Looking at Our DL Moving into the 2015 Season

[HogWildBison2011]

I know we have heard about all the potential of our defensive line even with Philon & Flowers leaving. CBB has even stated that he is confident in a 8-10 man rotation with very little drop off in productivity. While I am a rabid razorback fan lets try to take an unbiased look at all the guys we will see on Sept 5th.

Interior DL
1. Cordale Boyd Jr 6'3 287 lbs
2. Hjalte Froholdt Fr 6'5 311 lbs
3. Demarcus Hodge Sr 6'1 340 lbs
4. Bijhon Jackson So 6'2 324 lbs
5. Taiwan Johnson Jr 6'2 273 lbs
6. Ke'Tyrus Marks So 6'2 308 lbs
7. Armon Watts Fr 6'5 295 lbs

Exterior DL
1. Tevin Beanum So 6'4 271 lbs
2. Jamario Bell Fr 6'6 225 lbs
3. Daytrieon Dean Fr 6'3 256 lbs
4. Jake Hall Fr 6'5 261 lbs
5. Jeremiah Ledbetter Jr 6'3 275 lbs
6. Brandon Lewis Jr 6'4 273 lbs
7. Mitchell Loewen Sr 6'5 276 lbs
8. Karl Roesler So 6'1 250 lbs
9. T.J. Smith Fr 6'3.5 250 lbs
10. JaMichael Winston Jr 6'4 272 lbs
11. Deatrich Wise Jr 6'5 271 lbs


At a glance we see that after this year we will be losing just Hodge and Loewen. The only interior DL that actually have experience is Hodge, Jackson, Johnson. I have heard that Watts has looked extremely good after his RS year. I have always been high on Marks and have been waiting for his breakout year. He kind of reminds me of Warren Sapp "physically" but we will just see if he can translate it onto the field. We all know Froholdt has an extremely high ceiling and physically already looks like an SEC DT. The other unknown is Boyd.. I don't know if we will see much out of him but I would love to be surprised.


Taking a look at our exterior DL. I feel like the only one that has truly proven himself is JaMichael Winston. I question if Wise Jr has fully committed to the program. CBB has stated before that he has been all over the place with his fraternity and other events that occur in college life and it has been interfering with his progression as a football player. If he his priorities are straight I think he could be in for a special year. We have two guys coming off injuries in Loewen and Dean but I hear they should be full go. I am very interested to see how Lewis & Ledbetter perform. We have heard CBB state he will put Ledbetter on the inside in obvious passing situations. Beanum looks the part but he hasn't really done anything of note yet. I have heard nothing but good things coming from Jake Hall but again he is unproven. Another unknown is Roesler, I have heard he gave Skipper fits when he first moved to the outside but he has been quiet since then.


Wrapping everything up its a little scary knowing that we only have 4 "proven" guys stepping in on the DL. But we have more depth here than we have had previously. I do think we will see more out of Wise this year. I see the potential in these guys but I remain cautiously optimistic. Knowing we might be stronger on the back end of our defense could mask any weakness we have up front. 82 days left! Go hogs.

[razorbacker3]

Good post and analysis.

[Cinco de Hogo]

Another way to look at experience, we lost Flowers and Philon so that means a good number of those guys played a whole lot of football.  With another year under Smith and staff they should be a whole lot better.

If you believe in the staff and the bodies and experience is there you should be believing in great things this year.

[PaintballHog]

But who was Jamario Bell? T.J. Smith?

[Cinco de Hogo]

But who was Jamario Bell? T.J. Smith?

Don't keep us guessing sir!

[HogWildBison2011]

But who was Jamario Bell? T.J. Smith?

I was going off the active roster on arkansasrazorbacks.com. They only have the early enrollees included. I will add them tho for thoroughness sake.

[PaintballHog]

I was going off the active roster on arkansasrazorbacks.com. They only have the early enrollees included. I will add them tho for thoroughness sake.

I got ya.

I only bring it up because BB seemed to be pretty high on them. Especially Bell, kid is a freak.

[DCimport]

I noticed K. Edwards is not on the roster found at arkansasrazorbacks.com but will probably be back.  I thought I read a tweet that said the Anthony Brown was in the same boat.  That he was back in play for the summer.   

[Styflin]

DL is the strength of our football team.

[HogWildBison2011]

I am kind of wondering how many DL we will take in the 2016 recruiting class. We have 2 DTs committed at this point with at least one leaving due to graduation and 2 Jrs.

And at DE we only have one leaving due to graduation next season but we also have 4 Jrs. I think we will try to sign Agim and possibly Tate from Pine Bluff if grades aren't a problem. I know this statement belongs in the recruiting forum but I'm just thinking out loud here. Next season we will be very deep on the line.

[samurai]

I for one am ecstatic with our defensive line. One thing I have learned watching SEC football is that the key to pass defense is pressure on the quarterback with just the front four. If you can pressure the quarterback and not leave defensive backs out on a island for too long it makes it much easier on them. This is a luxury that we haven't had since we entered the SEC. 

[secneahog]

Jake Hall is more at 280. Tj Smith is 280. Brandon Lewis is coming off a injury.

Wise has proved himself rewatch the bowl game.

Tawain Johnson is proven and is a leader on the dline.

[The NewEra]

I feel real comfortable with our defense this year.  When I look at the turn around Rob Smith and his coaches produced last year, his first year here, I can't help but be very optimistic.  We have the first two games to let the kids get some more playing time and work in the system while Smith adjust the depth chart and then a tougher game with Texas Tech, then even tougher game with A&M.  The schedule works out very well for us to get the bugs worked out early and jump into the conference schedule with the defensive engine running smoothly.  I like what I see and how it lines up for us.

OP, good post by the way.

[hawgmasta]

Robb Smith is the man; we have depth but we need some breakout stars to step up to the next level IMO. Not saying we don't already have the talent I just wouldn't mind a few guys leaving early to the NFL after this year because that'll mean they we're dominant in the SEC!

If we don't it's pretty incredible we will have 16. . . 16 players on the DL coming back! That's ridiculously awesome!

[Cinco de Hogo]

DL is the strength of our football team.

If the O line isn't just as much or more a strength then a lot of fans have been bragging about a certain coach for nothing.  There is no reason we can't be a solid two deep on the O line this year.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

If the O line isn't just as much or more a strength then a lot of fans have been bragging about a certain coach for nothing.  There is no reason we can't be a solid two deep on the O line this year.

We don't have the developed and experienced depth along the O-Line that we have with the defensive line. This is a situation that Pittman will attempt to resolve this season. We may have some excellent O-Linemen waiting in the wings that have seen a lot of practice reps, but they are going to need actual game reps to become experienced.

[Cinco de Hogo]

We don't have the developed and experienced depth along the O-Line that we have with the defensive line. This is a situation that Pittman will attempt to resolve this season. We may have some excellent O-Linemen waiting in the wings that have seen a lot of practice reps, but they are going to need actual game reps to become experienced.

I disagree, we have a lot more game experience in our starting OL than we do on the DL after that experience will have to be developed.  We have a lot of DE's but only two play at a time and only one has been a regular starter.  OL is more of a known quantity right now while depth is maybe a slightly better known quantity on the DL.  If recruiting and development is what it should be on the OL we will be fine.

[lumphog]

Wise will be one of the best DE's we've ever had.....Bookit Dano