Bama has nothing but 1st round draft picks on their on the Defense every year, loaded with 4/5-star athletes with depth at every level. They gave up 330yds vs Miss St, would've lost if it wasn't for a final drive TD. They got steamrolled vs Auburn giving up 408yds total & 25 1st downs. Also gave up 365yds vs UGA & were a perfect throw from Tua to Devonta Smith with no time left on the clock from losing the National Championship.
Ohio State has multiple 1st round NFL caliber players annually on their Defense, loaded with 4/5-star depth.
They gave up 490yds vs Oklahoma, 386yds through the air, vs an Oh St secondary that has multiple 1st round draft picks every year. They also gave up 487yds vs Iowa when they got beat down 55-24.
Clemson gave up 440yds vs Cuse, that bum QB Dungey that we allegedly made look like Brady, was 20/32 278yds 3TD's & 0INT's. (compare that to how he did vs Miami). Also gave up 491yds vs NC St with Ryan Finely going 31/50 338yds 3TD's & 2INT's.
UGA gave up 488yds vs Auburn the 1st time they played, Stidham completed 69% of his passes vs them.
And gave up 531yds vs Oklahoma, including 242yds rushing. If Okla had a Defense they would've beat them.
So what's my point? Even the best Defenses loaded with 4/5-star players at all 3 levels (DL,LB,DB's) get carved up sometimes. With the rules in football all being slanted in favor of the Offense it's virtually impossible for the old school stout Defenses from the 90's & 00's to exist in today's era of football.
I 100% agree that our Defense was not as good as it should be & played downright awful too many times last year. I've never denied that we don't need to improve Defensively, we absolutely do at all levels. But if you're expecting a Defense that still has players like Robert Knowles, Mike Smith & a 3-star Juco Corner who was headed to Cincinnati coming out of HS logging significant snaps, then you're being unrealistic.
Our Defense should absolutely dominate LSU's Offense & if we don't there's no excuses that's all on Manny. All I've ever pushed back on is why this fan base has such high expectations for the Defense but such bare minimum expectations for the Offense?