Taurean Carter Leadership Presence Expands off the Field

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The defensive line has been one of the biggest conversations during spring and fall camp. It became more of a conversation when Taurean Carter suffered his knee injury.

Carter comes into the season as the leader of the Hogs’ defensive line and one of the best players on the defense. Of course, losing him to an injury makes everything less ideal for the coaching staff regarding Carter’s presence, but he is also valuable off the field. 

“He was having a great spring, and it’s tough not having him out there,” Arkansas defensive line coach Deke Adams said about the redshirt sophomore. “But he’s bought into his role at this point of being a leader and talking to the younger guys and being a motivational guy in the room. He is probably the most outspoken guy in our room. He gets after it. If he sees them lagging and dragging around, he’ll get on them pretty good.”

Carter started eight of the 13 games he played last season, part of a group that was second to last in sacks in the SEC.

Pittman decided to have Carter around in full capacity as he goes through rehab. Pittman’s decision to keep the vocal leader around has proved wise and resonated with the rest of the defensive line group.

Carter will miss the season opener on Sept. 3 against Cincinnati, and there is no direct timetable on when he will return. However, everyone agrees that Carter has remained “in-tuned” with the team and unit as if he was still on the field.

“He’s still on the same stuff as he was when he was playing with us,” senior DT Zach Williams said. “The only difference is he’s not on the line right now. Sometimes, I don’t even notice that because, like Eric said, he’s so into it. He’s not one of the people that once you get hurt, they close down or shut off. He’s not that type of person. He’ll really help you just like with Isaiah. He’ll help you no matter what your position is. That’s what I really like about Taurean.”

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Story originally appeared on Razorbacks Wire