University of Colorado Athletics
Fall Camp: Defensive Line Coming In Waves
August 18, 2026 | Football
BOULDER — Ask anyone in Colorado's defensive line rooms who the starters are, and the answer comes back the same: check tomorrow.
"They're rep charts," said George Helow, who coaches the Buffaloes' edge rushers. "They're not depth charts right now, especially when you're in spring ball and fall camp. Those things change every day. A guy was on threes yesterday, he was on the ones today. So that's ongoing, and it'll continue to change."
Now into the third week of camp, that churn is the point. The Buffs rebuilt their front this offseason around veterans who produced at previous stops, then threw them into a daily competition where, in the words of Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders' standing motto, you get what you earn.
"We kind of give everybody a clean slate as they get here," Helow said. "We targeted a lot of high-production players. But there's some young guys, too, that haven't had the amount of snaps that some of those older guys have. And I can tell you this: we're going to play the best ones."
Inside, the interior room sees it the same way.
"Man, we got great depth," said Dante Carter, who works with the defensive line. "We got enough depth that's going to get us through the season. Guys are pushing each other from the first group to the second group and to the third group. So we got good depth, got a good rotation, and each of the guys bring a different flavor to the game."
The players feel how thin the margins are. Fifth-year edge Toby Anene, asked about the gap between the top of the room and the sixth or seventh man, didn't hesitate.
"It's tiny," Anene said. "There's so many talented guys in that room, so many hardworking guys. You can send anybody out with the ones, and they'll get the job done."
The daily sharpening comes courtesy of the offense across the sideline. Brennan Marion's Go-Go attack asks its linemen to stay attached to blocks longer than most schemes the veterans have seen, and fifth-year defensive lineman Santana Hopper said the difference shows up every rep.
"They don't come off," Hopper said. "They sit on you. Most of the offenses I played against, they touch you — they want to move up to the backer. And with this, they trying to bury you. So just trying to get off the ball, strike, get extension, knock back, and get off and make a play."
What the coaches want out of all of it is a front that wins first and second down. Stopping the run has been the loudest point of emphasis in camp, and Carter distilled the mentality to one phrase.
"We've been showing a difference in the run game — scheme-wise, mindset-wise, mentality," Carter said. "Just getting off the rock, creating on this side of the line of scrimmage. That's the biggest thing we preaching, man. Re-creating the line of scrimmage."
Helow's logic runs the same direction: everything else is earned there first.
"The way that you get sacks — and they come in bunches — is by stopping the run and being really good on first and second down," Helow said. "You've got to earn the right to rush the passer."
When the games arrive, the plan is to send the front out in waves. Helow, who watched the rotation model work during his time at Michigan, said keeping big men fresh is non-negotiable.
"When you coach the defensive line, you got to rotate guys," he said. "We don't know what's going to happen the first drive of a game. If you're on the field a lot, you definitely have to rotate guys at the defensive line position and keep guys fresh."
A rotation that deep requires buy-in from players who all believe they should be on the field, and Anene said the rooms have handled it with maturity — guys embracing special teams roles, scout-team work, whatever moves the group forward.
"They're just embracing their role and buying in and trying to do anything they can to help this team win," Anene said.
Hopper put it in the language the whole defense has adopted.
"We have the standard here," Hopper said. "Everybody lives by the standard. As long as you come in, do your job, help the next man beside you, you a leader."
The first measurement comes Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech. Until then, the message in both line rooms doesn't change.
"It's just that next-man-up mentality," Carter said. "Any time, it could be any one of y'all in this game. So you got to be ready. No matter from the big dog to the little one, everybody got to be ready in the room."
"They're rep charts," said George Helow, who coaches the Buffaloes' edge rushers. "They're not depth charts right now, especially when you're in spring ball and fall camp. Those things change every day. A guy was on threes yesterday, he was on the ones today. So that's ongoing, and it'll continue to change."
Now into the third week of camp, that churn is the point. The Buffs rebuilt their front this offseason around veterans who produced at previous stops, then threw them into a daily competition where, in the words of Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders' standing motto, you get what you earn.
"We kind of give everybody a clean slate as they get here," Helow said. "We targeted a lot of high-production players. But there's some young guys, too, that haven't had the amount of snaps that some of those older guys have. And I can tell you this: we're going to play the best ones."
Inside, the interior room sees it the same way.
"Man, we got great depth," said Dante Carter, who works with the defensive line. "We got enough depth that's going to get us through the season. Guys are pushing each other from the first group to the second group and to the third group. So we got good depth, got a good rotation, and each of the guys bring a different flavor to the game."
The players feel how thin the margins are. Fifth-year edge Toby Anene, asked about the gap between the top of the room and the sixth or seventh man, didn't hesitate.
"It's tiny," Anene said. "There's so many talented guys in that room, so many hardworking guys. You can send anybody out with the ones, and they'll get the job done."
The daily sharpening comes courtesy of the offense across the sideline. Brennan Marion's Go-Go attack asks its linemen to stay attached to blocks longer than most schemes the veterans have seen, and fifth-year defensive lineman Santana Hopper said the difference shows up every rep.
"They don't come off," Hopper said. "They sit on you. Most of the offenses I played against, they touch you — they want to move up to the backer. And with this, they trying to bury you. So just trying to get off the ball, strike, get extension, knock back, and get off and make a play."
What the coaches want out of all of it is a front that wins first and second down. Stopping the run has been the loudest point of emphasis in camp, and Carter distilled the mentality to one phrase.
"We've been showing a difference in the run game — scheme-wise, mindset-wise, mentality," Carter said. "Just getting off the rock, creating on this side of the line of scrimmage. That's the biggest thing we preaching, man. Re-creating the line of scrimmage."
Helow's logic runs the same direction: everything else is earned there first.
"The way that you get sacks — and they come in bunches — is by stopping the run and being really good on first and second down," Helow said. "You've got to earn the right to rush the passer."
When the games arrive, the plan is to send the front out in waves. Helow, who watched the rotation model work during his time at Michigan, said keeping big men fresh is non-negotiable.
"When you coach the defensive line, you got to rotate guys," he said. "We don't know what's going to happen the first drive of a game. If you're on the field a lot, you definitely have to rotate guys at the defensive line position and keep guys fresh."
A rotation that deep requires buy-in from players who all believe they should be on the field, and Anene said the rooms have handled it with maturity — guys embracing special teams roles, scout-team work, whatever moves the group forward.
"They're just embracing their role and buying in and trying to do anything they can to help this team win," Anene said.
Hopper put it in the language the whole defense has adopted.
"We have the standard here," Hopper said. "Everybody lives by the standard. As long as you come in, do your job, help the next man beside you, you a leader."
The first measurement comes Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech. Until then, the message in both line rooms doesn't change.
"It's just that next-man-up mentality," Carter said. "Any time, it could be any one of y'all in this game. So you got to be ready. No matter from the big dog to the little one, everybody got to be ready in the room."
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