Tag: Trajan Jeffcoat

Arkansas Preseason Depth Chart – Defensive End

Arkansas’ primary five-man rotation may not have star-power, but it has consistency, experience, and logged results.

Other than quarterback and running – positions at which Arkansas has All-SEC talent starting and a clear pecking order behind that player – only one other unit on the roster needed little shaping and molding heading into the regular season.

In fact, between the beginning of the Razorbacks’ spring camp to the end of it over the weekend, not one single player among the top six defensive ends on the roster moved a bit.

Consistency should be key for a group looking to replicate last year’s sack totals and improve, even, the front-line guard against the running game.

And while the latter, there, often falls more to the defensive tackles, Arkansas has a group of ends who can stuff the run with the best in the SEC.

Let’s take a look at how they stack up heading into Saturday’s opener.

Pittman, Hogs name the six Arkansas team captains for 2023

One newcomer to the team joined some Arkansas vets as the Razorbacks captains this upcoming season.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman has named his six team captains for the 2023 season.

Quarterback KJ Jefferson and running back Rocket Sanders were unsurprising selections. Offensive lineman Brady Latham and kicker Cam Little were the next most experienced choices. And defensive linemen Landon Jackson and Trajan Jeffcoat were the other two.

Jeffcoat is in his first year with Arkansas after an All-SEC career at Missouri. He had 20 tackles for the Tigers last year, but was a first-team All-SEC choice in 2020 when he registered six sacks.

Latham, Jefferson and Sanders were all preseason All-SEC choices from both the media and coaches earlier this summer. Little is on-pace to become Arkansas’ leading scorer, having been the team’s primary placekicker both of his previous seasons after arriving from high-school football in Oklahoma.

Arkansas opens its season Sept. 2 against Western Carolina in Little Rock.

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Sam Pittman calls defensive end Trajan Jeffcoat ‘a bad man’ following fall camp

Arkansas transfer defensive end Trajan Jeffcoat has stood out throughout fall camp and will lead a deep Razorback defensive line this season.

Throughout the 2023 fall camp, Arkansas’ defensive line has shown that it has the potential to be an elite position group this season.

The Razorbacks have historically struggled to get the right mix of athleticism, size and experience up front in the roster’s two and three-deep. That changed this offseason, as [autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag] and [autotag]Deke Adams[/autotag] were able to get an influx of transfers who will contribute immediately.

One of the most talented transfers on the defensive line is former Missouri defensive end [autotag]Trajan Jeffcoat[/autotag]. In four seasons with the Tigers, Jeffcoat recorded 84 total tackles (59 solo), 19.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery for touchdown. At 6-4, 281 pounds, Pittman says Jeffcoat is the ideal modern defensive end.

“In 1983, this (pointing to himself) is what an All-American defensive end looked like,” says Pittman. “2023, this (pointing to Jeffcoat) is what one of them looks like. He’s 280, can run 20 – what, 21? (miles per hour)”

“Very strong, very fast, great leader and to be honest with you, probably hungrier than you’ve ever been in your life, and that makes a big difference.”

Over the last two weeks through fall camp, Jeffcoat has become one of the standouts on the defensive side of the ball. He had another stellar performance in the team’s second – and final – scrimmage of camp last Saturday.

“It’s hard when you’ve got (Jeffcoat) coming off the edge,” Pittman said. “That’s a bad man back there. The other thing with him, we’re not going into the scrimmage saying we’re going to slide to him, we’re going to chip him or we’re going to do all those things. We’re trying to see if we have somebody that can block him.”

Jeffcoat is just one of a handful of experienced seniors on the defensive line. It looks like the Hogs could have the deepest defensive line group in modern history, with nine seniors and talented underclassmen like Landon Jackson and Nico Davillier.

We’ll get our first look at this Arkansas defensive line in a little over one week, when the Razorbacks open their season against Western Carolina. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. on Sept. 2 from War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

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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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