ESPN names All-Saban defensive team, headlined by Minkah Fitzpatrick

Nick Saban has established his place among the greatest coaches in college football history over his 25-year career at Toledo, Michigan State, LSU and Alabama. Behind every great coach is a list of great players who played under their leadership. Therefore, ESPN has put together a list of Saban’s best players and compiled the All-Saban team headlined by former Alabama and LSU stars.

Here is a look at the first-team defense:

Defensive linemen

Jonathan Allen, Quinnen Williams, Marcus Spears

Allen played a major role on some of Nick Saban’s best defenses. He finished his career with 28 sacks, adding two defensive touchdowns in his senior season. Just as Allen departed for the NFL, Williams entered the defensive lineup. He had a breakout season in 2018, finishing with 71 tackles and eight sacks in 15 games. Spears is the only LSU player to make the first-team defense, fitting for the consensus first-team All-American.

Linebackers

C.J. Mosely, Don’t’a Hightower, Rolando McClain, Reuben Foster

Mosely filled the stat sheet at Alabama, tallying 100 tackles in consecutive seasons with three defensive touchdowns. Hightower and McClain both had overlap with Mosely. McClain was the first on campus and had 200 tackles over his final two seasons, then Hightower followed with 234 career tackles and five sacks in his career. After that, Foster arrived on campus and put up huge stats in his senior season. He finished with 115 tackles and five sacks in 2016 before heading to the NFL.

Cornerbacks

Minkah Fitzpatrick, Dre Kirkpatrick

Fitzpatrick played three seasons at Alabama, lining up all across the defensive backfield. He finished his career with 171 tackles, five sacks and nine interceptions, adding four defensive touchdowns. Similarly, Kirkpatrick played three seasons and was not thrown at often. He finished his career with 91 tackles and three interceptions with 16 pass deflections and a defensive touchdown.

Safeties

Mark Barron, Landon Collins

Barron was the first great safety to join the All-Saban watchlist at Alabama. He finished his career with 235 tackles, five sacks and 12 interceptions. After that, Collins played three seasons at Alabama before going to the NFL. He had 184 tackles and five interceptions with a defensive touchdown in his college career.

Others

Javier Arenas

Arenas made the All-Saban first team as a punt returner but was also a great cornerback under Saban. He had 71 tackles and five interceptions as a senior. Arenas also ran back seven punts for touchdowns in his career and had 3,918 return yards.