LITTLE ROCK — Sans a Plan B for this week’s column, there was some muttering aimed Dorian Gerald’s way when the highly touted defensive end was not mentioned Friday morning in a lengthy article that included a look at depth on Arkansas’ defensive front.
Considering Gerald’s reputation and the writer’s thoroughness, the immediate conclusion was that the athlete was a no show. Turns out, Gerald was a day late leaving California. Even when he arrived, Gerald was busy with paperwork and did not participate in the first practice Friday.
He made his debut in the second practice of the preseason Saturday.
Earlier, some research revealed a line in Gerald’s Arkansas-crafted profile worthy of the lead paragraph in a column earmarked for early August. It was based on a mid-July tweet by the transfer from College of the Canyons in Santa Clara, Calif.:
"I officially finish my classes here at COC Aug. 1st and will arrive on campus in Fayetteville August 2nd. Sorry I kept y'all waiting! But everything is good! Just have to finish up classes, I'm working as hard as I can on and off the field.” Gerald ended the tweet with a few hashtags.
With 22 sacks in two years, he is the newcomer essential to an improved Arkansas pass rush.
First, there will be questions about his conditioning and, sometimes, the transition from junior college to the SEC takes time.
Just last year, the on-campus arrival of Jeremy Patton, the No. 1 junior college tight end, was delayed months because of academic issues. The season was more than half over before he was productive, catching nine of his 11 passes in November.
As for Gerald’s bio, “Was the all-time sack leader when he left West Florence High School,” precedes the fact that he chose Arkansas over Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, and other big-time programs.
Initially, the tidbit evoked only a so what?
But, because the record-holder at West Florence was unidentified and golf was out of the question that weekend, there was a quest to name names.
Turns out Gerald broke the record set by Malliciah Goodman, who recorded 15 sacks in nine games during his senior year and was a finalist for Mr. Football in South Carolina.
There is more.
Google revealed Goodman played more than 2,000 snaps at Clemson, started 28 games and that the Tigers were 32-8 his last three years. Selected in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL draft by Atlanta, Goodman played 30 games with the Falcons in his first two years, and signed with Seattle, Atlanta again and Jacksonville during the next three years.
That history says there is reason to believe that Gerald — touted by ESPN as the No. 1 defensive end in the country— is the real deal and his presence will mean a defensive front that can truly apply pressure.
Compiling a 4-12 record in the SEC the past two years, the Arkansas defense made only 57 tackles for losses, worst in the conference. At the same, the Razorbacks recorded 21 sacks in those 16 games, one better than lowly Vanderbilt, and even the best cornerbacks can only stick with a receiver for so long.
Last year, Arkansas was No. 112 in the country in passing efficiency defense and Baylor, Oregon State and Kansas were the only Power 5 Conference teams below the Razorbacks. Worth noting, the Bears, Beavers, and Jayhawks were each 1-11.
Passing efficiency defense is one of almost 50 categories in which NCAA stats are available and each of the categories includes three options —the first 50 teams, the second 50 and the remaining 29. Reviewing 2017, Arkansas is found in the final group in Total Defense, Scoring Defense and Red Zone Defense, and at the tail end of group two in Rush Defense.
Going against pitiful numbers, plus the aggressive approach of coordinator John Chavis, moving Randy Ramsey from linebacker to defensive end, turning loose McTelvin Agim in a return to the 4-3 and the presence of Ryan Pulley in the secondary all but guarantees the defense will better the unit’s 2017 statistics.
The catch is that is a low bar.