How Auburn revamped its defensive line

[aubiefifty 18,248]

How Auburn revamped its defensive line

Published: Aug. 31, 2022, 10:28 a.m.

4-5 minutes

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By

• Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com

Auburn’s defensive line might be the deepest unit on the team despite losing seven players from last season to either transfer portal or graduation. Defensive line coach and former Tiger great Jimmy Brumbaugh coaches a group that wants to cause chaos for quarterbacks in the Southeastern Conference.

Colby Wooden leads the group at defensive end. The 6′4 285-pound senior had 61 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hurries, and five sacks last season. He’s projected as an early-round NFL Draft pick. Head coach Bryan Harsin believes Wooden deserves more accolades for what he brings to the defense.

“Colby Wooden doesn’t get enough credit,” I probably need to talk more about Colby because of what he does on a day-to-day basis, he’s so consistent, and he’s getting better. He’s just one of those guys. We all expect that from him, but I don’t think we all understand how hard it is to do what he does. And when Colby is going, man, things are good. He can make a huge difference on the defensive line.”

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Morris Joseph is a transfer player from Memphis. He’s listed as Wooden’s backup. He posted 38 tackles, with 4.5 tackles for loss for the Tigers last season. Joseph is a smaller player at 281 pounds, but his teammates don’t see it as an issue.

“He’s a very experienced guy. And even though he’s not that big, he still plays big, and he’s a very good pass rusher,” defensive tackle Marcus Harris said. “Going against the run game, he’s very smart. He knows how to gather the blocks quick and go back to play. And he has a lot of hustle. He’ll chase down the play from the backside and still be running. So he kind of motivates the whole D-line. So pick up our game, chasing after the ball and little stuff like that.”

Eight out of 10 players Auburn acquired in the transfer portal made the official two-deep roster. Jayson Jones is one of those eight and the only one to make the starting lineup. The Oregon transfer is a classic space-eating Nose Tackle at 6-foot-6 and 328 pounds.

“Jayson is one of my favorite guys. I think he’s highly intelligent. He works very hard,” Harsin said. “He’s very coachable. I think he’s really prepared himself to go out there and play. And just from what I’ve seen, his whole process has been very good and I think that’s why he will be out there playing. Why I think he’s going to go out there and play well too. He has that mentality of preparing himself to go out there and play the way he needs to on the defensive line.”

Marquis Burks is the backup Nose Tackle. Brumbaugh regularly rotates linemen, so Burks should get plenty of action in pivotal moments. Rounding out the defensive line was a contested position battle at defensive tackle between Harris and transfer Jeffery M’Ba.

Harris got the starting nod. He had 27 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks last season for Auburn after transferring from Kansas. M’Ba came to Auburn as a highly-touted junior college transfer after playing two seasons at Independence College. Both will see lots of opportunities to rush quarterbacks and help the Tigers stop the running attack of opposing defenses.

Harsin seems confident with the depth and flexibility of his defensive line.

“You’ve got to have that two deep on the d-line, so they’re all going to play. They’re going to rotate in,” Harsin said. “I don’t know exactly what the rotation is, but all those guys will be out there playing, and from what I’ve seen, and I think what Jimmy’s done with that group, we’ve got a good group on the d-line, and I feel like those guys are just excited to get out there and go play and do a great job up front, help the linebackers out behind them.”

Auburn begins the season on Saturday with a 6 pm CT kick against Mercer on ESPN+.

[bigbird 60,939]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

Eight out of 10 players Auburn acquired in the transfer portal made the official two-deep roster.

Sounds like a strong anchoring to me...

 

[Randman5000 4,271]

Wow.