Nick Saban’s philosophy has always been about affecting the quarterback. Usually, that has involved pressuring the quarterback into a rushed or bad throw, forcing a bad read, batting passes down at the line of scrimmage, winning the mental game. But, when all the pieces are in place, Saban’s teams can not only do all of those things, but, without even blitzing, can destroy quarterbacks with just 3- or 4-down linemen.
The 2015 Alabama front seven was special, ringing up 52 sacks for a loss of 336 yards. After the loss of stalwarts like Jarran Reed and A’Shawn Robinson, what would the Tide do for an encore in 2016?