As I've read in several other articles, it appears that only Dee Ford has that explosive burst off the edge that the coaches are looking for. And someone like Carl Lawson may have that same burst and be able to contribute right away. At least that's what I'm hoping. But I gotta' say, seeing stuff like this below, makes me think we're going to get better much sooner than later. With any new corching staff, you hear the same rhetoric about changing things up and getting some excitement back in the program. But these guys appear to be putting in the work and genuinely trying to get better fast. cops-n-pastas al.kum
A common thread runs through the SEC's defenses, the hallmark of the nation's most powerful conference, rib-rattling units that even the playing field against college football's ever-growing onslaught of offense. And it's not any one scheme. Teams have built top-10 SEC defenses in the 3-4, the 4-3, the 4-2-5, the nickel, the dime and every variation in between.
What separates the SEC from the rest is a relentless, vicious pass rush, common to nearly all of the best defensive units from a conference that can put five defenses in the top 10 nationally without breaking a sweat. Auburn has been searching for that kind of pass rush for the past two seasons.
"Obviously," defensive line coach Rodney Garner said at the Columbus-Phenix City Auburn Club's annual banquet Monday night, "we definitely need improvement in that area from a defensive line standpoint."
Over the past two years, the Tigers have just 44 sacks -- 1.76 per game -- a mark that ranks in the lower half of the SEC. Of those 44 sacks, 30.5 came from the defensive line, and 15 -- nearly half of the defensive line's total -- were racked up by Corey Lemonier, who was drafted in the third round by the San Francisco 49ers.
Dee Ford, who led the Tigers with six sacks in 2012, has accounted for seven more despite playing fully healthy for roughly half of the games over two years. Put together, Lemonier and Ford have accounted for 22 of the defensive line's 30.5 sacks.
"(Ford) is our best, and, at this point, our only pass rusher that is giving us the kind of pass rush we’ve got to get to be successful and compete with some of the top teams in this league," defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said in April. Behind Ford's leadership, Auburn's experienced defensive linemen are doing something on their own to improve the Tigers' pass rush in 2012.
This week, the week after Auburn's final exams, most of the Tigers' roster is free to take some time before hitting summer workouts hard. But the bulk of Auburn's defensive linemen are in Atlanta, training with former Falcons pass-rusher Chuck Smith at Smith's annual pass-rush camp for collegiate and pro players.
"The few days they’ve got off, they’re actually up in Atlanta training with Chuck Smith," Garner said. "I was really excited that those guys were going to take this time to try to devote to sharpen their tools and develop their craft, and take some ownership of things.â€
Smith, a nine-year NFL veteran who posted double-digit sacks three times in the pros and leads Go Football 365 in Atlanta, puts collegiate and NFL pass rushers through an intensive camp designed to work on every aspect of a player's pass rushing moves.
Or in other words, exactly what Garner asked his defensive ends to do this summer. Other than Ford, the rest of Auburn's post-spring depth chart -- Ken Carter, Nosa Eguae, Craig Sanders -- at the position do not have the explosive first step associated with premier SEC pass rushers.
"But they can improve their first step," Garner said. "They’ve got to really perfect using their hands, learning to get their hips open, create edges, being able to convert from a power to a speed move, a speed to a power move, put different things in their toolbox." And Ford is no exception, either.
Already good off the edge, Garner wants Ford to be more than just a speed rusher next season after teams took advantage of his tendency to take a wide route to the quarterback and leave seams open.
"Dee can’t just be an up-the-field, speed, edge rusher," Garner said. "He’s got to come up with some different kind of moves too. That’s the thing that we tried to work on this spring in the little 15-day period that we had."
As Auburn heads into the long summer months, the Tigers have to find a way to keep getting better, learning more technique, adding moves to the arsenal. Smith's camp can help, but competition can also be a heck of a motivator. Auburn pulled in three highly-rated defensive line recruits in ends Carl Lawson, Elijah Daniel and tackle Montravius Adams. All three bring reputations as excellent pass rushers, none more so than Lawson, who had 27 sacks last year at Milton (Ga.) High and rocketed to the top of the recruiting rankings.
If Auburn's veterans want to hold onto playing time, they're going to have to soak up the information learned from Garner during spring practices and Smith's camp. Auburn needs to start putting fear in quarterbacks again for the defense to turn things around in Johnson's first season as defensive coordinator. "That’s why I think it was real critical for them to sacrifice and go work on that craft right now with a guy that did it at the highest level," Garner said. "Doing the little integral things that you need to do to be a great pass rusher."
The SEC already has plenty. Auburn needs a few more.
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