Tiger pass rushers could be turning the corner

At least one Missouri football player misses the reporters that usually mill about on the sidelines during fall camp.

Senior defensive end Tre Williams said Friday that he wishes the media could be present as the Tigers hold their first camp under new head coach Eliah Drinkwitz. (Due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, all practice sessions are off-limits and interviews have been conducted via Zoom.) Even though he’s always been an eager talker, it’s not so much that Williams misses having a scrum to entertain after practice. Instead, Williams believes if reporters could see the defensive line rush the passer, the questions about the pass rush that have persisted across the past two seasons might finally go away.

“I wish you guys could come to practice, man,” Williams said. “We’re getting about six sacks a practice. A practice. If you want more sacks than that, we all should just name ourselves Von Miller.”

It’s not hard to understand why Williams and the other defensive linemen have grown tired of the incessant inquiries about where a pass rush might come from. Once known as “D Line Zou” for fielding a succession of edge rushers who racked up big sack numbers in college then went on to experience NFL success, Missouri has suddenly struggled to pressure the quarterback in recent seasons. The 2018 team slipped to No. 66 nationally with 27 sacks. Last year’s iteration was even worse, ranking No. 106 nationally and dead last in the SEC with 19. Only four of those sacks came from the position the Tigers were not so long ago known for: defensive end.

Defensive line coach Brick Haley said the team’s goal is to record two sacks for every 12 opponent pass attempts (also known as one in six). That comes out to a sack on 16.7 percent of dropbacks. While that might be slightly unrealistic — if the Tigers had hit that rate last season, they would have recorded 62 sacks, eight more than nation-leading Ohio State had in two more games — the defense was pretty far off, converting just over 5 percent of opponent pass attempts (not including scrambles) into sacks.

While Missouri brings back its leading sack man from last season in defensive tackle Kobie Whiteside, there are questions as to whether Whiteside can replicate the productivity when he’s not playing next to Jordan Elliott, who got picked by Cleveland in the third round of the NFL Draft. Add in the fact that Missouri didn’t bring in anyone new who projects as an immediate difference-maker along the defensive line, and it would seem fair to wonder whether pressuring the quarterback can be anything other than a weakness again this season.

But based on the first week of fall camp, there may be cause for optimism. Even though he spends most of his time working with the offensive side of the ball, Drinkwitz has liked what he’s seen from the pass rush so far. He confirmed that the defense recorded six sacks during the first practice in “shells” — not quite full pads, but enough to allow for actual blocking — on Wednesday.

“I absolutely think there's some guys that are going to step up,” Drinkwitz said. After specifically complementing Williams and fellow seniors Chris Turner and Sci Martin, he added, “We need to get pressure on the quarterback, and those three guys can do it.”

Offensive lineman Case Cook, who gets an up-close-and-personal look at the defensive line every day in practice, wouldn’t necessarily concede that the defense has been getting six sacks every practice, pointing out that without tackling allowed, sacks are a subjective stat. But he at least echoed the sentiment that the pass rush has looked different than a season ago.

“D-line definitely has made some improvements from last year,” Cook said.

There seem to be a couple reasons behind the optimism. For one, the case can certainly be made that Missouri’s pass rush last season wasn’t as bad as its sack numbers indicated. The Tigers logged 57 quarterback hits on the season. Combined with the 19 sacks, that climbs above Haley’s two-in-12-pass-attempts threshold. Pro Football Focus’ pass rush metric ranked the Tiger defense tied for 41st nationally and tied for seventh in the SEC, which certainly looks better than 106th and 14th.

Haley also noted that the defensive line’s top priority is always stopping the run. “If we keep letting them run,” he said, “they don’t ever have to throw.” Sacks certainly didn’t tell the story for the defense as a whole last season, as the unit finished 14th nationally in total defense and sixth against the pass.

“Obviously, we didn't get as many sacks from a statistical standpoint as we would have liked last year,” defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said. “We got a lot of hits on the quarterback, and we were ranked pretty high in pass defense, and those all tie together. So even though we might not have gotten the guy down we definitely influenced or affected the quarterback last season.”

Second, while Missouri may not have added any instant-impact players on the defensive line, there’s optimism that a couple players in their second year on the roster might have turned the corner. That would be a good thing for the Tigers because, with junior Jatorian Hansford missing all of camp due to an offseason shoulder injury that necessitated surgery, Williams and Turner represent the only active defensive ends to have played more than 100 snaps in their college careers. They combined for just three sacks last season.

The defensive lineman who has seemingly generated the most hype has been sophomore Isaiah McGuire. McGuire played sparingly at defensive end last year. During the offseason, Haley said he’s progressed in his knowledge of blocking schemes and the defensive system, and he’ll likely split time between defensive tackle and defensive end this season, similar to the role Akial Byers held in the past. Williams went out of his way to praise McGuire on Friday.

“Man, Isaiah McGuire, that dude right there is something serious,” Williams said. “That dude, he’s doing a lot of improvement. I see it at practice, everybody sees it at practice. That dude’s coming along.”

McGuire likely won’t be the only player pulling double-duty, as Haley called it — switching between defensive tackle and end. After playing nearly every snap last season on the interior of the line, Byers said he has been playing “all over the place” during camp. Drinkwitz believes having players who can play multiple positions along the defensive line will make it easier for the defensive staff to create mismatches.

“We’ve got a lot of multiple options for the defensive end position, and we've got guys who play in a four-I technique but also can slide out and rush the passer,” Drinkwitz said. “Coach Walters’ scheme does a lot of different movements so it gives people a chance to be one on one in the pass rush.”

The other player who has generated praise from both Drinkwitz and Williams is Martin. While he only played 17 snaps all of last year, Martin might have the highest ceiling of any Tiger pass-rusher. The junior college product committed to LSU out of high school after recording 33.5 tackles for loss during his senior season. While McGuire and Byers bring size to the defensive end spot, Martin possesses more quickness.

“Sci Martin’s coming along, too,” Williams said. “Kind of a speed guy, outside guy.”

No one is expecting the Missouri pass rush to suddenly revert back to “D-Line Zou” levels of production in 2020. But coaches and players were unanimous in agreeing the defensive line needs to be better at pressuring opposing quarterbacks. If it’s able to do so without sending blitzers, a defense that carries high expectations into the season could wind up even more effective than last year.

“Just gotta win the one-on-ones, man,” Turner said. “At the end of the day, if you get a one-on-one, you have to win it.”