Wyoming’s Young Defensive Tackles Being Held to Higher Standard
LARAMIE -- Wyoming's defensive tackles room took a few hefty blows this offseason.
First, Caleb Robinson was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Projected starter Gavin Meyer then abruptly left the program and entered the NCAA Transfer Portal the day before the spring window closed. After four seasons in Laramie, he is spending his final year at USC.
That's not all.
This group also lost its leader this spring when Oscar Giles took over the same coaching position at the University of Houston. Couple all of that with Cole Godbout exhausting his eligibility and you have a real problem brewing, right?
Wrong.
This current staff isn't buying it.
"I'm really excited about that group," first-year defensive coordinator Aaron Bohl said. "We got a lot of guys that have a lot of talent, but haven't proven anything. Sometimes those are your best ones because they always feel like they have an eagerness and a chip on their shoulder to improve."
That isn't just coach speak, either.
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Jaden Williams is one of those players.
The California product has appeared in eight games during his two-plus seasons on campus, tallying three total tackles and a sack in an upset victory over Texas Tech. He stands 6-foot-4 and tips the scales at 290. Head coach Jay Sawvel, who was the Cowboys defensive coordinator the previous four seasons, said with a little work on pad level and hand placement, Williams could be a monster in the middle for this defense.
"I feel like I'm going to definitely contribute to the success of the team this season coming up," he added.
Same can be said for Jayden Williams, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound redshirt freshman from Bryan, Texas.
Though he has played in just one game -- he forced a fumble last season against Texas -- his potential is no secret. He also plays with an edge. That was on full display this spring when he crashed into quarterback Gage Brook before going toe-to-toe with former right tackle Forrest Scheel.
"Oh, heck yeah," Sawvel said in April when asked if he liked the extracurricular activities. "They should've blocked Jayden. I mean, he ran over the guy. Jayden didn't do anything wrong. If you want to keep him from hitting the quarterback, keep him out of there.
"I'm a big fan of Jayden Williams."
Fellow Texas natives Dante Drake and Lucas Samsula are coming down the pipeline, too.
While the trenches are littered with youth, this roster still features plenty of production. Jordan Bertagnole had a big decision to make this offseason: Give the NFL a whirl or come back to school? He chose the latter. Recently named to the preseason All-Mountain West Team, the 6-foot-4, 295-pound Casper product is coming off his most-productive season, registering 58 tackles. He also added two sacks, a forced fumble and a pair of pass breakups.
He will be relied upon to make plays up front, but Bertagnole has also taken his leadership role a step further during his final collegiate season.
Urgency required? You bet.
"He has done a fantastic job with them this summer," Bohl said. "I mean, he has held those guys to a standard that if they're out there doing workouts or doing random stuff, and he doesn't like (what he sees), Jordan makes them do push-ups forever. He's held those guys to such a high standard, which I really appreciate."
Bertagnole left out the calisthenics part when he spoke in July at Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas.
"I mean, after runs, we take them and walk them through plays," he said with a smile. "We're just like, 'hey, we'll leave when you guys get five plays right in a row.' At first, I was like, Oh, my gosh, I don't know if I have hope, but they've been doing a lot better.
"I've been getting on them. You have to open your book at home. Like, you can't just come here in the summer and not look at stuff at all. You have to be in it, especially knowing that you guys are going to be playing or have a shot to play. You've got to know it because you can't be messing up in camp or that's what will drop you on the depth chart."
Bertagnole will be aided in the middle by Ben Florentine, who appeared in 11 games in 2023. The 6-foot-1, 281-pound junior capped his season with 11 tackles in a reserve role.
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The depth of this group was a major selling point for Sawvel as he searched for Giles' replacement. Jeff Phelps bit.
After spending six of the previous seven seasons under Mike Leach at both Washington State and Mississippi State before a one-year pitstop at North Dakota State, Phelps said he wasn't shocked to see the talent at this position.
"You have to have guys who can step up and continue to have that type of production," he said. "You have to get the rotating guys in and make sure you have fresh bodies. It's amazing (at Wyoming) from top to bottom.
"It's a very, very strong group, strong room and there's great leadership from the older guys."
University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com
- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players