Alabama Spring Preview: Defensive Backfield

With recruiting news mostly in a deadlock for another weekend, here is my second installment of a spring preview.

New Addition: (sort of) 

Robby Green 6' 0" 181 - Return from NCAA suspension

Losses:

None!!

The defensive backfield looked to be razor thin entering 2010 but, thanks to good health, the unit hung together and managed to get through the season.  That is until the final half of the iron bowl when an injury to safety Mark Barron contributed to a horrific Auburn come from behind victory. The lack of experience also contributed to a historically bad season rushing the passer.   

Alabama enters the spring looking to build on the experience gained last year and to develop depth to weather any future injuries. 

The injury to Barron was costly in the Iron Bowl and may have strongly influenced him to stay for his senior season.  Barron will return as Alabama's top safety.  The decision was the right one not only because of the time needed to heal but Barron still needs to improve his cover skills. When it comes to physical play, however, Barron is as physical as any tackler in the SEC.  

Barron also had to learn last year how to become more of a vocal leader. The defense will look for him to be a team leader for the coming year, which will have to wait as his participation in spring will be limited.  It is unlikely he will participate in contact work. 

Alabama will look to develop an eventual successor in his place.

If a game were played today, Will Lowery would be a satisfactory replacement.  The scrappy 5' 9" walk-on from Hoover is rarely out of position and almost never misses a tackle, but he too will be a senior next year so he will not be able to succeed Barron.

Robby Green was suspended for all of 2010 due to some sort of violation.  As an instrumental member of the 2009 National Championship defense, he could step in as well.  He should be a strong contributor to the secondary this year, but he too will be senior this year.

The most likely candidates to watch this spring are Nick Perry and Jarrick Williams.

Both Williams and Perry arrived this past summer and managed to avoid the red shirt. Most of their playing time came on special teams, but Williams did play some quality snaps in the Bowl game. 

This past fall Nick Perry, who was the lower ranking of the two recruits, outplayed Williams. Williams, however, caught up as the season progressed.  Both players are big (6' 2") and built to punish tacklers.  

Williams, in fact, is so big it's possible he could eventually move to linebacker.  His current listed weight is 234, which is probably the upper end for a defensive back.  A substantial addition of bulk would probably send Williams forward to the front seven.  

This spring could be key for both players as another big time recruit, Hasean Clinton-Dix, is expected to sign and arrive this summer.  The spring experience can help them stay ahead of the competition coming in.  

The other starting safety is manned by junior Robert Lester.  Lester was a mid level recruit out of Foley who was mostly known for being a high school teammate of receiver Julio Jones.  Some even suggested he was given a scholarship to help land Julio, but his solid performance in high school all star games erased any such thoughts before arriving on campus.  

Lester fought all spring and fall for a starting spot and, by most accounts, barely won the job over walk-on Will Lowery.  Despite the lack of fan fair, Lester excelled and developed a knack for intercepting the ball, snagging a team high eight interceptions. Lester needs to get a little bigger and stronger this year and improve his tackling.    

Junior Westley Neighbors isn't as fast or athletic as the other safeties but likes to hit people and has done so often and proficiently on special teams.  He will need to continue to work on his cover skills to get more playing time.

Alabama's top corner last year was Dre Kirkpatrick.  He had a fine year but needs to improve his tackling like Lester.  He took bad angles toward the ball carrier on several occassions.  Kirkparick is turning into a corner few quarterbacks want to challenge, and this spring he has a chance to shoot for all star status in 2011.

The other starting corner is Demarcus Milliner.  Milliner suffered through his true freshman season as a starter but managed to start and end the season on his feet.  He was often targeted by opposing quarterbacks and showed his youth at times.  He also needs to work on tackling but became increasingly hard to block as the season progressed.  

On several occasions, it appeared the play had been blocked for a long gainer only to see Milliner slip the block and snag the runner down.  This spring will be an important time for Milliner to build his cover skills and avoid being a steady target.

At the nickle spot, Alabama will return Junior College transfer Dequan Menzie.  Menzie managed to get through the year at nickel and corner on a bad leg.  This spring will be his first opportunity to compete fully healthy.  

His development this spring will be most interesting to watch because we really don't know how good Menzie can be.  As the nickle back, he would be the primary backup at both corner spots.  

When Menzie could not go transfer Phelon Jones came off the bench and generally played well when called upon.  Jones may never reach front line status, but he is a valuable and experienced player who is great to have on the team.  2011 will be his final season, and he should see plenty of snaps.

True Freshman Corner John Fulton arrived at Alabama a year ago and already went through his first spring, meaning this will be his second. The experience should really begin to show benefit as he will have the chance to try and unseat Jones and/or Menzie as the starting nickle and top backup corner.

Invited walk-on Caleb Casteel should be around this spring.  The youngest son of Tide Legend Jeremiah Casteel is small but athletic.  

Another invited walk-on Kyle Pennington was a quarterback at Washington County High. He spurned an offer from Southern Miss to chance his Crimson dreams with Nick Saban.  He saw some mop up duty this past season.

Though Casteel and Pennington are walk-ons, Will Lowery showed that you don't have to be limited by your recruiting status or your size.  Two former walk-ons have gotten significant playing time in the secondary since Nick Saban has arrived—one of which, Rashad Johnson, was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals.

In 2009, Alabama made a living off the blitz from the nickle and corner spots.  Since doing so requires single coverage, Alabama avoided it to protect their young secondary. 

This spring, Alabama will attempt to add back the dynamic rush packages that were so effective before.  Improved coverage could lead to more sacks from the front seven as well.  

So many times the apposing quarterback launched a complete pass just an instant before the pressure arrived.  A small improvement in coverage could do much for Alabama's defense as a whole.  It was especially damaging in the South Carolina loss.

Spring should mark the beginning of another banner year for the Alabama secondary, with no less than eight experienced defensive backs on hand.  Developing depth will be a crucial goal, however, as five of those eight will be gone by this time next year.