Depth What Razorback DL Coaches Wilkerson, Cotton Are After

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Depth in the trenches, especially on the defensive side of the football, has been lacking for Arkansas in recent years.

Arkansas was 15th in run defense a season ago, giving up 185.9 yards per game on the ground, thanks largely to a lack of talent that could be consistently rotated in and out on the defensive line. The Razorbacks also ranked just 13th in the league in sacks, totaling only 22 in 12 games.

Naturally, defensive line coaches Kynjee' Cotton and Landius Wilkerson are focused on building a deep defensive line for the Razorbacks in Year 1 under head coach Ryan Silverfield and defensive coordinator Ron Roberts.

Arkansas Razorbacks defensive lineman David Oke during his 2026 spring practice. | David Oke, Instagra

"A lot of you guys know Quincy [Rhodes Jr.]," Wilkerson said Tuesday. "[David] Oke's been around. I think total, there's 10 freshmen, sophomores in that room. Every D-line coach in America wants that rotation of 8-10 guys. Our goal is to build depth in that room, give them all equal opportunity. All those guys are working on their weaknesses to earn a role. I think they're all competing for it, working for it.

"Our goal is to build depth and find it. So, you'll see a strong rotation every day going through camp."

Rhodes, Oke, Hunter Osborne and Charlie Collins are all expected to be workhorses on Arkansas' defensive front this fall, with Carlon Jones, Reginald Vaughn, Colton Yarbrough, Jamonta Waller and Steven Soles Jr., among others, all working to earn reps in practice and snaps in games.

Tuesday's practice was the first for the Razorbacks in full pads. Arkansas has a day off on Wednesday before hitting the practice field again on Thursday. Physicality and tackling in particular was addressed by Cotton and Wilkerson.

"We got it in today," Cotton said. "Oh yeah. It was good. It was a good day. Coaches always say, the best way to learn how to tackle is to tackle. That's what we focused on today. Go back to the film, clean up, and see what we can do to get better."

Cotton said that while a couple of unnamed players did stand out on Tuesday, there were too many errors for his liking.

"I think we got to get better as a group, honestly," Cotton said. "Too many missed tackles. It's the first day. We joked today, 'Coach, I would've made that play. I would've got that.' We found out today. Some of you did, some of you didn't. The ones that didn't, now we have to go back and correct it."

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