Experienced defensive line looking to make big impact
FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas safety Joe Foucha got a big smile on his face when he was asked about the Razorbacks’ defensive line.
“I wanted to talk about this the most,” Foucha said on Thursday. “Our defensive line, they’ve been making our job way easier, just getting to the quarterback.
“We ask them every day, ‘How many seconds do y’all need?’ It went from about three seconds to about point-9. The seconds are always dropping.”
The Razorbacks, whose 14 sacks last season tied South Carolina and Vanderbilt for fewest in the SEC, are expected to get more pressure on opposing quarterbacks and be stronger on run defense with a deeper, more talented and experienced line.
Senior transfer linemen Markell Utsey (from Missouri), Tre Williams (Missouri) and John Ridgeway (Illinois State) have played in a combined 114 games with 64 starts.
Returnees Isaiah Nichols, Eric Gregory, Dorian Gerald, Zach Williams, Mataio Soli and Taurean Carter have combined for 96 games and 35 starts.
That’s nine defensive linemen with 202 games worth of experience and 99 starts.
“Defensive line in our conference, it’s so important to have,” said defensive coordinator Barry Odom, the former Missouri coach who recruited Utsey and Williams for the Tigers. “Defensively, you better build it up front.
“If you can’t and you’re struggling in that area, it exposes everything else pretty quickly.”
Odom is excited to have so many returnees with experience.
“Those guys, from where we left off last year to where we are today, they look like different players in a good way,” he said.
The three transfers have been getting plenty of work in camp with the first unit.
“They’ve got game-day, in-the-arena experience, and that helps so much,” Odom said. “They also can be mentors to some of the younger guys in the room.
“They understand not only [what to do] on game day, but practice habits. How to prepare and all the things that go along with that at a very high level.”
Gregory, a redshirt sophomore, is one of six defensive linemen with at least seven career starts.
“I feel like it’s huge, just to know that the guys behind you can do the same thing you can do,” Gregory said. “We actually have depth. It really takes a lot off the first group, so the second group can come in, they can perform with no dropoff.
“It’s going to help us make a lot of big plays during the game. People will have energy when the two-minute situation
comes up. We can have guys fresh and rotating in.”
Gerald is a sixth-year senior who has been limited to six games the past two seasons due to injuries, but now he’s healthy.
“I love the depth and not just having people behind us, but having people you know you can depend on,” Gerald said. “Multiple groups are ones.
“I really try not to look at it as ones and twos. I think we have a lot of guys that are ones … and we trust them to do everything they practiced to do.”
Defensive line coach Jermial Ashley, who was at Tulsa the previous six seasons, has used several starting combinations in camp.
“As a group, I think those guys out there are working really hard,” Ashley said of the newcomers meshing with the returnees. “They come to work every day. They’re learning.
“They’re helping each other, and the ultimate goal is to develop and become what they want as a unit. We’re rotating guys just to try to look for different matchups and just see who we’ve got to go to battle with.”
In previous stops at Memphis and Missouri, Odom preferred to use a four-man front, but last season the Razorbacks primarily played threeman fronts due to lack of depth on the line.
This season Arkansas will be able to go with four-man fronts if that’s what Odom decides is the best plan for a particular opponent.
“We’ve gotten way better in a four-man front,” Gregory said. “We’re making plays. I feel like we’re way better getting to the quarterback and holding our gaps against the runs.”
Offensive line coach Cody Kennedy said he’s impressed by the defensive linemen when his group goes against them and has seen a marked improvement since spring practice.
“They’re shuffling them in there and they’re rolling,” Kennedy said of the defensive line rotation. “There’s some guys that were higher up on the depth chart in the spring … there’s a lot of competition right there.
“It helps us, obviously, with the various looks Coach Odom puts them in.
“And they’re able to get after the passer and give me a little bit of heartburn when I go to bed at night. So they’ve checked the box.”
The defensive line depth chart is still evolving two weeks before Arkansas’ season opener against Rice on Sept. 4.
“There’s competition at every spot, and I don’t really know that we had that last year,” Odom said. “It’s made us better collectively as a defensive unit.
“Then you look at the ability to play multiple guys up front whether you’re in an odd front or an even or some different variations of that.”
Foucha said he loves the mentality Ashley has brought to the line.
“The chemistry is there,” Foucha said. “So I feel like our D-line is going to be a great part of our defense.”