Greg McElroy evaluates Alabama's defense, how it could impact success in 2023

Defense will be the difference in Tuscaloosa this season. ESPN’s Greg McElroy recently discussed how Alabama‘s defense will look in 2023.

“Will the defense be able to hold up their end of the bargain? That was, of course, the star of the show back from 2009 to 2015. I think they have a chance,” McElroy said. “Kevin Steele is in as defensive coordinator. He is not going to be quite as aggressive. They’re going to play a little bit more bend, don’t break. He will mix and match some of the looks. He will get creative, but he’s not going to try to dictate the way the previous regime did.

“They’re going to have some things every week, but it’s not going to be a sell-out against one specific aspect of what the team is doing offensively. He’s going to be more strategic. He’s going to be more conservative. And as a result, I think they’re going to play better and not have as many blown coverages and as many mistakes as they’ve had the last couple of years.”

As McElroy mentioned, Alabama’s defense will be under new management this season. The program hired Steele in February, who served as the defensive coordinator at Miami in 2022. Steele will take over a Crimson Tide defense that ranked ninth nationally in scoring defense, sixth in pass efficiency defense and 13th in total defense in 2022.

Despite inheriting a solid squad, Steele has his work cut out for him. Steele must replace Will Anderson Jr., Jordan Battle, Brian Branch and Henry To’oTo’o among others. McElroy shared his thoughts on the challenge ahead of Steele.

“They’re gonna miss Willie Anderson, but Dallas Turner is one of the best edge defenders in the country,” McElroy said. “He’s been the Robin to Will Anderson’s Batman. Can he now elevate and become the Batman himself?”

Turner isn’t the only player McElroy expects to step up this season.

“They also have Kool-Aid McKinstry on the perimeter as a chance to be a lockdown guy at the corner spot, and this defense has always been best when they have a lockdown corner,” McElroy said.

Since the College Football Playoff was created in 2014, Alabama has not gone three years in a row without winning it all. Georgia has won the CFP in the last two years. You do the math.

Alabama will show off its revamped defense when it takes on Middle Tennessee in its season opener on Sept. 2.