GoHeels Exclusive: Watching Them Grow

Photo by: Andy Mead

May 28, 2020 | Football, Featured Writers

By: Pat James

By Pat James, GoHeels.com

As much experience as it returns from last season, both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, North Carolina has been by no means exempt from the attrition that inevitably occurs every offseason. And at no spot is that more evident than along the defensive line.

The anchors of UNC's defense in 2019, Aaron Crawford and Jason Strowbridge, are off to the NFL after successful endings to their college careers. Strowbridge, a third-team All-ACC pick, was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. Meanwhile, Crawford – who led all FBS interior defensive linemen in run-defense grade (91.3), according to Pro Football Focus – signed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent.

Combined, the duo played 1,383 defensive snaps last season. No other defensive lineman played more than 255. That, however, isn't worrying Tim Cross heading into this fall.

"I don't have concerns about the lack of experience at all because there is nothing you can do about it," said the Tar Heels' D-line coach in a videoconference with reporters on Tuesday. "There ain't no sense worrying about something you can't (control). I can't give them a pill and give them experience, so it is what it is. To me, there's more excitement in watching them grow."

As many have since this time last year.

Coming out of last spring, co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Jay Bateman said there was a fairly large talent gap between Crawford and Strowbridge and the rest of the defensive linemen. That hadn't changed by the time the season started. But by the end of it, Cross and the rest of the staff felt as if his group had made considerable strides.

Perhaps no lineman developed more over the course of the year than Jahlil Taylor. After playing 86 defensive snaps in Carolina's first eight games, the redshirt freshman saw 152 snaps while starting the final four games. His progress inside enabled Strowbridge to play more outside. It also led Bateman to recently call Taylor "one of our best 11 players" by the end of the season.

Cross echoed that sentiment.

"When you look at him, you don't think he would be as quick or as twitchy as he really is," said Cross of the 6-foot, 300-pounder. "He's smart and he's got some explosion to him. … Jahlil's quickness, the use of his hands and his desire to get better really, really helped us at the end."

Strowbridge wasn't the only lineman who benefitted from Taylor's improvement, as his ability to play nose guard and tackle helped Raymond Vohasek receive more playing time down the stretch. A transfer from College of Dupage, Vohasek took advantage of the opportunity, tallying eight tackles, four tackles-for-loss and a sack in UNC's last three games.

Entering last season, Vohasek hadn't played in almost a year due to a shoulder injury. That same impairment kept him from being a full-go in the weight room all last year. Finally healthy, though, he seems poised to break out.

"Ray has a nastiness about him and a physicality about him. …" Cross said. "He's got some grown-man strength on him, so now he's able to match that with some weight-room strength with Coach (Brian) Hess. He's just at the tip of the iceberg on where his strength and conditioning stuff can go from here. The stuff he was doing with power bombing guys in the backfield, that is just grown-man strength right there.

"Ray has tremendous upside and has tremendous natural strength and gifts and he's explosive, and I think a true offseason of training with Coach Hess will do wonders for him."

As excited as the staff is about both Taylor and Vohasek, another defensive lineman, Tomari Fox, continues to draw high praise. Bateman believes can be "a dynamite player." The 6-foot-2, 278-pounder played in 12 games as a true freshman last season, making two starts.

Perhaps most importantly, he showed he can play all three spots on the D-line.

"He is superhero strong and extremely smart and has great twitchiness," Cross said. "A lot of that comes from being a heavyweight wrestling champion, so he knows leverage and balance and stuff like that. And he really, really has invested in learning the defense and holds himself accountable. So, he continues to grow daily."

The same goes for Kristian Varner and Kevin Hester Jr., who played nine combined snaps while redshirting as true freshmen in 2019.

Cross said Varner – a three-star prospect in the Class of 2019, according to 247Sports – tends to put too much pressure on himself, which "tied him up a little bit" early last season. But the light flipped on for him during the practices leading up to the Military Bowl in December.

"Varner came in and really impressed with his work ethic," Cross said. "I mean, he grinded. We actually thought he was going to play earlier, and what he's done, I'm not sure what his weight was when he first got here, but he's a big human being right now. So, his gains in the weight room, he's a worker and a grinder."

Hester has made similar progress in the weight room, going from about 250 pounds when he arrived on campus to almost 300, according to Cross. Having only played one year of football before last season, the former three-star prospect has also improved his football IQ.

"With him, the learning curve is different because he is so inexperienced," Cross said. "But he is explosive and athletic, and he is like a blank slate – he doesn't have to unlearn anything; everything you give him is new, and he tries to take it and run with it.

"When you get two big, athletic bodies like (Varner and Hester) that can eat space up and can run, that's the kind of clay that you want to work with and mold."

Soon, Cross will have more at his disposal.

The Tar Heels signed five defensive linemen to their 2020 recruiting class, ranked No. 19 in the country according to 247Sports. The group consists of four-star Desmond Evans, four-star Kedrick Bingley-Jones, four-star Myles Murphy, four-star Clyde Pinder Jr., and three-star A.J. Beatty, all of whom could contribute immediately.

"You hope Des and some of those guys are able to add some pass rush and some length and some athleticism on the edge," Cross said. "Myles Murphy is a big, physical kid who is athletic and can be versatile inside. Pinder, he's like a rolling ball of butcher knives. He's going to be nasty inside. He plays with a chip on his shoulder, and that's why I fell in love with him right away.

"Kedrick is a stud and strong, smart, consciousness, a great teammate, and he has a chance to be a leader going forward as he grows in this program. And then A.J. Beatty may end up being bigger than all of them because he's played with his hand down, he's played standing up, he's showed athleticism, and he's tough, physical and from a strong, hard-nosed program."

As hopeful as Cross is about the defensive line, it figures to be the position group that'll be most affected by spring ball being cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nothing can simulate the physicality that players will face in games. And as difficult as that will be to prepare for whenever practices begin, one would guess that it'll be even harder for a group that isn't as accustomed to it. Cross, however, isn't worried about that, or anything else potentially related to his linemen's lack of experience

"With the intelligence that these (returning) guys have, with the guys who we have coming in, (there's) the whole iron sharpens iron thing," he said. "I hope they come together as quickly as possible. But am I concerned about it? Nah. We ain't got time to be concerned about it."