Auburn’s defensive line what we know and do not know

[aubiefifty 17,492]

Summer School: What we know, don’t know about Auburn’s defensive line

Josh Vitale, Montgomery Advertiser Published 7:00 a.m. CT June 15, 2020

7-9 minutes

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EDITOR’S NOTE:This is the sixth in a nine-part series breaking down Auburn’s 2020 roster position by position now that the team has resumed workouts for a potentially pandemic-affected college football season.

AUBURN — The offensive line and secondary lost four of five starters from last year’s team, but there still may be no position on Auburn’s roster that lost more than the defensive line.

It's only three players. But two of them, defensive tackle Derrick Brown and defensive end Marlon Davidson, will go down as two of the best in program history. Both were All-Americans as seniors (Brown was unanimous). The former was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, and the latter in the second.

But while that does leave some questions for the Tigers to answer up front, no one would argue that the defensive line is a “question mark” going into the 2020 season. When Carl Lawson and Montravius Adams left after 2016, Jeff Holland and Brown stepped in to replace them. When Holland left after 2017, Nick Coe stepped forward. When Dontavius Russell departed after 2018, Tyrone Truesdell was there to take his place.

Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele and defensive line coach Rodney Garner have created a pipeline where, when one talented player leaves, there’s another one right behind him to pick up the slack.

Here’s what we know and don’t know about those players going into the 2020 season:

The lineup

Big Kat Bryant (Sr.), T.D. Moultry (Sr.), Daquan Newkirk (Sr.), Tyrone Truesdell (Sr.), Marquise Burks (Jr.), Coynis Miller Jr. (Jr.), Dre Butler (So.), Derick Hall (So.), Jaren Handy (So.), Caleb Johnson (So.), Colby Wooden (R-Fr.), Daniel Foster-Allen (Fr.), Jay Hardy (Fr.), Romello Height (Fr.), Zykeivous Walker (Fr.)

What we know

What we know is that making up for the loss of the experience, production and playmaking ability of Brown and Davidson will be a significant challenge, no matter how much depth Auburn has at the position.

Davidson, a four-year starter at defensive end, was one of the best pass-rushers in the SEC last season, finishing fifth with 7 ½ sacks to go along with 12 ½ tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. He was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week four times. Brown’s counting stats don’t jump off the page (four sacks, 12 ½ tackles for loss, two forced fumbles) but his ability to get into the backfield and disrupt opposing offenses certainly did. He was earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors three times and was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

It is impossible to simply replace that caliber of player, but not unreasonable to ask more of the players coming up behind them, like Auburn once did with Brown, Holland, Coe and Truesdell.

That means Bryant converting his team-leading nine quarterback hurries into more tackles for loss and sacks, like Davidson did between his junior and senior seasons. Moultry shaking off the bouts of inconsistency that have dogged him throughout the past two years of his career and becoming a real threat off the edge. Hall growing from true freshman rotational player to sophomore producer. Miller and Newkirk going from spelling Brown to playing in his place.

Those five players combined to total only 8 1/2 tackles for loss and 3 1/2 sacks last season. Truesdell had five tackles for loss and three sacks as a starter. That was effective with Davidson and Brown there to play starring roles, but won't be enough with them gone.

But there’s something to be said for knowing that opportunity to play more snaps and need for more contributions is there.

“It’s like, ‘Now I got to get it,’” Davidson said of Miller in December. “It clicks, like, Derrick is gone, what are you going to do, who’s going to step up now? He’s taking the front step toward that.”

What we don’t know

What we don’t know is which of the team’s young or new players are going to be a part of the rotation this season. Because some certainly will — Garner likes to rotate at least eight and up to 10 or more players along the defensive front.

Bryant and Truesdell, both starters last season, will certainly be a part of that. So too should Moultry, Hall, Miller and Newkirk, who were all consistent parts of the rotation. But that’s only six.

Two returning players to watch are Handy and Wooden, both of whom were four-star recruits ranked in the top-25 nationally at their positions in the 2019 class. The former totaled only seven tackles in seven appearances as a true freshman, but he was a coveted prospect out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who is strong and athletic enough to play both end and tackle. The latter hardly made an impact in four games, but there was a reason for that — a bout of mononucleosis during the summer set him back. He didn’t start regaining his full strength until later in the season.

"He’s stronger, he’s leaner and he’s more powerful and explosive, and you can see it when you come to practice," Davidson said. "You be like, ‘Yeah, Colby, you got your juice back now.’ He just has fun with that type of thing. He’s going to be a good player, too.”

