In 2016, Alabama football had one of the best defensive lines in college football. The physical skills and toughness of players like Jonathan Allen and Dalvin Tomlinson cannot be replaced in every signing class.
During an early spring media briefing, Nick Saban was asked about a lack of depth on the 2017 defensive line. Alabama football fans were keenly interested in Nick’s answer.
Saban bristled a bit at the assumption the position group was lacking. His terse response as reported by David Paschall was,
“We’ve played with worse.”
At the time, Alabama football fans found little comfort in Nick’s response.