Practice Report: Young Alabama Defense will be Tested by New-Look Missouri

Even though though the University of Alabama defense has seven returning starters, there's only one senior who is expected to be on the field for the first snap of the 2020 season.

Grated, that one is a key player, in middle linebacker Dylan Moses, while the defensive line is expected to be led by redshirt junior LaBryan Ray.

“They’ve done really well," Nick Saban said on Wednesday before the Crimson Tide held a two-hour practice. "They both had really good fall camps. They’re playing well. We’re just hopeful that they can stay healthy and continue to do that.”

Nevertheless, the young defense is expected to be tested by Missouri on Saturday (6 p.m. CT), especially since the Tigers have a new coaching staff led by former Appalachian State coach Eli Drinkwitz.

Trying to guess at how the staff and players have meshed is a unique challenge since there's no game film for this season, or even from a spring game.

Alabama will also have numerous new starters in the secondary, where junior Josh Jobe takes over at cornerback opposite junior Patrick Surtain II, sophomore Jordan Battle slides over from star/money to play alongside redshirt junior Daniel Wright, and true freshmen Malachi Moore and Brian Branch figure to be in the mix in nickel and dime situations.

“I’ve been pleased with the progress that we’ve made," Saban said. "There’s obviously areas that we need to continue to improve and certainly need to improve the quality of depth that we have there. But I’ve been pleased with the progress that the guys have made, and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond in their first game as a group with basically what amounts to four new starters.”