Alabama has always had at least one difference maker at safety in Nick Saban’s entire tenure in Tuscaloosa. A great safety can cover for defensive weaknesses or he can be the cherry on top to make a great defense into an elite defense.
When there were issues with cornerbacks 2013 and 2014, Collins and Clinton-Dix were there to cover the center of the field for them. When Alabama struggled to make tackles at the line of scrimmage in 2019, McKinney was there to clean things up as often as possible.
On the other hand, when the 2012 secondary consisted of two first-round corners in Dee Milliner and Dre Kirkpatrick, they didn’t need HaHa Clinton-Dix, but having him roaming with freedom led many plays like this:
In fact, the only time Alabama hasn’t returned a starting safety in the last decade was in 2018, when both Deionte Thompson and Xavier McKinney both got their first chops at a starting job.