The individual superstars will command the spotlight heading in to the 2016 college football season but there is a lot to say about a number of rosters that are absolutely stacked with talent in one area. That is particularly true about a handful of teams that are absolutely loaded in their defensive secondary and will rely on those units to lead the way on that side of the football and shut down opposing passing attacks. Here is a look at the four best college football secondary units in the country heading in to the 2016 season.
Florida State Seminoles
Florida State lost its star cornerback Jalen Ramsey as the fifth-overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft but they have another young playmaker that will help fill the void he left in safety Derwin James. The sophomore safety recorded 91 tackles including 9.5 for loss and 4.5 sacks with four pass breakups and a pair of forced fumbles as a true freshman last season and the expectation is that he will be even better with another year of experience and development on the Seminoles’ roster. Marquez White, Tarvarus McFadden, Nate Andrews and Trey Marshall are all talented players that will surround James in the FSU secondary while five-star cornerback recruit Levonta Taylor has the potential to step in and make an immediate impact in his freshman season. It isn’t often that a defensive secondary unit can lose its best player and still be considered among the best in college football but that is the case with the Seminoles heading in to 2016.
Michigan Wolverines
Second-team All-American cornerback Jourdan Lewis has the potential to be one of the best in the country once again while fellow cornerback Jeremy Clark started seven games in 2015 and played good enough to hold down the starting job opposite him. Strong safety Delano Hill is rangy and loaded with potential while free safety Dymonte Thomas showed flashes of his potential last season. That group combined for 15 pass breakups and five interceptions last season and should be even better with another year of experience playing together. Versatile superstar Jabrill Peppers will start at linebacker but is expected to move all over the field including some playing time at the nickelback position. Big things are expected of the Wolverines’ secondary with the potential for it to be one of the best in college football. It’s amazing how far this team has come in the college football ranks in just one year.
Alabama Crimson Tide
The defending national champion Crimson Tide is loaded at linebacker and in the secondary once again and should be one of the better coverage teams in the entire country for 2016. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey and safety Eddie Jackson are the returning starters while Minkah Fitzpatrick served as the nickelback last season and could either maintain that role or slide outside opposite Humphrey.
Meanwhile, Ronnie Harrison is ready to start full-time at free safety. Humphey, Fitzpatrick, Jackson and Harrison combined for 13 interceptions last season and should thrive once again this year as a unit. Alabama also has five-star cornerback prospect Maurice Smith, former five-star Kendall Sheffield and four-star Deionte Thompson to rely on for depth. Factor in the arrival of three more four-star signees that just arrived and it’s clear the Crimson Tide have one of the better defensive secondary units in college football.
Florida Gators
The Gators just lost two NFL first-round draft picks in the secondary but they are going to have two more for next year. Those should be cornerback Jalen Tabor, who is the No. 1 rated cornerback on a number of boards, and Marcus Mayes, who is one of the top projected safeties for the 2017 NFL Draft. Cornerback Quincy Wilson and nickelback Duke Dawson are poised to start next to Tabor while Nick Washington will compliment Maye at the safety position. The Florida secondary helped carry them a year ago and that will once again be the case in 2016. They’ve had their ups and downs over the last decade but one area that continues to be stout is this area of the team.
