Wolves up front about their needs
Javier Carbonell orally committed to Arkansas State last summer because of his relationship with Red Wolves defensive line coach Brian Early and, he said, because the coaching staff made him feel like part of the family.
A chance for early playing time didn’t hurt, either.
“I’m a competitor, and I want to be playing as early as I can,” said Carbonell, a defensive tackle from Bentonville. “I’m gaining my education, but at the end of the day I want to be playing football.”
The 6-2, 285-pounder figures to get that chance this fall.
Carbonell is one of 17 high school players expected to sign with ASU today as Coach Blake Anderson unveils his first full recruiting class at a 3 p.m. news conference.
Of what is expected to be a 24-member class — seven junior-college players signed in December and are already on campus — nine are either defensive or offensive linemen. That shouldn’t come as a surprise after Anderson and
his staff pinpointed those positions as the biggest areas of need.
“We need to get better up front,” Anderson said following ASU’s 63-44 loss to Toledo in the GoDaddy Bowl on Jan. 5.
It was a line the ASU staff uttered several times as the Red Wolves went 7-6 in Anderson’s first season as head coach. All of ASU’s most painful losses — to Louisiana-Lafayette, Appalachian State, Texas State and Toledo — came in games where ASU failed to stop the run and had trouble getting its own running game going.
The class took two hits in the final weeks when offensive lineman Branquavious Bussey of Lanett, Ala., decomitted and defensive tackle Fred Brown of Boutte, La., flipped to Purdue. Still, the class is left with plenty to start Anderson’s rebuilding project.
Big bodies expected to sign today include Carbonell, defensive tackle Donovan Ransom of Garland, Texas; defensive end T.J. Harris of Tulsa; Bryant offensive lineman Cameron Davis; and offensive lineman Dalton Ford of Webb City, Mo. That doesn’t include the four linemen who were mid-year signees and are already on campus.
Ford, who had an offer from Illinois but never wavered after committing to ASU the night of its victory over Utah State on Sept. 20, said the opportunity for early playing time was ASU’s most ardent pitch from the beginning.
“They have told me that if I learn the playbook, then I can be a part of the two-deep right away,” Ford said.
Ford, 6-4, 295 pounds, said he doesn’t think that was just a line pitched to him by recruiting coordinator Dan Dodd and offensive line coach Glen Elarbee to gain his commitment. Ford’s official visit wasn’t until January, four months after he had committed to ASU, and the message was still the same.
“We sat down and he told us straight up: ‘We need guys,’ ” Ford said.
Center Tyler Greve and right guard Alan Wright exhausted their eligibility after last season, and while left tackle Jemar Clark and right tackle Colton Jackson will be juniors and left guard Devin Mondie will be a sophomore, depth at every position on the offensive line is needed. Only two reserves, guards Steven Stevens and Travis Bodenstein, played in the loss to Toledo.
Bryant Coach Paul Calley took Davis on a trip to ASU during spring practice last year, and the message was similar from Elarbee and others.
“Having watched them in spring, and the injuries they had and the linemen available, I think they’re going to depend on him,” Calley said.
The situation is similar on the defensive side, where injuries and inexperience led to ASU starting eight players on the line. Only tackle Dexter Blackmon exhausted his eligibility, so ASU has 13 returning scholarship defensive linemen, including seven who have started games.
But five of those seven are defensive ends, which leaves instability up the middle. Chuks Ota started six games and Darrius Rosser started four, but depth behind them is lacking.
That’s why Carbonell, who missed his entire senior season because of a shoulder injury, and others are excited about signing their letters today.
“In the Lafayette game, they were getting pushed real bad up front,” Carbonell said of ASU’s 55-40 loss in October. “It’s true. Their depth, like Coach Early said, it’s not great.”