Arizona's defensive line always seems to be a bit too small or not strong enough or just not effective enough. Defensive line coach Vince Amey and his players have heard it all and to a certain extent some of those things are true. The Wildcats have been searching for more impactful defensive linemen during Rich Rodriguez's tenure with the program, but for whatever reason it just hasn't quite come together like fans would hope.

The lack of a pass rush has meant putting more pressure on the back end making it more difficult for defensive coordinator Marcel Yates to truly employ the types of looks he wants that he believes will be most effective. He said recently that the team was in man coverage about 70 percent of the time because of that lack of pass rush. Being able to generate pressure on the quarterback will allow Arizona's defensive backs to play more zone and thus, in theory, create more turnovers and game-changing plays.

Amey has a bevy of returners this year and with a sprinkling of new talent his hope is that things get turned around sooner rather than later. The Wildcats attacked recruiting along the defensive line aggressively coming off of last season and it led to landing what could be some important pieces.

In addition to that Rodriguez added special teams coach Brian Knorr, who also had a background in coaching linebackers, to run that unit but to also help aid in Arizona's pass rushing efforts.

The end goal being, what Rodriguez and the staff hopes will be better overall play from the group up front.

"We start off slow and keep it simple," Amey said of the spring. "Then we start adding in as we go and the kids are picking the defense up pretty well, so we're able to do that. The good thing about it is a lot of guys are returning. ... I'm happy about the new guys that are here who are picking the defense up."