Why Alabama's Defensive Losses Will be Too Much to Overcome in Title Defense

In college football, it's all about recruiting. You lose players every year and if you're able to have great recruiting classes, chances are you won't hurt as much. Your recruiting classes aren't up to par, then you're likely to suffer.

Alabama is a program that recruits extremely well every year, and that's a big reason why they're one of the top teams in the country. Every season, players end up leaving the Crimson Tide, but they're able to replace a talented player with somebody who is just as talented.

But what happened to Alabama yesterday will likely be too much to overcome. It lost three key players that made huge contributions to its title run. Running back Trent Richardson, linebacker Dont'a Hightower and cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick all declared early for the NFL draft.

Although Richardson is extremely talented, the loss won't hurt as much because the Crimson Tide have Eddie Lacy, who is capable of carrying the load. He averaged over seven yards a carry this season and is a tough runner who always fights for the extra yards. The running game will be fine next season. 

It's the defense that Crimson Tide fans should be worried about. The same defense that carried them all year and put on one of the best showings of all-time against LSU in the BCS national championship. It's not going to be the same next year.

Alabama is losing one of the top cornerbacks in the country in Kirkpatrick. This is an emotional guy, who is also a leader on the football field. But his talents can't be replaced as he often covers the opposing team's top receiver and can take away half the field. It doesn't matter who replaces him, nobody will make that same impact right away.

Then you have the biggest hole on this defense with the loss of linebacker Hightower. He was the leading tackler on this football team with 85. He was a fantastic player for this team, has a great combination of speed and power and was great at rushing the passer. He finished last season with four sacks, which was third best on the team.

Losing a starting linebacker is the last thing this defense needed, because it's already losing Courtney Upshaw, a linebacker who led the team in sacks with 9.5 and tackles for loss with 18.

With these offenses getting better in the SEC, Alabama is going to be in trouble. Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson just announced he is coming back and running back Knile Davis is returning from injury. South Carolina is a young team that will get Marcus Lattimore back. Georgia is a young offensive team that's on the rise as well.

Elite defense is one of the things that separates good teams from great. The talent will always be there for Alabama, but it will experience growing pains and that may end up costing it a chance to repeat.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]