Alabama Pass Rush Only Gets Deeper with Return of Denzel Devall
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — One of Alabama's best positional units is about to get even better.
The Crimson Tide’s pass rush, which, at 21 sacks, is one away from equaling last season’s total, will see the return of one of its most experienced players when Alabama travels to LSU next weekend in a pivotal SEC West matchup.
Junior linebacker Denzel Devall is back at practice after having surgery on an ankle that he injured during the Ole Miss loss. Devall started every game before that loss at outside linebacker and had previously appeared in every Alabama game in some capacity since joining the team in 2011.
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Several players have gotten playing time in his place and have turned Alabama’s pass rush from one of its weaknesses into one of its strengths. Senior Xzavier Dickson and redshirt sophomore Ryan Anderson, in particular, had been very effective filling in at outside linebacker in Devall’s place while he recovered from surgery.
Now, with Devall back in the mix, Alabama can feature a deeper rotation and make life even worse for opposing quarterbacks.
“We want to play all players that can play winning football,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “Denzel has played winning football for us. Some of the guys that took his place played winning football. To me, it just adds to the depth and helps more guys to have to play and contribute in a positive way.”
When Devall went out, it seemed like the Crimson Tide didn’t miss a beat. In fact, they may have been even more effective.
It hasn't been just one guy who filled in for Devall.
The first man up was senior Xzavier Dickson. He was technically already a starter in Alabama’s base defense, but when Alabama goes nickel—where it has started all of its games this year—Devall was the lone outside linebacker playing with his hand in the dirt. When Devall went down, that duty fell to the 6’3”, 268-pound Dickson.
Dickson was a high-end 4-star prospect coming out of high school. He’s a brute-force rusher who seeks to overpower opposing tackles. On a different defense, he could be classified as a defensive end.
He’s enjoying a breakout year on the Alabama defense, thanks in part to the increased playing time. He currently leads the Crimson Tide with 6.5 sacks, more than any Alabama player had last year and actually more than Devall has for his career (five).
Dickson had two sacks against Ole Miss, and he totaled 2.5 in the three games that followed.
The other player who has benefited from Devall’s injury is Anderson.
Anderson is getting his first significant chunk of playing time since coming in alongside Devall in 2011 and redshirting his freshman year. When Alabama puts two outside linebackers into the game, or when Dickson comes out in those one-outside-backer sets, Anderson has been the next one in.
247Sports rated Anderson a 5-star linebacker prospect out of Daphne, Alabama. His UA career got off to a rocky start when he was sent home from Miami before the 2013 BCS National Championship Game at the tail end of a redshirt year. But he’s worked his way back into Saban’s good graces and is reaping the benefits.
Anderson is second on the team in sacks with three. He registered one against Ole Miss when he was called upon in-game to fill in.
"He’s stepped up in a big way," defensive end Jonathan Allen said. "You really can’t put a limit on what he’s done for us. Good fitting the run, pass rusher, driving back in coverage. He’s done a lot for us while Denzel’s been out."
It’s an interesting problem for Alabama to have. Its two best pass-rushers have been guys who are playing more because of another’s injury. Now that he’s back, how do Saban and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart balance wanting to get that experience back without disrupting the rhythm of the guys who are playing so well?
His solution, as mentioned above, seems to be to play as many players as he can.
“Maybe they don't have to play quite as much, and maybe we can stay fresher,” Saban said. “It's always a good thing to get good players to come back. I'm sure that we're going to have to work Denzel back into it. It's going to take him awhile. He missed three or four weeks.
“We're still pleased and happy that the other guys got experience and they've been productive and confident and they'll be able to play as well.”
That constant rotation—bringing out 4- and 5-star players only to sub in more 4- and 5-star players—is a hallmark of good Saban and Smart defenses and have been a huge reason for pass-rushing success.
Alabama has been able to do that to some extent this year already. And it will have yet another fresh and experienced body to throw into the mix going forward.
Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All stats come from cfbstats.
Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.
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