Then there are the team’s six newcomers at the position, a group which brings tantalizing potential. Auburn went out and got Burks and Butler from junior colleges for an immediate infusion of experienced depth, and the latter has a the potential to be an impact player after totaling 66 tackles, 22 tackles for loss and 11 ½ sacks in his lone season at Independence (Kan.) Community College — the No. 4-ranked JUCO prospect can play both tackle and end at 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds.

Four-star freshmen Walker and Hardy don’t have that experience, but they may have the raw talent to contribute as rookies the way Davidson and Brown once did — the 6-foot-4, 267-pound Walker is the No. 3-ranked defensive end in the 2020 class, and the 6-foot-3, 298-pound Hardy the No. 13 ranked defensive tackle.

Breakout candidate

Newkirk. The former four-star recruit and top-10 JUCO prospect was unlucky during his first two offseasons at Auburn. He suffered an Achilles injury prior to spring practice in 2018, came back to total seven tackles in eight games, then suffered another one prior to the 2019 season. He came back to play in 12 games last year, but finished with only five tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. This is a player, though, who Garner said “checks every box” for what you’re looking for in a defensive tackle. He’s 6-foot-3 and 306 pounds and has “cannons for arms,” per Brown. He has also been healthy this offseason, which could end up making all the difference. He’ll surely be a factor in the competition for Brown’s vacated starting role.

They said it

“I think the defensive line is still going to be strong, to be honest. That guy Daquan Newkirk, he hasn’t gotten as many snaps as he wanted to this year because of Derrick and Coynis Miller. And T.D. Moultry, we’re still looking for that guy to have a breakout year. And then Big Kat Bryant, he didn’t make the plays that he wanted to make this year. Next year he’s going to make those plays. I feel like it’s not going to be a drop-off anywhere. I mean, we got Derick Hall coming on, Colby Wooden coming off his redshirt year, getting bigger faster stronger, we got Jaren Handy — I don’t see a drop-off anywhere. … They’re going to be the next best thing.” — Davidson

[Rednilla 5,406]

Love to hear Marlon talking up his teammates, but I would be surprised if we don't have a dropoff in production from the D-line this fall. Losing a first and second rounder who were both 4 year starters is rough.

[McLoofus 35,182]

8 minutes ago, Rednilla said:

Love to hear Marlon talking up his teammates, but I would be surprised if we don't have a dropoff in production from the D-line this fall. Losing a first and second rounder who were both 4 year starters is rough.

Agreed. Only hope is that we get more production off the edge. Which is a distinct possibility compared to the last 2 years. 

 

[bigbird 60,701]

1 hour ago, Rednilla said:

Love to hear Marlon talking up his teammates, but I would be surprised if we don't have a dropoff in production from the D-line this fall. Losing a first and second rounder who were both 4 year starters is rough.

We've said that every year we've had a big group move on. So far, it hasn't happened yet. I think we've recruited well enough to continue that trend.

[McLoofus 35,182]

15 minutes ago, bigbird said:

We've said that every year we've had a big group move on. So far, it hasn't happened yet. I think we've recruited well enough to continue that trend.

I'll be that guy. I said we'd get better after Lawson and Adams. I don't feel that way this time, but I'm heartened to see somebody with your creds say this. 

Hoping Golf sees this and looking forward to his response if he does. 

[AUpreacherman22 3,910]

The more I read about our 2020 defense, the more encouraging it seems.  
We lost a lot, no doubt!   But I like the guys we have on roster.  
DL - as mentioned in article, we’ve got some guys we like.  We just need a few new guys to step up and there are several guys ready to do just that!   
LB - One of the strengths on the whole team.  The entire rotation is back and ready to go nuts!

DB - We lost the most quantity here.  But I really like our potential here.  We need a couple of CBs to step up and a couple of new guys to be able to play well enough to give our starters a breather.  
 

Overall, I think our D can play to the standard we’ve come to expect under CKS and Co.  And that is very encouraging!

[Rednilla 5,406]

7 hours ago, bigbird said:

We've said that every year we've had a big group move on. So far, it hasn't happened yet. I think we've recruited well enough to continue that trend.

I sure hope you're right. I haven't felt as iffy about the D-line as I do this year in quite some time...perhaps because the last time it happened, Brown and Davidson were right there to make me feel better. There's not a 5 star D-lineman we've gotten since Brown to do the same thing. I certainly hope you're right, that the guys we have already will make it a seamless transition. And maybe I should trust Garner more, because he's sure done a slam up job so far...but color me uncertain.