Defensive line has plenty of room for improvement
Sixth in a position-by-position series looking at the 2022 Texas Longhorns after spring workouts.
Today: Defensive line.
Who’s back: Vernon Broughton, sophomore; Alfred Collins, junior; Keondre Coburn, senior; Prince Dorbah, sophomore; D.J. Harris Jr., redshirt freshman; Byron Murphy II, sophomore; Ovie Oghoufo, senior; Moro Ojomo, senior; Barryn Sorrell, sophomore.
Who’s gone: David Abiara (transfer), Ben Davis, Jacoby Jones, Jordon Thomas (transfer), Ray Thornton, Myron Warren (transfer).
2022 signees: Ethan Burke, Jaray Bledsoe, Derrick Brown, Aaron Bryant, Justice Finkley, J'mond Tapp, Kristopher Ross, Zac Swanson.
What to expect: Well, it can't get much worse, right?
The Texas defense was a hot mess throughout defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski's first season, ranking 80th in passing efficiency defense, 98th in sacks, 99th in scoring defense, 100th in total defense and 101st in third-down defense. No unit escapes blame for all that misery, defensive line included.
Nothing exposed the Longhorns' defanged line last year like their 40-21 loss to future SEC rival Arkansas. The Razorbacks rushed for 333 yards and four touchdowns on 47 carries, flat-out embarrassing a toothless defense at sold-out Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Performances like that were the reason Texas made recruiting Sec-quality interior tackles and edge rushers a priority. To wit: The program signed eight defensive linemen in the 2022 cycle.
Edge defenders Finkley (Hewitt-trussville, Ala.) and Tapp (Ascension Catholic, La.) seem to have the highest upside of the bunch, and the former figures to see the field this season after drawing strong reviews during winter conditioning and spring practice.
Four-star early enrollee Bryant also held up well in his first few months on campus, giving him a leg up on some of the more-hyped incoming interior linemen like Ross, a four-star recruit from Houston North Shore.
But what Texas really needs, at least while those newbies incubate, is across-the-board improvement from a host of returning veterans.
Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Ojomo and nose tackle Coburn are back to anchor the interior after starting every game together last season. They combined for 44 tackles, five tackles for loss and one sack last year. Texas will need better production from both, especially against the run.
It's difficult to gauge from a few practice open windows and
a vanilla scrimmage at Royalmemorial Stadium, but the line reportedly held its own against the offense's Bijan Robinson-led rushing attack this offseason. Of course, that could change when a slew of highly touted offensive linemen arrive this summer.
“Our run defense has been really good all spring, and we've got some pretty good runners that we've got to try to stop,” coach Steve Sarkisian said after the Longhorns' penultimate spring practice. “I thought that's been really kind of a bright spot defensively.”
Coburn and Ojomo will rotate and occasionally play in odd fronts with senior Sweat and/or rising sophomore Murphy.
They'll be flanked at various times by edge defender super senior Oghoufo, junior Collins, third-year sophomore Broughton and sophomore Sorrell.
While he struggled at times, Oghoufo was one of the team's more productive defenders last season after transferring from Notre Dame, finishing with 42 tackles, 5½ tackles for loss and two sacks. Collins made four straight starts late in the season while filling in for an injured Jones at one of the end spots, and Texas could use a breakout campaign from the former bluechip recruit.
Broughton and Sorrell haven't played extensively, but that'll change this season.
“I thought our pass rush really improved,” Sarkisian said. “There's been some individual growth by specific players that has created that. I think also schematically, some of the games and different things that we're doing, the guys' understanding of those things — the pressures, the games, the timing of them all — has caused some issues (for the offense). And that's been that's been a real positive for us as well.”
After the loss to Arkansas last September, Sarkisian admitted Texas' pass rush was “borderline non-existent.” And the run defense — woof.
Well, Texas' defensive line gets to engage in another earlyseason battle with an SEC foe this year when College Football Playoff runner-up Alabama comes to town in Week 2. Can't ask for a better measuring stick than that.
Projected depth chart Buck end
1. Ovie Oghoufo
2. Barryn Sorrell
Nose tackle
1. Keondre Coburn
2. T'vondre Sweat
Defensive tackle
1. Moro Ojomo
2. Byron Murphy
Jack end
1. Alfred Collins
2. Vernon Broughton