Defensive line becoming 'most improved' for Bobcats

Caeveon Patton has never seen so many defensive linemen on one team.

Patton, a senior D-lineman himself, is entering his fifth year at Texas State. The Bobcats currently have 17 other players on the roster listed at the same position — a group head coach Jake Spavital has called the "most improved" in fall camp.

“I take a lot of pride in trying to be able to know them all and kind of recite them all. But you can tell they're getting to a point where there's a ton of them that are walking around this building right now,” Spavital said. “I'll walk out here and I'll run into one and I'll forget. I'll be like, ‘Oh man, I forgot to say your name in the press conference.’”

The team brought in eight newcomers — seven transfers and one high school prospect — to add to its 11 returners. Texas State had six players on the D-line listed at 280 pounds or heavier in 2020. Heading into 2021, the number has grown to nine.

“Last year, we went into games — I mean, when we played Louisiana-Monroe, we played with four D-linemen. It's just what it is, right?” defensive line coach Jacori Greer said. “Now we have 10 bodies — I mean, more than 10 — but we've got 10 bodies that can actually play for us, that I trust can go on the field and execute at a high level.”

The depth of the group has defensive coordinator Zac Spavital scheming ways to get more of them on the field. Texas State’s defense has mostly been lining up in a 3-3-5 stack in practices, with an outside “overhang” linebacker standing up near the line of scrimmage. But the Bobcats have also been mixing in some true four-man fronts.

Those might become more common when the unit is fully healthy. Nick McCann, a graduate transfer from Texas Tech who played in 38 games across four seasons with the Red Raiders, has mostly been limited to conditioning work while recovering from an offseason surgery, though Jake Spavital expects him to be back in the mix soon. Patton is also still being eased back into full-contact practices after missing all of last year with a back injury.

Other FBS transfers, like Anthony Shipton from Illinois and Jordan Mitchell from Georgia Southern, and JUCO imports, like Davon Sears and DeOnte Washington, should allow the coaches to test even more alignments.

“We really consider ourselves multiple,” Greer said. “We just do a lot of different things and right now, it's fun. You know, I'm able to — a guy like Nico (Ezidore), who historically here has played nose guard — allow him to play tackle, allow him to play end. And doing that for him, for obvious reasons, he can get more film at it, but at the same time, we have that luxury now.”

The development of the returners has been a major point of emphasis for Spavital, too. The head coach said senior Jaquel Pierce is “the biggest I’ve ever seen him” — Pierce was listed at 285 pounds in 2020 and has since ballooned up to 300. Ezidore, who made the All-Sun Belt Third Team defense last season, gets into the backfield regularly and hollers across the field to remind Spavital not to run the ball in his direction.

Spavital also said sophomore Jordan Revels has had an “unbelievable” camp so far. Greer believes that if Revels was an inch or two taller, he’d be playing at a bigger school than Texas State based on his talent. Revels said the number of guys contending for snaps this year helped push him to a new level.

“Only three can play, so it's naturally gonna raise your competition,” Revels said. “Everybody's high-level competition. We're flying around every day. You know you're gonna get the best out of all three of us every day.”

Greer said the newcomers are still getting used to how the team operates, but that having experienced players like Gjemar Daniels, Samuel Obiang and Emmanuel Galvan-Vazquez has helped smooth the transition. The group will look to show off its growth at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday during Texas State’s intrasquad scrimmage inside Bobcat Stadium, which will be open to fans. Players will also sign autographs after the exhibition.

“I challenge these guys all the time on, you know, if you're getting five reps, then two out of the five — at least — you need to be making a play,” Greer said. “And then you don't need to just be in your gap, you need to finish to the ball. And so that's what we spend a lot of time on. Are you out there just to be out there or are you out there to compete and make plays?”