Tag: Tank Booker

Arkansas defensive tackle Tank Booker to portal after just one year with Hogs

Booker, a run-stuffer, had 19 tackles in his lone season with the Razorbacks.

Tank Booker is leaving Fayetteville.

The Arkansas defensive tackle announced his entry into the transfer portal on Tuesday afternoon with a message on Twitter/X.

“Sometimes, your plan and God’s plan for you do not coincide,” Booker wrote. “With that, I am entering my name into the transfer portal for my graduate year.”

Booker played one season with Arkansas after four years at Maryland. With the Razorbacks in 2023, Booker struggled to crack the top-four rotation at defensive tackle.

The 351-pounder has one season of college football remaining after a fair season with the Hogs. He finished the year with 19 tackles, including two for-loss. That total was eight and three fewer than he had with the Terrapins in 2022.

Arkansas’ defensive line was good in Booker’s one season. Landon Jackson, who announced his return last week, was an All-SEC defensive end and Cam Ball, the team’s top defensive tackle, also announced he would return in 2023.

Razorbacks’ first scrimmage of fall camp shows depth will be tested once again

Following the first scrimmage of fall camp, injuries provide a reminder of how important depth will be to Arkansas’ success this season.

Life in the SEC is a grind but the most successful teams are the ones that can handle the grueling demands of playing in college football’s best conference.

This is usually brought up when talking about the quality of teams in the conference and difficult schedules that come from that – a problem Arkansas fans are all too familiar with. However, the other issue that comes with playing in the SEC is depth. As mentioned before, the best teams in the SEC are almost always the ones that have the depth to handle injuries at key positions.

Last year, Arkansas saw firsthand how injuries can pile up and railroad an entire season. When the injury bug reared its’ ugly head in the secondary and to starting quarterback [autotag]KJ Jefferson[/autotag], the Razorbacks were pretty much done for.

[autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag] knows that in order to compete in the SEC you have to have starting-level talent in the two-deep, and sometimes even three-deep, of your depth chart. That was what Pittman set out to accomplish this offseason.

Saturday, the Razorbacks held their first scrimmage of fall camp. The running backs showed out and the defensive line made life difficult on the quarterbacks, but unfortunately the team suffered some injuries at key positions.

“We did have a couple of guys get banged up out there with [autotag]Sam Mbake[/autotag] and [autotag]Nathan Bax[/autotag],” Pittman said to the media following Saturday’s practice. “At this time I don’t know the full extent of either one of their injuries.”

Later that evening, Mbake posted on social media that fans would “have to wait a lil longer” and to “trust the process” which might indicate that he will miss an extended period of time with this injury. Pittman also mentioned that projected starting linebacker [autotag]Chris Paul Jr.[/autotag], left tackle [autotag]Devon Manuel[/autotag] and defensive tackle [autotag]Tank Booker[/autotag] were all three held out of action due to injuries.

Wide receiver, tight end, linebacker and offensive line are areas of concern for Arkansas this season, meaning health could play an important role in the level of success for those position groups. For the first time in a really long time, defensive line has the luxury of depth.

Pittman did say that if it was an actual game, then the trio of Paul, Manuel and Booker likely would’ve played. While that is a positive sign, seeing injuries in key areas should hammer home the importance of depth and having guys be able to step up.

It’s certainly not the last time this season that Pittman’s Hogs will face adversity due to injuries, let’s just hope that they’re better prepared to handle that than a year ago.

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Sam Pittman remains impressed with Arkansas defensive line

Defensive line has traditionally been a weak spot at Arkansas, but Deke Adams and Sam Pittman appear to have changed that in 2023.

Defensive line has traditionally been weak area for Arkansas football during the modern era of college football (circa 2000). A lot of legendary defensive linemen have come through the program in that time, but it’s been tough for the Razorbacks to field a deep, experienced and top-tier group up front.

However, that has changed for 2023.

Arkansas’ defensive line is easily one of the most experienced and, more importantly, the deepest groups up front that in recent memory. One thing that [autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag] and [autotag]Deke Adams[/autotag] wanted to do this offseason was build quality depth up front.

