Defenses plague SEC challengers’ hopes – ESPN

We all know that Alabama is the SEC’s No.1 challenger for College Football’s first play-off.

But according to an ESPN Insider article, there’s some major problems on the radar for other SEC teams hoping to get in the play-offs.

— For Georgia, it’s a crappy secondary. “The inconsistent secondary is still the most prominent weakness for this club“, the report says.  “Linebacker Leonard Floyd will offset some of this with his incredible pass-rushing skills, but it is still looking as though this area of the Georgia defense is going to be every bit the coverage sieve it was last season.” The departures of Josh Harvey-Clemons and Shaq Wiggins aren’t going help matters. And to think this was a place where Champ Bailey made his name!

— LSU? Poor pass rush. “To say the Tigers were mediocre in their pass-rushing prowess last year might be giving them too much credit,” the report says. “They do have an up-and-coming impact player in Danielle Hunter, but one additional contributor might not be enough to get this pass rush to the level it needs to be to contend for a national championship.”

— South Carolina? Not enough depth in the defensive line. Not helped by the departure of Jadeveon Clowney and Kelcy Quarless.  “Its defensive line depth is so thin that it is considering using a 3-4 front more often this year. It can be a difficult transition to go from generating a pass rush with pure physical talent to producing sacks via creative play calling.” It notes that Gerald Dixon is a “solid replacement” for Clowney.

— Texas A&M? Not enough returning on the defense. The report made noises about how badly the unit sucked last year (and it really did), and noted that although the Aggies are adding five-star DE Myles Garrett, that might not be enough on a defense that’s really poor. Why hasn’t anyone called for the head of DC Mark Snyder yet?