The Alabama Crimson Tide will open up fall camp on August 2nd and before the pads start popping, we look at the top five graded out offensive players by Pro-Football Focus from last season. Pro-Football Focus which is made up of former NFL coaches and scouts provides in-depth player assessments and grades after each game. Below are the highest-graded defensive players returning for the Tide going into the 2019 season.
Top five highest-graded players for the Alabama defense
No. 5 LaBryan Ray
Defensive End
Defensive Grade last season: 78.9
When you talk about defensive players that are expected to have a breakout season for the Crimson Tide in 2019, at the top of your list has to be LaBryan Ray, who now enters his junior season. In 2018 Ray recorded 39 tackles and 2.5 quarterback sacks. Ray will be a starter this season and if he improves on his exceptional grades from a year ago, you’re looking at an All-American. His grade against the run was 83.3, and his tackle grade was 73.0.
No. 4 Patrick Surtain II
Cornerback
Defensive Grade last season: 79.0
It’s hard to believe that last season Patrick Surtain was only a true freshman. Surtain ended up starting in week three for the Crimson Tide and ended the season with a coverage grade of 78.6 which was fourth on the team behind Deionte Thompson, Shyheim Carter, and Xavier McKinney. Surtain is a very good tackler in open space and recorded a very impressive tackle grade of 84.2. The most impressive stat when looking at Surtain’s 2018 season was this: He was targeted by opposing offenses 59 times and allowed just 32 receptions and allowed just one touchdown all season which came against Oklahoma.
No. 3 Raekwon Davis
Defensive End
Defensive Grade last season: 82.0
At 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, Davis is one of the most imposing defensive ends in all of college football, but surprisingly last season he recorded just 1.5 quarterback sacks. Despite him getting to the quarterback, he fared very well against the run having a season grade of 90.4, which was second among the defensive linemen, trailing only Quinnen Williams who had a grade of 96.5 against the run. All eyes are on Davis this year and depending on his production and testing marks at next year’s NFL Combine, you’re more than likely looking at Alabama’s next defensive linemen to be taken in round one.
No. 2 Xavier McKinney
Safety
Defensive Grade last season: 82.0
McKinney is without a doubt a crucial part to the 2019 Alabama defense and after recording 74 tackles last season with two interceptions, it’s no surprise to see that he graded out so well during his sophomore season. In coverage last season, McKinney had a grade of 80.9 and the two games where he really stood out last season were against Ole Miss where he recorded a grade of 91.4 and against Oklahoma where he graded out at 74.4 in a game where he was named the Defensive MVP of the Orange Bowl. McKinney is the leader of the secondary and there isn’t one quarterback in the SEC who won’t know where he is on the field at all times.
No. 1 Shyheim Carter
Defensive Back
Senior
Defensive Grade last season: 88.4
Carter who returns for his senior season has continued to prove he’s a play-maker quite simply. When we look at his 2018 season grade outs, we see that Carter not only had a great defensive grade of 88.4 throughout the season but also had an impressive overall grade of 87.3 when in pass coverage. Carter also grades out very well against the run where his overall grade is 91.5, last season against Tennessee he had a run defensive grade of 95.2 which is considered elite. Where we see Carter struggle is against elite competition at the receiving position. Against Georgia, Oklahoma, and Clemson, he pass coverage grade read: 69.2 against Georgia, 62.8 against Oklahoma, and 67.9 against Clemson.
