Steve Sarkisian assesses the Texas D-line, a proclaimed strength of the defense

On3 imageby:Joe Cook08/08/22

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Last Wednesday, Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said he thought one of the strengths of his Longhorn defense would be the group manning the interior defensive line spots.

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With a number of larger-bodied players recruited to play in previous coach’s three-down linemen schemes, that being a strong point of the current Texas defense is easy to believe. But a few of the younger players brought on board by Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian have also made a few plays in the early portions of Texas training camp.

That said, last year the interior defensive line was no strength at all. Experienced players like Keondre Coburn, T’Vondre Sweat, and Moro Ojomo struggled throughout the season. Even younger players with bright flashes like Byron Murphy, Alfred Collins, and Vernon Broughton didn’t have the long stretches of good play Sarkisian wanted to see.

When asked Monday about that unit, Sarkisian rattled off a good amount of information regarding players who have fared well in the Longhorns’ first handful of preseason camp practices.

“Different guys have had different things to work on for their game,” Sarkisian said Monday. “Coburn, I feel him rushing the passer, which was something we wanted him to do. I didn’t want him to be a one-dimensional player. He’s got to have the ability to rush the passer.”

After posting 25 tackles during the shortened 2020 season, Coburn managed only 15 stops in 2021. His tackle for loss numbers went down, too. He made just 2.0 stops behind the line last season, compared to 4.5 in 2020.

Sarkisian offered praise to Coburn, but two other players who were seen playing with the second-team defense on Thursday drew the most accolades.

“Two guys that have jumped out at me so far in five days have been Byron Murphy and Vernon Broughton,” Sarkisian said. “They are exploding off the football. They’re playing hard. They’re playing with great effort. They’re getting around the ball. That’s been positive.”

Murphy made several impressive plays in his first year at Texas, pushing the experienced Coburn and Ojomo for playing time. In fact, he netted a start toward the end of the year versus Kansas. Broughton, an On3 Consensus four-star and Inside Texas’ No. 3 player in Texas in 2020, also helped to push the older tackle duo.

There were others who Sarkisian mentioned had shown out at certain points during the first few practices of training camp, but still had room for improvement when it came to down-after-down-after-down play.

“Guys that have flashed that I would love to see a little more consistency – and I talked to them about this – Sweat, definitely one of those guys. Alfred, another one of those guys,” Sarkisian said.

Collins and Sweat were spotted running with the third team in a recent media viewing period. Though the viewing period only provides a look at the defense when the personnel includes only two interior defensive linemen, it still indicates there is progress to be made by Nos. 93 and 95.

“You see it in them, and there’s flashes whether it’s a three play-spurt, a two-play spurt, a certain team period,” Sarkisian said. “Now we need to get that consistency out of them and that’s what’s going to take them to that next level.”

Ojomo was also mentioned as one of the “front-line” guys who is in the category of, in Sarkisian’s words, getting “back to that level of player we know he’s capable of.”

Texas could see some members of its 2022 class play in the defensive trenches this season, and Sarkisian took the time on Monday to individually praise a handful of players.

“Younger players, you see flashes,” Sarkisian said. “Jaray Bledsoe, what a pass-rusher, but we’ve got to make him a complete player. Zac Swanson, great toughness. Kris Ross, really good quickness. Aaron Bryant, good job of holding the point of attack, but we need the complete player out of all those guys. Everybody’s got stuff to work on, but they’re definitely impactful at practice. You feel those guys.”

Texas will have more data and information about how the defensive line looks when the full array of pads are on in Tuesday’s practice and defenders can start tackling to the ground. That will be one of the biggest determining factors of how improved the Longhorn defensive line is, but so far Sarkisian and company are pleased with the early returns.

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