Alabama returns in 2019 as the prohibitive favorite to win another SEC Championship and likely eventually face Clemson in the College Football Playoff again.

The Tide have college football’s best head coach in Nick Saban, arguably the best quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa and a loaded roster on both offense and defense.

So, what is Alabama’s biggest worry or storyline in 2019?

SEC Network analyst and former Georgia signal caller DJ Shockley broke down the Tide’s biggest liability this season on the network — the secondary.

“The three biggest games they played in last season — Oklahoma, Georgia and Clemson, their defense was crushed,” Shockley said. “We’re talking about giving up over 35 points per game, 469 yards per game. This defense in the backend — the communication was not there on the backend for this defense and they were exposed in many ways.

“This is where the biggest storyline comes in for me in this fall camp. They have to find a way to communicate better on the backend. So, when they get into the tougher competition at the end of the year, they are able to stand up and not give up the huge plays at the end of the season.”

Host Dari Nowkhah then asked Shockley specifically what has to improve in the secondary, and the former quarterback put the emphasis on safeties Xavier McKinney and Jared Mayden.

Alabama gave up over 300 yards and three touchdowns against Georgia, over 300 yards and two touchdowns to Oklahoma and nearly 350 yards and three touchdowns to Clemson. Of course, with those three teams, we could be looking at potentially three No. 1 picks at quarterback. So, it’s only a big issue against elite NFL prospects.

Alabama kicks off the season in Atlanta against Duke on August 31.