Every Monday and Thursday, Plainsman sports staffers Zach Tantillo and Nathan King will analyze an Auburn football player who has a chance to make a sizable impact on the team next season.
Today’s Fortune Teller focuses on the starting Buck position left vacant by Jeff Holland, and how sophomores Big Kat Bryant and T.D. Moultry can fill the void and round out a dominant defensive line.
When Austin Bryant, Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins all announced in January that they would be returning to Clemson for the 2018-19 season, the collective psyche of the FBS’s offensive coordinators went haywire.
Dabo Swinney’s third straight College Football Playoff appearance was paced by the team’s trio of quarterback killers last season as Clemson turned in the second-ranked rushing defense in the ACC and the No. 8 overall defense in the nation. Clemson flaunted 44 sacks by season’s end — good for first in college football — including 11 on Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham in a 14-6 win in Week 2.
All three were given early first-round grades by NFL scouts, but instead, defensive coordinator Brent Venables will return 57 percent of his sack production between Bryant, Ferrell, Wilkins and the 340-pound nose tackle Dexter Lawrence.
But when ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. was asked about Auburn’s defensive line in late March, he labeled it as a group that could “rival” one of the most talented units in the sport’s history.
“That is a phenomenal group,” Kiper said. “That Auburn defensive front will be along with Clemson in producing an awful lot of NFL prospects … Clemson and Auburn are going to rival each other in terms of having great, great defensive lines”
The Tigers bring back three of four starters from up front and return most of their reserves. Dontavius Russell (6.5 tackles for loss), Derrick Brown (9.5) and Marlon Davidson (6) and Nick Coe (4.5) come back to the rotation.
Russell will be in his fourth season along the line, touting three sacks in 2017. Brown is coming into his second season as a starter at nose tackle and recorded three sacks and two fumbles last season.
“We do have one of the best defensive lines in college football," Gus Malzahn said. "There’s no doubt about that."
Amid all the consistency, the starting job to replace Jeff Holland (12.5, 9.5 sacks) at “Buck” is still up for grabs. T.D. Moultry and Markaviest “Big Kat” Bryant are the prime candidates to replace Holland, with each recording at least 1.5 sacks in their debut true freshman seasons.
“T.D. has a strong chance of being a starter at Buck because he played a lot last year,” Davidson said. “Him and Big Kat really are battling it out pretty good this year. T.D., man, he’s a different guy. He only knows one speed.”
Coupled with Paul James III’s departure from the program, Moultry is the favorite to win the job after backing up Holland in 2017. Bryant saw time at both Buck and defensive end behind Holland and Coe, respectively, and used a highly productive spring to grab the attention of his coaches.
Drills showing up in games: Big Kat Bryant (@BigkatB) double swipes, "runs the hoop" & finishes on the QB's arm w/ a tomahawk chop #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/vh5BbDTdal
— DLineVids (@DLineVids) June 13, 2018
“His ascension has been rapid … the light switch came on,” Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said of Bryant. “People don’t realize this, but Big Kat played two positions as a freshman. He played six-technique, that end position and he played the buck position, where right now in spring, he’s really getting to focus.”
PREDICTION
As Steele alluded to, Bryant spent most of his reps in spring ball on the second-team defense behind Moultry. Steele has a history of productively rotating his edge rushers over the course of a season, and that shouldn’t change in 2018 with his two tremendously capable defenders.
According to the Auburn football official roster, Bryant has put on 29 pounds since last season (224 to 253). Pair the 6-foot-5 Bryant’s weight room gains with “tremendous” technique improvement — per his teammate Davidson — and Auburn may be able to validate Kiper Jr.’s projection with a loaded rotation that could be SEC quarterback nightmare fuel.
Catch up on previous installments of the Fortune Teller series:
- DL Derrick Brown
- CB Noah Igbinoghene
- WR Ryan Davis
- K Anders Carlson
- QB Jarrett Stidham
- CB Javaris Davis
- OL Prince Tega Wanogho
- WR Devan Barrett
- WR Darius Slayton
- LB Deshaun Davis
- CB Jamel Dean
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Nathan King, senior in journalism with a minor in business, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
