Alabama’s defense isn’t short on talent, but the loss of Terrell Lewis for the season will force Nick Saban to shuffle his depth chart.
Nick Saban isn’t the sort of coach to use injuries as an excuse, but he’s certainly got one to deal with now. Terrell Lewis’ torn ACL will force the Crimson Tide’s coach to make some changes to his defense.
Saban announced that Lewis has already undergone successfully surgery to repair the tear, but there’s no timeline for his potential return. It’s safe to assume that he’ll miss the entire 2018 season. Coming back from a torn ACL generally requires a recovery period of at least six months.
Expect redshirt junior Anfernee Jennings to take his spot at outside linebacker. He played 10 games for the Tide last year and notched 41 total tackles. Jennings will need to increase his playmaking ability to fill the role Lewis was expected to play this season.
For Lewis, the injury will likely cause him to stay at Alabama for an extra season. The general belief in Tuscaloosa was that he would declare for the 2019 NFL Draft if he had a healthy and productive season. Obviously, missing the entire year is going to cause him to rethink those plans. He does still have a redshirt year remaining, so expect Alabama to preserve this year of eligibility just in case his professional plans don’t work out next season.
This is an important injury for Saban’s defense, but it’s not a fatal blow. There’s still plenty of talent left in Alabama’s front seven. Losing Lewis might cost them a little bit of playmaking, but this unit will still be one of the top groups in the SEC.
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The fact that the injury has occurred so early in the season also will be a blessing in disguise for everyone involved. It gives the coaching staff an opportunity to adjust their personnel groups and schemes to account for Lewis’ absence. Suffering the injury so early in the preseason also boosts Lewis’ chances of being a full participant for the Tide next spring. The Alabama linebacking corps might be a little thinner than normal this season, but it’s still a very dynamic group even without Lewis.