DL's Inexperience Not A Concern

Quarterback, wide receiver, running back offensive line and even tight end to a degree, boxes are checked on offense. On the other side of the ball, the secondary, linebacker and even the hybrid linebacker/end spots are in solid-to-excellent shape.

North Carolina’s position group with a large question mark hanging over as the Tar Heels are into the second week of preseason practice is the interior of the defensive line. But the alarmist's notions of this being a major hole on the team may have been premature. At least if you ask the coaches and players. They've fully checked the confidence box.

“There’s a lot of guys there," UNC Coach Mack Brown said. "and that’s what we’ve got to do, we’ve got to figure out rotation. If it’s three deep that would be great."

The Heels have parts, as Brown noted, but do they have enough and will a couple of players emerge as high-end contributors? Those are the questions that only camp and games will answer.

“When you look through your room, you’re hoping everybody can add some value, whether it be in different packages, different personnel groupings, whatever the case may be,” defensive line coach Tim Cross said. “But I think, right off the top with the way they ended the year, Jahlil Taylor, Ray Vohasek, Tomari Fox are all being counted on.”

Gone from last year’s group were anchors Aaron Crawford and Jason Strowbridge, who combined to account for 1,384 snaps, 86 tackles and plenty of occupied blockers. Their value to the defense as a whole can be measured in several ways, including that they finished with two of the three highest grades on defense, with Crawford registering an 86.2 and Strowbridge a 78.1, according to PFF.

In their place, the staff is looking to the trio Cross mentioned plus hoping former 4-star local product Xach Gill can find his game, redshirt freshman Kritsian Varner continues developing and true freshmen Myles Murphy and/or Clyde Pinder can give them something.

The aforementioned Heels who have been in games combined to play 812 snaps last season, with Tomari Fox (255) and Taylor (239) getting the most game reps. Vohasek (157) saw most of his action over the last few games of the season. Their collective time at tackle increased over the last few games a season ago when Strowbridge played more outside.

The Heels are young and inexperienced up front, but there’s no sense in worrying about who’s gone or what this group lacks, Cross says.

“I don't have concerns about the lack of experience at all because there ain't nothing you can do about it,” he said. “So, there ain't no sense worrying about something you can't... I can't give them a pill and give them experience. It is what it is.”

Now, the group may lack some things, but talent isn’t necessarily on that list. Some players, such as Taylor and Vohasek, may have been underrated in high school, but that means nothing once a kid steps onto a college campus. UNC currently has two former walk-ons in the NFL in Mack Hollins and Cole Holcomb, illustrating how those ratings have no connection to how a player performs in college.

Tomari Fox, however, was 3-star prospect who had just eight Power 5 offers, but it was apparent as soon as he arrived plenty of schools missed on him. He was one of the team’s strongest players before it broke camp last August and was a solid player rotating at both tackle spots and a true defensive end position. He’s quick enough to play a bit outside and strong enough to play the four technique.

Fox finished last season with 32 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 4 TFLs, 8 QB hurries and a forced fumble.

“He is superhero strong and extremely smart (and) has great twitchiness,” Cross said. “And a lot of that comes from, he was a heavy weight wresting champ, so he knows leverage and balance and stuff like that and he really, really has invested in learning the defense and holds himself accountable, so he continues to grow daily.”

Taylor was perhaps the most consistent of the returning Heels up front and likely has a solid grip on the nose tackle spot that Crawford held last fall. The 6-foot, 300-pounder registered 11 tackles and three QB hurries, but he’s best measured by how many blockers he consumes.

“When you look at him, he doesn’t look like he would be as quick or as twitchy as he really is, but he really is,” Cross said. “He’s quick, he’s smart, he’s got some explosion to him.”

Taylor, who says he's working at both tackle spots in camp, is embracing the very important role of leadership within the youthful group. That's a sign of growth.

“We’re a young group and we had two big dogs leave us last year, so with them gone we needed somebody to step up," he said. "So I feel like that leadership trait is really important with the young group that we have.”

Vohasek couldn’t lift weights for basically two yers after suffering a shoulder injury that forced him to miss a year in junior college. It also kept him from fully diving into UNC’s full strength program until well into last season. It’s no coincidence that’s when his game moved up a couple of notches.

He finished with 15 tackles, including a sack, five TFLs and two QB hurries.

“Ray has a nastiness about him, a physicality about him,” Cross said. “I’ll put it like this, you guys know when you get grown man strength, he’s got some grown man strength on him. So, now, he’s able to max that with some weight room strength with coach (Brian) Hess, so he’s just the tip of the iceberg on where his strength and condition stuff can go from here.

“The stuff he was doing with power bombing guys in the backfield, that’s just grown man strength right there.”

Brown has praised Vohasek as the player in the program who has improved the most since this time a year ago, always noting his late-season improvement.

“It was just putting everything together,” Vohasek said. “Coach Cross teaching me technique all year, preaching it, I have to go back and (do) drills over and over, just keep working. And that whole season I was in the weight room with Hess just working and working.

“And as the season went along, I picked it up more and more and I came on as the season went.”

Gill is long at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, so he has plenty of leverage. He also has high-end talent, so it’s a matter of putting everything together. His numbers for last season: 10 tackles, including a sack, and four QB hurries.

Varner, who is 6-foot-3 and up to 300 pounds, made huge progress during the bowl practices in December, but may suffered from spring practice being cancelled. But his raw talent and additional reps gained this month are helping him catch up. And then there are the newcomers.

But it begins with Taylor, Fox and Vohasek. They are the three who must play up to a standard to better situate the Tar Heels for a run at the ACC championship game. While there remains considerable unknown here, defensive coordinator Jay Bateman isn’t worried one bit.

“I think Tomari’s going to really be a dynamite player, Ray’s going to come along and Jahlil by the end of (last) season was one of our best (defensive) 11 players,” he said. “I feel really good about that and I think that’s a position that Tim Cross has done a great job recruiting, so we’re excited about those kids coming in so there won’t be that gulf in your depth.”

Cross and Bateman are confident, so that should quell some concerns as the opener is less than a month away.