Reggie Ragland, Jarran Reed Returning Gives Alabama Shot to Defend SEC Title
After about 24 hours of Twitter speculation and confusion, Alabama made it official: two key cogs in its defensive lineup will be returning for the 2015 season and forgoing the 2015 NFL Draft.
Alabama sent out a release Thursday afternoon saying that linebacker Reggie Ragland and defensive lineman Jarran Reed will return to Alabama for their respective senior seasons.
Ragland broke his own news in a tweet about half an hour before the official announcement:
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“I’ve thought a lot about this decision and talked to my family, coach Saban and everyone close to me,” Ragland said in the UA release. “I’m going to return to the University of Alabama for my senior season. One of the big factors for me and my family is earning my degree, and I’m on track to graduate. You only form a brotherhood like this once, and I look forward to spending another season here with my teammates. Roll Tide.”
Following some confusion after an apparently errant tweet from IMG Academy saying that he would be training for the draft with them, Reed announced his intention to return to school in the release. Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier in the day that Reed would be staying for another year.
“After sitting down with my family, coach Saban and coach Davis, I have decided to return to Alabama for my senior year,” Reed said in the release. “I am on track to finish my degree, and that is very important to me. The chance to play in the NFL is still my dream, but I am excited about another year at Alabama with my teammates. I learned a lot being here last year, and I’m confident another year will only improve my chances to succeed in the future.”
The pair’s return will be a major boost for a Crimson Tide defense that lost safety Landon Collins to the NFL and several other major players to graduation.
It gives Alabama’s defensive line an incredible amount of depth and talent at the position and saves a linebacking core from having little to no depth playing inexperienced players.
And it means the Crimson Tide will have the defense to defend its SEC title in 2015.
Nick Saban didn’t take it too well last spring when asked about his “perceived depth” along the defensive line. There were a lot of talented players on the line, but several hadn’t had much game experienced and were largely unproven products.
That unit ended up fronting a defense that was tops in the conference in red zone touchdown percentage and rush defense. Alabama used a deep rotation to keep fresh bodies on the field and was a dominant force up front.
He won’t be able to deny that reality again this season.
From that defensive line, Alabama now only loses Brandon Ivory, its nose tackle that largely played in running situations, clogging up lanes and taking on multiple blockers. His presence will be missed but can be overcome.
Otherwise, the band is staying together.
Jonathan Allen (11 tackles for loss, five sacks in 2014) and A’Shawn Robinson (6.5 TFLs) will be juniors, entering the prime of their Alabama careers after shining their first two seasons on campus. Reed (6.5 TFLs, one sack, six pass break ups) and D.J. Pettway (3.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks) came in together as junior college transfers and played immediately.
Those four along will presumably make up a nasty starting four that will give defenses fits.
But behind them, the embarrassment of riches becomes more noticeable. Da’Shawn Hand, Dalvin Tomlinson, Joshua Frazier, Dee Liner and Darren Lake will all have another year of development under their belts.
As for filling Ivory’s role, JUCO transfer Jonathan Taylor, off-field issues aside, is expected to fill that role.
While the defensive line would have been in decent shape without Reed, the same can’t necessarily said be said for the linebackers and Ragland.
Trey DePriest, who made most of the calls last year at middle linebacker, graduated. Ragland leaving would have left two spots open for starting middle linebackers in a group that already lacks some depth.
Reuben Foster is the likely “next man up,” but he hasn’t shown yet that he can stay healthy for an entire season. His poor tackling form, keeping his head down far too low, opens him up for neck stingers, which he frequently sustains when he sees any kind of regular playing time like at A-Day or against West Virginia while DePriest was suspended.
Shaun Dion Hamilton showed promise as an early enrollee freshman this season, appearing in every game in 2014, largely on special teams but getting some work in at linebacker.
Behind those two, though, the cupboard is pretty bare. Walker Jones is a rising redshirt sophomore who played in just one game last season, late against Western Carolina. Dillon Lee has played inside but only as a reserve in Nickel and Dime looks, otherwise playing outside.
With Ragland’s return, Alabama can count on a steady option in the middle while hoping either Foster or Hamilton can develop into a second regular player, without having to dig too much deeper down the depth chart for production.
His return, combined with the depth that Reed will make on the defensive line, give Alabama a defense that could be one of the best in the SEC next season, if not the country.
Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.
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