Buffs Camp Position Preview: Young D-Line Must Turn Potential Into Production

BOULDER — Experience is not a commodity in great supply on the Colorado Buffaloes' defensive line.

The Buffs opened fall camp with just two players with any real Division I experience, and just one with significant playing time. After that, it is a collection of junior college transfers, redshirt freshmen and true freshmen. There is not a senior in the bunch.

Safe to say, expedited player development is a priority for head coach Mel Tucker and defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh.

"It's not a question of can they step up," Brumbaugh said earlier this week. "They're going to have to step up. We want to be able to play a lot of different guys and I really think that's going to be helpful to us. I tell them every day, you have to put your thinking caps on and you've got to go to work."

But that limited quantity of experience is at least quality. Back to anchor the front line is junior defensive tackle Mustafa Johnson, a 6-2, 290-pounder who led the Buffs in sacks last season with 8.5, along with recording 73 tackles. This year, he has been tabbed a preseason All-Pac-12 pick.

Also returning is talented sophomore Terrance Lang. As a freshman, the 6-7 Lang played mostly in pass rush situations, finishing with one sack and 11 tackles. After a solid offseason in the weight room, he's now up to 280 pounds and is expected to be an every-down player.

Also, while not technically a veteran, the Buffs do have a returnee of sorts at nose tackle in redshirt freshman Jalen Sami, who has been on campus since January 2018. Sami enrolled then as a grayshirt from the 2017 recruiting class, but suffered a knee injury that spring and could not fully participate last fall. He has, however, put his time to good use, having shed roughly 30 pounds while adding strength and power to his 6-6, 320 pounds.

Then comes a list of talented but untested — and big — newcomers to the lineup. The group includes junior college transfers Jeremiah Doss and Janaz Jordan (Doss was in Boulder for spring ball) and true freshmen Austin Williams, Jayden Simon, Na'im Rodman and Lloyd Murray Jr. While Sami was the only 300-pounder on CU's defensive line in spring ball, the list has grown — literally — with the addition of Williams (320), Murray (325) and Jordan (305).

All of the newcomers have had their moments thus far in fall camp. But the key will be developing consistency because Tucker has stressed he wants a rotation that will allow the Buffs to have fresh legs up front in the fourth quarter of games.

"We have to have depth on our defensive line," Tucker said. "We have to keep guys fresh. I'm very comfortable playing eight, nine guys on the D-line in a game. We're going to need our newcomers to step up and provide depth and be able to go in games and be productive and not have any dropoff. We're going to get those guys as many reps as we can in practice."

For Brumbaugh, that means using every possible teaching moment in practice, then getting as many of the young players as many reps as possible.

"Consistency is a big key," Brumbaugh said. "This is a tough, physical game and you have to be tough on every single snap. That's where you have to be consistent, the toughness, play in and play out. You may not make the play, you may have to take on the double team — but off the double team, you can help the football team. That's the attitude they all have to have."

WHO'S BACK: Junior Mustafa Johnson; Sophomores Terrance Lang, Nico Magri; Redshirt freshman Jalen Sami.

WHO'S NEW: Junior Dante Sparaco (transfer, not eligible this season); JC transfer sophomores Jeremiah Doss, Janaz Jordan; True freshmen Austin Williams, Lloyd Murray Jr., Jayden Simon, Na'im Rodman

WHAT'S IN STORE: This will be an interesting position to watch develop, as Tucker has made it clear he wants to rotate players up front and keep legs fresh for the fourth quarter. With just two players with any significant Division I experience (Johnson and Lang), it means the new faces — redshirt freshmen, junior college transfers and true freshmen — will have to contribute and do so in a hurry.

STATS TO REMEMBER: The Buffs were officially credited with 29 sacks by the Pac-12 last season, a decent number that was good enough for a fifth-place tie in the conference. They were led by Johnson, whose 7.5 sacks (Pac-12 statistics) were good enough for second in the league. But after that, the only other D-lineman on CU's roster with a sack to his credit in college is Lang, who had one last season. If the Buffs are going to improve their pass rush, they'll need to step up the pressure from the interior — especially against the upper-level teams.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu