Page 4 - Arkansas Football Sept 2016

4K Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Sunday, August 28, 2016
Preseason polls Bold indicates SEC team Associated Press
m The Associated Press preseason college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses:
USA Today coaches
m The USA Today coaches preseason college football poll,
with first-place votes in parentheses:
2015 REC PTS
1. Alabama (55) ............................... 14-1 1,585
2. Clemson (7)...............................................14-1 1,524 3. Oklahoma...................................................11-2 1,398 4. Florida State (1).........................................10-3 1,351 5. Ohio State ..................................................12-1 1,321 6. LSU ............................................ 9-3 1,241 7. Stanford .....................................................12-2 1,149 8. Michigan ....................................................10-3 1,062 9. Notre Dame ...............................................10-3 1,034 10. Tennessee .................................. 9-4 960 11. Michigan State.........................................12-2 901 12. Mississippi ................................ 10-3 792 13. Houston ...................................................13-1 668 14. TCU..........................................................11-2 649 15. Iowa .........................................................12-2 579 16. Georgia..................................... 10-3 525 17. Southern Cal.............................................8-6 468 18. Washington ..............................................7-6 454 19. Oklahoma State.......................................10-3 426 20. North Carolina .........................................11-3 422 21. Baylor.......................................................10-3 383 22. Oregon......................................................9-4 361 23. Louisville...................................................8-5 331 24. UCLA.........................................................8-5 296 25. Florida ...................................... 10-4 245 OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES Miami 120, Wisconsin 82, Utah 73, Boise State 73, Washington State 47, Texas A&M 37, Arkansas 34, Texas 34, Northwestern 31, Navy 30, Missis- sippi State 19, San Diego State 18, Nebraska 17, Auburn 17, Western Kentucky 11, Pittsburgh 8, Brigham Young 6, Appalachian State 4, Duke 3, Arizona 2, Marshall 2, Toledo 2, South Florida 2, Memphis 1, Indiana 1, Northern Illinois 1.
2015 REC.
1. Alabama (33) .................... 14-1
2. Clemson (16)............................. 14-1
3. Oklahoma (4)............................. 11-2
4. Florida State (5)......................... 10-3
5. LSU (1).............................9-3
6. Ohio State (1) ............................ 12-1
7. Michigan (1) .............................. 10-3
8. Stanford ..................................... 12-2
9. Tennessee.........................9-4
10. Notre Dame ............................. 10-3
11. Mississippi ..................... 10-3
12. Michigan State......................... 12-2
13. TCU .......................................... 11-2
14. Washington .............................. 7-6
15. Houston ................................... 13-1
16. UCLA......................................... 8-5
17. Iowa ......................................... 12-2
18. Georgia..........................10-3
19. Louisville................................... 8-5
20. Southern Cal............................. 8-6
21. Oklahoma State. ...................... 10-3
22. North Carolina ......................... 11-3
23. Baylor....................................... 10-3
24. Oregon ...................................... 9-4
25. Florida ........................... 10-4
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES Miami 159, Texas A&M 81, Utah 74, Washington State 68, Boise State 49, San Diego State 46, Wisconsin 42, Auburn 22, Pittsburgh 15, Arkan- sas 14, Texas 12, Nebraska 11, Navy 8, Northwestern 5, Western Kentucky 4, South Florida 2, Toledo 2.
PTS PV
1,469 1
1,443 2 1,352 5 1,325 14 1,269 16 1,224 4 1,147 12 1,029 3 1,021 22 1,006 11
718 10
710 6 707 11 651 NR 644 8 496 NR 484 9 448 NR 447 NR 344 NR 316 20 283 15 280 13 218 19 180 25
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE
With a significant amount of depth available, Arkansas defensive line coach Rory Segrest (cen- ter) has emphasized the need for his players to play multiple positions.
D-line
v Continued from Page 2K
In addition to the large veteran pres- ence, redshirt freshman T.J. Smith is a favorite of the coaches, and Daytrieon Dean has shown promise. To top it off, the incoming freshman class of Agim, Austin Capps, Briston Guidry and Jon- athan Marshall looks like a dominating front four of the near future.
“I’ve never seen this much depth on a defensive line,” Roesler said. “We have 18 or 19 people in the defensive line room. A bunch of those freshmen, they’re a lot stronger than freshmen should be.
“So yeah, we have a lot of depth. Any- body could step in at any time.”
Johnson said he thinks three people could rotate at each spot on the line.
“I think that’s just a testament to recruiting, a testament to the strength staff and just a testament to how hard every guy on the D-line has worked since they’ve been here,” Johnson said. “I think this is a year where we can be fully deep and we can stay fresh in our games and really make an impact.”
But Johnson pointed out midway through camp that just because the Ra- zorbacks have solid numbers and hype, it doesn’t mean much unless they produce during the season.
“Coach Segrest stresses no matter how good we think we are or people tell us we are, there are always things we can work on,” Johnson said. “If we buy into that we can truly live up to our true potential.”
Coaches have emphasized how being able to play multiple positions adds to the line’s flexibility, the variety of blitz
PLAYER HT
Deatrich Wise 6-5 Jeremiah Ledbetter 6-3 Tevin Beanum 6-4 Taiwan Johnson 6-2 JaMichael Winston 6-4 Karl Roesler 6-1 Bijhon Jackson 6-2 Brandon Lewis 6-4 T.J. Smith 6-3 Daytrieon Dean 6-3 McTelvin Agim 6-3 Austin Capps 6-4 Briston Guidry 6-3 Jonathan Marshall 6-4
WT
CL
2015 2015 TKLS SACKS-YDS
31 10.5-52 55 7.5-27 30 7-27 28 5-16 21 1-1 15 3-18 7 1.5-5
injured — — — — — — — — — — — —
Who's available
m Arkansas figures to have a strong and deep set of de- fensive linemen this season:
271
280
251
284
260
256
335
274
285
281
289 Fr. 309 Fr. 294 Fr. 299 Fr.
Sr. Sr. Jr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Jr. Sr. RS Fr. RS Fr.
packages available and the ability to bet- ter cope with injuries.
“There’s many guys on this defensive line who can play multiple positions,” said Ledbetter, who heads the list of ver- satile linemen.
Ledbetter started at defensive end last year but he is training at the inside “3 technique” spot. Johnson had a breakout sophomore season at nose guard, played the 3 technique last year and is now back at the nose.
“I think Jeremiah Ledbetter back in- side for us can provide some explosive- ness and things that [Darius] Philon did for us on the interior,” defensive coor- dinator Robb Smith said. “We saw what Taiwan Johnson did for us two years ago at that nose position, so I think we’ve moved some guys around."
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