August 14, 2015
Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
Potential means nothing if it remains unfulfilled.
Perhaps that's why Nick Saban is loathe to talk about hypotheticals. To his way to thinking, If it isn't reality, it's not really worth discussing.
Yet there exists some exciting potential for an upgraded pass rush this season, thanks in part to dynamic athletes at outside linebacker and a new position coach with a forte in putting pressure on the quarterback and making him uncomfortable in the pocket.
Ryan Anderson had 25 tackles last season, including eight for loss and three sacks.
Affecting the quarterback is Saban's mantra. His defenses have never been elite at sacking the quarterback, ranking in the top 30 in sacks per game just twice in his tenure at UA (the 2012 defense ranked 29th with 2.50 sacks per game, and 2011 ranked 30th with 2.31).
To Saban's point, his defenses during his time in Tuscaloosa have been elite, proving sacks can be overvalued and a sometimes misleading metric.
Sacks aren't the end-all, be-all statistic for the defense, but a quarterback lying on the turf can't complete a pass or scramble to extend plays or pick up big chunks of yardage.
And judging my whatever standard you wish to apply, the Crimson Tide's defense this season should affect the quarterback with regularity.
"We've got a lot of great talent in our outside linebacker room, it's crazy, but we've got a lot of great talent throughout the whole team and a lot of depth that knows what's going on on the field and it's just going to make us better because we keep rolling in," senior statesman for the group Denzel Devall said.
Ryan Anderson came into his own last season showing a consistent pass rush and the ability to fight off blocks and play the run with the same energy.
Anderson learned that doing the blue collar stuff, i.e. playing the run, gave him more opportunities to show his flash.
"I feel like my improvement came with getting more reps," Anderson said. "Getting more reps and then the game slowed down. Just me getting comfortable."
Anderson registered eight tackles for loss last season and finished runner-up on the team with three sacks.
Junior Tim Williams' physical development gives him an opportunity for more playing time.
"Tim is a great player," Anderson said. "Fast guy, athletic, strong, big. He can do whatever the coaches need him to do."
Rashaan Evans is a young player whose forte is rushing the passer.
Then there is first-year outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi, whose experience playing and coaching defensive line allows him plenty of practical pass-rushing skills to impart to the unit.
Lupoi played on the defensive line at Cal from 2000-05 and then coached the position for four years at the school.
His raw energy caught his players' attention early.
"Oh man, he's excitement," Anderson said. "He's just everything. He's creating so much more stuff for us to do. We're going to be able to make more opportunities for us, like pass rush and stuff, he just changes it up and keeps it going.
"This spring and this camp, I've learned more about outside linebacker than I have since I've been here.
"He's been teaching us a lot of stuff. He's simplified a whole bunch of stuff we were doing, and just simplified into two, three moves that we can just be real good at. It's been effective so far in camp."
Alabama's sacks
2014: 2.21 sacks per game, 60 national ranking
2013: 1.69, 85
2012: 2.50, 29
2011: 2.31, 30
2010: 2.08, 52
2009: 2.21, 44
2008: 1.79, 72- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1792432#sthash.LBv5SwB5.dpuf
Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
Potential means nothing if it remains unfulfilled.
Perhaps that's why Nick Saban is loathe to talk about hypotheticals. To his way to thinking, If it isn't reality, it's not really worth discussing.
Yet there exists some exciting potential for an upgraded pass rush this season, thanks in part to dynamic athletes at outside linebacker and a new position coach with a forte in putting pressure on the quarterback and making him uncomfortable in the pocket.
Ryan Anderson had 25 tackles last season, including eight for loss and three sacks.
Affecting the quarterback is Saban's mantra. His defenses have never been elite at sacking the quarterback, ranking in the top 30 in sacks per game just twice in his tenure at UA (the 2012 defense ranked 29th with 2.50 sacks per game, and 2011 ranked 30th with 2.31).
To Saban's point, his defenses during his time in Tuscaloosa have been elite, proving sacks can be overvalued and a sometimes misleading metric.
Sacks aren't the end-all, be-all statistic for the defense, but a quarterback lying on the turf can't complete a pass or scramble to extend plays or pick up big chunks of yardage.
And judging my whatever standard you wish to apply, the Crimson Tide's defense this season should affect the quarterback with regularity.
"We've got a lot of great talent in our outside linebacker room, it's crazy, but we've got a lot of great talent throughout the whole team and a lot of depth that knows what's going on on the field and it's just going to make us better because we keep rolling in," senior statesman for the group Denzel Devall said.
Ryan Anderson came into his own last season showing a consistent pass rush and the ability to fight off blocks and play the run with the same energy.
Anderson learned that doing the blue collar stuff, i.e. playing the run, gave him more opportunities to show his flash.
"I feel like my improvement came with getting more reps," Anderson said. "Getting more reps and then the game slowed down. Just me getting comfortable."
Anderson registered eight tackles for loss last season and finished runner-up on the team with three sacks.
Junior Tim Williams' physical development gives him an opportunity for more playing time.
"Tim is a great player," Anderson said. "Fast guy, athletic, strong, big. He can do whatever the coaches need him to do."
Rashaan Evans is a young player whose forte is rushing the passer.
Then there is first-year outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi, whose experience playing and coaching defensive line allows him plenty of practical pass-rushing skills to impart to the unit.
Lupoi played on the defensive line at Cal from 2000-05 and then coached the position for four years at the school.
His raw energy caught his players' attention early.
"Oh man, he's excitement," Anderson said. "He's just everything. He's creating so much more stuff for us to do. We're going to be able to make more opportunities for us, like pass rush and stuff, he just changes it up and keeps it going.
"This spring and this camp, I've learned more about outside linebacker than I have since I've been here.
"He's been teaching us a lot of stuff. He's simplified a whole bunch of stuff we were doing, and just simplified into two, three moves that we can just be real good at. It's been effective so far in camp."
Alabama's sacks
2014: 2.21 sacks per game, 60 national ranking
2013: 1.69, 85
2012: 2.50, 29
2011: 2.31, 30
2010: 2.08, 52
2009: 2.21, 44
2008: 1.79, 72- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1792432#sthash.LBv5SwB5.dpuf
