FAYETTEVILLE - The Arkansas football roster is dotted with position groups that are scrambling to find impact players and to gather depth, but the defensive tackle slot is not one of them.
The Razorbacks return one of the SEC’s most underrated standouts in veteran Byran Jones, as well as part-time starter Robert Thomas. The players behind them, like De-Marcus Hodge and redshirts Horace Arkadie and Darius Philon, are up-and-comers.
Even though the Hogs lost defensive captain Alfred Davis, DD Jones and Jared Green at defensive tackle, the stockpiling from recent seasons has left them in decent shape.
“From a talent standpoint, I feel we are up to some of the best lines in the Big Ten, but we have a long way to go from a fundamental standpoint,” defensive line coach Charlie Partridge said.
Jones, a 29-game starter who posted 52 tackles last season, including five stops for 29 lost yards, is the most experienced veteran on the defense. The Junction City native said he is trying to make himself harder to move on the interior and better able to fight off opposing linemen with his off season regime.
“My weight has been going up,” Jones said. “Coming out of last season I was 305, and I’ve put on 10 pounds of good wight. I’m 315 and looking to gain five or 10 more pounds.”
Jones said the added weight has not come at the expense of his quickness.
“Everything has been the same,” he said.
Beefing up on the defensive interior was a goal for Coach Bret Bielema and his staff.
“I think he’s moving well, and we want to get those guys as much good weight as they can carry without sacrificing any movement skills,” Partridge said. “Those guys are taking on double-teams 70 to 80 percent of the time.
“We want to put them in position to be successful, and that good weight helps. I think Byran is moving well and getting used to the weight cardiovascularly, and that will come. I am excited with his progress.”
Defensive coordinator Chris Ash said he knows Jones and Thomas, as well as returning defensive end starters Chris Smith and Trey Flowers, have logged many repetitions in SEC play the past three seasons.
“When you look at the strength of the whole football team, you would probably point out the defensive line as one of the strongest position groups on the football team,” Ash said. “I really like how those guys have worked and think they can be play makers for us.”
Jones is off to a decent start this spring, but he has areas to work on.
“Byran knows he needs to work on his footwork,” Partridge said. “If he can get his footwork in line, he can be a force.”
Jones is among the veterans, like safety Eric Bennett, who are learning from their third defensive coordinator in as many seasons, with Ash following Willy Robinson and Paul Haynes.
“Just learning the new plays has been the biggest adjustment,” Jones said. “The scheme is a little different, and just getting in the groove of Coach Ash’s defense.”
Jones, one of the most soft-spoken Razorbacks, said being a more vocal leader this season is one of his aims.
The new defensive brain trust is taking the installation slowly, starting with fundamentals over expanded schemes.
“We need to be great fundamentally, and we are not going to try and do a lot of things with movements and things like that,” Partridge said. “That has its time and place, but they have embraced the fundamentals teaching and there has been improvement every day, which is what I’ve been looking for.”
Sports, Pages 17 on 04/05/2013