In modern football, having a good secondary is a must-have to have an effective defense. The Seattle Seahawks under Pete Carroll built the best defense in the NFL and won a Super Bowl by focusing on building the secondary. Nick Saban, an ex-secondary coach in his own right, has done the same at Alabama in college.
Sure, Bama has had amazing defensive fronts and linebackers, but it’s the secondary that has made the Crimson Tide so lethal on defense. Alabama can shut down a lot of the most effective plays out of spread formations without much difficulty.
Improving the secondary has been a key area of focus for Lovie Smith, and this is the position — outside of offensive line — where the 2017 youth movement was most apparent.