Looking back on the 2016 defense, it's clear that Gandalf probably would've been on the bench. Jeremy Pruitt and Karl Dunbar had these boys dialed in.
In 15 games, opponents gained only 959 total yards and scored only five rushing TDs for an average of 63.93 yards per game. These stats were by far the best in the nation and the Tide played three post-season games. [BTW, Clemson gave up 1,944 on the year.]
Houston was second yielding 1,302 total rushing yards, but in only 13 games. That puts the Tide up -343 yards over the next closest defense.