This article will be one of the best in this series so pay attention. The other great article will be on the secondary in a couple of days.

Alabama runs a three man front. All three men are gone. That’s right, every starter on our defensive line has to be replaced this year. But when you hear about our new guys, you might realize, it’s not so bad.

First of all, we need to look at who we lost. Our biggest loss, both literally and figuratively, is Terrence “Mount” Cody. The massive nose gaurd did not garner a lot of stats, but he was well known in the Tide fan community for his immense size. This size forced a double-team, freeing our linebackers to run around unblocked. He was drafted to the Baltimore Ravens.

Lorenzo Washington played end and wasn’t extremely popular, but he recorded 2 sacks and 21 total tackles over the season.

Brandon Deaderick missed some games after being shot in the leg, but was an above average end and went in the seventh round of the NFL draft.

Replacing Mount Cody at noseguard this year will be Josh Chapman. Chapman is 6″1′ and weighs 310 pounds. He has the highest bench press at well over five hundred pounds, and the highest squat, barely beating Trent Richardson, with well over six hundred pounds. He runs a 4.9 40 and has more stamina then Cody, which should allow him to generate some pass rush.

Rotating with Chapman will be Kerry Murphy, a space-eater like Cody. However, Murphy also show good athleticism and footwork where Cody was slightly lacking. Murphy is also considerably smaller than Cody was, weighing in at 330 pounds, 55 less than Cody. Also, for fans of Jason Pierre-Paul, Murphy can reportedly do backflps, probably meaning back handsprings.

Marcel Dareus. The man you’ve all been waiting for me to write about as you read this article. I take a small sense of pride in calling this player as one to watch early last year. He led the team in sacks and has the ability to generate a great pass rush. He’s best known for his fumble/interception TD run in the second quarter of the National Championship. It showed his amazing athleticism. He also had two more huge plays in the game when he knocked out Colt McCoy, and he and Eryk Anders forcing a fumble near the goal line. He is now one of the top prospects for the 2011 NFL draft. Nick Saban recently told reporters they were double-teaming Dareus in practice. They still couldn’t stop him.

There are questions surrounding Luther Davis and  whether he will play or not. A senior, he is the only player who could truly offer experience. Saban said Davis had some personal issues that were keeping him out of spring training and was uncertain wether he’d play in the fall.

On the other end, it looks like we’ll be starting Damian Square. This guy should be a superb athlete at defensive end. He played linebacker and quarterback in high school. He is 6″3′ and weighs 284 pounds. He is described to be strong, big, fast, and overall atheletic. He suffered a knee injury last season but was reported to be ready for action in the past Spring Training.

Speaking of knee injuries, did we have a linebacker that suffered a knee injury last season? See why it may be a blessing in disguise in tomorrow’s linebacker segment.

Since the season is still a good ways out, I’ve decided to write this in a series, breaking down the main positions and players on the Alabama roster. Hang in there my fellow fans, the season will be here soon enough.

Runningbacks: With most teams, I may have opened this series with quarter-backs, but with the Heisman last year and Alabama’s long history of running-backs, I figured this was the only place to start.

Of course, this may not be the most interesting preseason topic to talk about, as we pretty well know what we’re getting next year at this position. Obviously, Heisman winner Mark Ingram should be a great runningback yet again, both running the ball up the gut, and doing a little more receiving out of the backfield. As we’ve seen, the Heisman is an award hard to win twice. It just so happens, Ingram may share the backfield with his greatest Heisman obstacle.

Trent Richardson will not win the Heisman in 2010, you heard it here first. But, he is developing into an amazing player that will rival Ingram for carries and the spotlight. Then again, he could also push Mark Ingram right back to New York next year. Trent Richardson served as a valuable asset last year for the tide, reaching considerably less numbers than Ingram, but bringing a dynamic dimension to the game. Now, with a year of experience under his belt, Richardson is developing into a superstar, waiting to fill Ingram’s shoes for his chance to shine. We’ve seen his speed, strength, and footwork in his first season. This season, he looks to be a bigger receiving threat and a better player overall.

Roy Upchurch is gone, in my mind, a much overlooked help to this Alabama team. The Senior was overshadowed mostly by the two afore-mentioned backs until his game-winning catch in the Iron Bowl. He may not have had the talent of the first two, but he was clutch, and he will be missed.

