depth at inside linebacker is the second factor.
The Tide now has eight players – including Moses – that can play at both positions inside.
Should it also return Joshua McMillon, the number would grow to 10.
This allows for incoming freshmen like Demouy Kennedy and Jackson Bratton to learn the system and they would not be pressured to emerge right away. To pair with this, Lee and Harris should be even better next season – seeing how both got valuable experience this year.
More dominos could fall in the coming weeks, but Moses’ decision is huge for the Tide in returning to being a fierce group on defense.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
