Malachi Moore, Deontae Lawson Taking Leadership Roles Within Alabama's Defense

Saban said that Moore and Lawson have been two of the Crimson Tide's best communicators on the defensive side of the ball.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Leadership and communication are two of the biggest keys to success on a football field for any team.

Last year, the Alabama Crimson Tide had both Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr. — as well as Jordan Battle — to lean into those roles. With all three gone to the NFL, the Crimson Tide had question marks in terms of leadership on both sides of the ball.

On offense, it appears the offensive line as a whole, as well as Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams, are taking the step forward in the absence of Young.

What about the defense?

Traditionally, in a Nick Saban defense, the middle linebacker has taken leadership of the defense. In Alabama's 3-4 defense, the Mike linebacker has a lot of responsibility.

Deontae Lawson isn't afraid of that responsibility.

“I think Deontae’s done a really, really good job," Saban said. "He’s kind of taken over the signal-caller duties, which I think is a huge responsibility but yet something that is probably the most important thing, especially for the front seven in terms of alignment, adjustment, calls that need to get made, whether you’re pressuring, getting lined up the right way to play whether it’s to or away from the back. And a lot of guys, they’re a little apprehensive about taking on that responsibility, and he’s very confident in it. He’s done a great job of it. He’s played really well, set a great example in terms of how he practices, how he plays, how he communicates. And I think that’s been a significant improvement in how we’ve played up front on defense, and it’ll be important that we can continue that throughout the season.”

Lawson isn't the only one that Saban thinks is taking responsibility on the defense. Fourth-year defensive back Malachi Moore is also taking control of the defense — and is doing it at multiple positions.

"He’s been really good," Saban said. "He’s smart, bright, [has] a lot of experience, can play multiple positions, is a really good communicator — which is one of the things that we’ve been harping on with the guys in the back end. Because that’s just like the offensive line, everybody’s gotta be on the same page with how we’re covering people, what we’re doing, how we’re adjusting. So communication is really important. Confidence to communicate is important and Malachi is probably the best guy on the team that we have to do that right now, but we need to get more guys to be able to communicate. But he’s done a really, really good job with multiple positions."

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