[autotag]Landon Jackson[/autotag], who represented the team at SEC Media Days, and [autotag]Zach Williams[/autotag] are two of the only major contributors from last year’s D-line to return this year.

Outside of those guys, Pittman and Adams had to hit the transfer portal really hard to fill out the rest of the defensive line and were extremely successful in doing that. At the ends they brought in [autotag]John Morgan III[/autotag] (Pittsburgh) and [autotag]Trajan Jeffcoat[/autotag] (Missouri) – both seniors.

On the interior, Anthony Booker aka [autotag]Tank Booker[/autotag] (Maryland) was a major addition. He had 25 tackles, four tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two sacks in 2022. [autotag]Keivie Rose[/autotag] (Lousiana Tech) was a late addition but another important piece. Rose earned first team All-Conference USA in 2022.

There’s also some really talented underclassmen that haven’t played much but will play a role in the defensive line this year. Jashaud Stewart returns but only played sparingly last season. Taurean Carter missed all of 2022 with a torn ACL but is back for this year. Cameron Ball provides depth inside, Nico Davillier provides depth as an edge rusher and Eric Gregory can play at either position.

The Razorbacks are three-deep across the defensive line – on the interior and at the ends. Arkansas will also have nine scholarship seniors on the defensive line this season. The size up front is also something that sticks out, as this group just looks like an elite-level defensive front and Pittman agrees.

“We’re big. They run well and play well together,” said Pittman following the first practice of fall camp. “It starts out at the ends. We’re huge at defensive end right now and guys can run.

But I was mostly looking at some of the new guys in indy (individual group drills) and we’re big. All of those guys can move. Certainly that will help us in the run.”

Across the board, this might just be the best this position group has been at Arkansas in modern history. It has the potential to be. If the Razorbacks hope to rekindle some of the magic and success of the 2021 season, the defensive line is going to play a massive role in that.

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Arkansas lands potential starter on defensive line out of transer portal

The Razorbacks need lots of help on defensive line. Tank Booker will provide that.

Perhaps the thinnest unit on the Arkansas roster received a much-needed injection Wednesday.

Tank Booker, a transfer from Maryland, committed to Arkansas to play defensive tackle out of the portal. He should slot right with Cameron Ball, Taurean Carter and Eric Gregory in the middle. Ball is currently injured and Carter didn’t play last year because of the same.

Booker had 27 tackles, including five for loss for the Terrapins last year, with two sacks and two force fumbles. It was his first season in the regular rotation, though he had played each of the previous three years in a depth role.

Carter is a former part-time starter at defensive tackle two seasons ago. Gregory has started both on the inside and outside of the defensive line. Ball was a regular in the rotation, too. But Arkansas lost its two primary starters in Terry Hampton and Isaiah Nichols.

The reality is Arkansas could use any and all help it can get after finishing 124th in FBS in total defense in 2022.

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Ohio State makes transfer defensive tackle’s top 5

The Buckeyes are looking to add defensive line depth from the portal #GoBucks

Although spring practice is coming to a close, Ohio State continues looking to add depth to its defensive line, specifically the interior.

Last year [autotag]Mike Hall[/autotag] had trouble staying on the field due to injuries and [autotag]Tyleik Williams[/autotag] played sparingly behind him, [autotag]Taron Vincent[/autotag] and [autotag]Jerron Cage[/autotag]. Defensive line coach [autotag]Larry Johnson[/autotag] rotates plenty of bodies within his position group, so depth is paramount.

Enter former Maryland defensive tackle [autotag]Tank Booker[/autotag]. The Ohio native entered the portal at the beginning of March after spending his first four seasons with Maryland. He enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2022, registering 27 tackles with two sacks and two forced fumbles.

Booker released his top five schools Saturday with Ohio State making the cut along with Purdue, South Carolina, Arkansas and Texas A&M.

According to this report from Hale McGranahan of 247Sports, Booker is set to make his choice on April 12. We will know soon where Tank will end up.

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