El Dorado senior Jacoby Hankton, perhaps, perfectly described the different attitude it takes for a defensive linemen in adjusting from a four-man front to the three-man scheme the Wildcats will use this season.
“You’ve got to bring the dog,” he said. “You’ve got to be meaner because there’s always going to be two people on you. You’ve got to fire off faster and you just have to get back there.”
Hankton will play all three positions on the front of El Dorado’s 3-3-5 alignment this season. As a defensive end last year, he had 42 tackles, including seven tackles for losses and four sacks.
Can he get into the offensive backfield as much this season?
“I can if I just keep working. I can get back there one-on-one but when it’s a double team, I have to fight off of it. But I’m going to be in the backfield a lot this year,” Hankton said. “In the 3-3-5, my job is to get in the backfield.”
Despite his size of 5-foot-9 and 230 pounds, Hankton might be a better fit on the interior at the noseguard position. Defensive coordinator Trey Outlaw said the idea is to move him around and showcase his athletic ability.
“The neat thing about Hankton, he’s a guy who can play all three positions,” said Outlaw. “He’ll primarily be our noseguard. When I met with the defensive staff, the first day we started talking about the type of players you put into our defense and the positions. With the nose, you can either go with the big, strong guy who commands a double-team or you can put a guy in there who just shoots the gap and causes all sorts of havoc in the backfield. The awesome thing about Hankton is he can be both. He can shoot the gap and cause havoc and he’s strong enough that he can cause a double team. It makes everybody’s life a lot easier when you have someone special like that.”
The coach said his players will have the freedom to improvise on the field.
“I pick my own play to run. I can go to either side,” said Hankton, who pointed to his off-season work when asked about his improvement. “Really, strength, I’ve gotten a lot stronger. On power clean, I jumped up to 320. On bench, I jumped up to three-something.”
As for the Wildcats’ defense, the front showed out in the Purple-White scrimmage. It will be expected to have a huge impact once the season kicks off.
“My opinion, it’s looking good. We just have a lot of young players. We’re learning every day. We’re developing and we’re going to dominate,” said Hankton. “I just want all the fans to come out and support. We’re going to put on a show.”
Hankton said he would like an opportunity to play at the collegiate level. If that doesn’t happen, he has an eye on the military. For now, he’s focused on football and a breakout season in a new defense.
“He’s a kid that is a very positive kid. He’s someone that works hard. He’s somebody that wants to lead,” said El Dorado head coach Steven Jones. “When the light comes on and he sees the other guys follow him when he leads in a positive way, I think he’ll really take off this year.”