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14 NWA COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW | 8.29.2021 to a good last hurrah. Redshirt freshman Collin Sutherland needs more weight and seasoning. Walk-ons Nathan Johnson and Zach Lee and signee Erin Outley, who is recovering from a knee injury, are all freshmen. A series of other players made cameos here in camp, including quarterback Landon Rogers, whose athleticism might make an intriguing option at tight end. LINE There is serious veteran talent on the front five, led by bonus-year seniors Ty Clary and Myron Cunningham and fifth-year senior Dalton Wagner. The trio has a whopping 72 career starts among them, and junior center Ricky Stromberg adds another 19. The group has added substantial weight across the board in the past two years, when most of them were starting, which makes pushing 300-pound defensive tackles easier. The depth at guard is interesting, including one of the top position battles of camp between 10-game starter Brady Latham and Luke Jones on the left side. When Stromberg was sidelined early in camp with a knee, Clary returned to center, where he had 23 career starters, and Beaux Limmer took first-team reps at right guard. Limmer made six starts last season. The coaching staff expects Marcus Henderson and Ty'kieast Crawford to make pushes for quality time at the tackle spots, and they hope Jalen St. John and Ray Curry are not far behind. The group experienced some pass protection communication issues early in camp against what is considered a vastly improved defensive front. DEFENSE LINE No position on the team offers more intrigue than the defensive front. Perhaps there's never been a more concerted one-year effort to upgrade with game- ready talent at one spot for the Hogs than here. Ends Eric Gregory, Zach Williams and Mataio Soli, and tackles Isaiah Nichols and Taurean Carter combined for 20 starts last season, but they are all being pushed for front-line playing time. The same goes for Dorian Gerald, who had a sack-master reputation in junior college but has been saddled with injuries as a Hog. Gerald has had a strong camp. Transfers Tre Williams, Markell Utsey and John Ridgeway have all taken significant work with the first unit for new position boss Jermial Ashley. Coordinator Barry Odom is preparing to run a mix of three-man and four-man fronts that will hopefully make blocking schemes harder to set and produce a much stronger pass rush than last season. Even if no prototype edge rusher emerges, the rotation up front should be as versatile, interchangeable and deep as it has in years. LINEBACKER The trio of Grant Morgan, Bumper Pool and Hayden Henry combined for 90-something percent off all the linebacker snaps last year and probably near 98% of all the meaningful ones. And all three of them battled injuries in 2021. New position coach Michael Scherer said he's comfortable to sub in the second unit and even the third, so that'll be closely watched early in the season. Morgan's experience and skill helped him slide around and past bigger blockers and led to 111 tackles. Pool played through rib injuries to post 101 tackles. Senior Deon Stewart went out with an undisclosed injury in the first scrimmage, and his timetable to return was unknown. That makes Andrew Parker and walk- on Jackson Woodard the two mostly likely subs behind the big three. Giving reserves meaningful playing time in the opener against Rice could pay dividends down the road. SECONDARY There will be experienced depth at every spot in the backfield and perhaps more than the Razorbacks have seen in a long time. Montaric Brown has the skill, athleticism and confidence to be Position n Continued from Page 12 Special to NWADG/David Beach Trey Knox returns for his junior season after a disappointing sophomore campaign.