As for the other backs, it’s really a mystery. I’ve heard good things about Eddie Lacy, but We’ve yet to really see what he can do behind two stars. Demetrius Goode looks to be a consistent and helpful back.

To make a long story short, I think we have things pretty well locked up at the runningback position for a while. I promise tomorrow’s article on the Wide Recievers will be a bit more interesting.

The Unstoppable Force, meets the Immovable Object

I really hate to sound cliché here but for lack of a better analogy, I try to spin this one towards a tangible angel. LSU come to Alabama to begin a battle that promises to be the classic unstoppable force meets the immovable object.

When you really crunch the numbers the two teams are not that far apart as the 8 point spread indicates. Still it is no secrete that Alabama-in this analogy anyway-represents the unstoppable force averaging a little over 28 points per game. In the mean time the immovable object-LSU defense-is only allowing a little over 10 points per game. That is the surface view of this clash in waiting.

If we take a closer look, there are a couple of games that tend to stand out and set off alarms. On the Alabama side we only have to reach back to their most recent game. The Tennessee volunteers tested Alabama to the point where it took a stroke of luck to pull it off. As for LSU, although they lost, in mid October LSU defense held the Florida Gators to just 13 points.

This will end up being more of a defensive battle, a chess game of field position waiting for the opposing team to make a mistake. I am anticipating that the LSU defense have studied the Alabama and Tennessee game tapes till even the commercials were memorized. They will be ready.

Look for low scoring and for both teams to leave it all out on the field. The unstoppable force is at home and with the no surprise exception of Arkansas and North Texas, have not really blown out teams. The immovable force as been consistently solid and will offer Alabama a strong wall to penetrate. If you love defense this is your game, it will be close, and look for Alabama to pull this one off but only by a small margin.

The unranked Crimson Tide opened up their season with a pounding on the ninth ranked Clemson in the Georgia Dome. 34-10. They had a hangover, however, and struggled against Tulane, beating them only 20-6. They played a lousy Western Kentucky, killing them 41-7. They opened up in SEC play against Arkansas, with a 49-14 beatdown. After that, the intensity of the Crimson Tide stepped up. The first true test came against third ranked Georgia, the trembling Alabama fans quickly became comfortable at the end of the first half, with the score of 31-0, Alabama’s lead. The Bulldogs gave the Tide a game in the second half. Georgia scored 30 points, Alabama scored only 10. Although the Tide stumbled a little bit in the second half, they got their message across, winning it 41-30. Once again, the Tide had a hangover. They narrowly escaped Kentucky in a close game, squeaking by 17-14. After that, the Tide faced Ole Miss, destroying them in the first half, the Tide failed to score again, and the Rebels gave them a game. Alabama won, 24-20. Alabama went to Knoxville the next week, and beat the struggling Vols soundly in a 29-9 win. Arkansas State made the trip to Tuscaloosa the next week, and the Tide played their kind of ball, winning this one 35-0. The trip to Baton Rouge put fear into Crimson Tide fans, as Leigh Tiffin had his field goal blocked, forcing them into overtime. Rashad Johnson had a key interception, and John Parker Wilson hooked up with Julio Jones to put Alabama within five yards of the endzone. A quarterback sneak put Alabama on top, 27-21. The next week, Alabama ended their two game losing streak against Mississippi State, in a 32-7 beating. The next week, Alabama got their chance at Auburn, obliterating Tubberville’s team, 36-0. The perfect season was done, all Alabama had to do to get to the BCS National Championship Game was to beat Urban Meyer’s steaming team. The Tide lost a close game, 31-20. Alabama fans were disapointed, but everyone was proud of how Alabama went from unranked to top ranked in NCAA record-breaking time. The Crimson Tide will face Utah in the Sugar Bowl on January Second.

Glen Coffee vs. Georgia

I recently got word from a reliable source that offensive tackle Andre Smith and running back Glen Coffee would be exploring NFL careers and options. It is safe to say that Glen Coffee’s decision to explore options is the most logical choice. If I had to bet, I would say that Andre Smith would be a no-brainer, he is gone. On the contrary, Glen Coffee would most likely return for the 2009 season. Terrence Cody said that he would return for his senior season, but hey, so did Vince Young after his Texas team won the Rose Bowl. Alabama fans have no reason not to trust Cody, but I would not be too sure of anything until the NFL draft comes around. Take Cody’s injuries into consideration to why he might want to stay to benefit himself in the long run.