BY DON WILLIAMS | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Ra’Jon Henley and Brandon Sesay will be seniors next season on the Texas Tech defensive line, but in their case, age just means Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill can push them to learn more.

Primarily interior players for Tech in the past, Henley and Sesay will each see time at both defensive tackle and defensive end over the next month. The Red Raiders open 15 sessions of spring football with a 3:30 p.m. workout today on the grass fields outside their training facility.

One of McNeill’s plans is to improve the versatility of his defensive front by working Henley and Sesay at end and tackle, possibly on alternating days.

“It adds more depth when a guy can play two positions and can handle it,’’ McNeill said. “We know what (Sesay) can do at tackle and we know what Ra’Jon can do at tackle, so let’s experiment with those guys at defensive end at different times during the spring.’’

Tech went 11-2 last season, tying the school single-season victories record, and one of the team strengths was depth in the front four. The Raiders rotated nine defensive ends and tackles on a regular basis and as many as 11 in some games.

McNeill said he would like to keep “around that same number’’ in a rotation next season. That shouldn’t be too difficult. Nine of the aforementioned 11 return.

Tech has back returning starters Colby Whitlock and Richard Jones at defensive tackle, plus Henley, who was a starter before he hurt a knee and missed a lot of action during Big 12 play, as well as players such as Sesay and Chris Perry. That makes it easy enough to let one of the tackles work at end each day in the spring.

“We still have five or six guys we can rotate inside,’’ McNeill said. “We want to find five guys we can rotate outside, too.

“By analyzing film, we found out when we were alternating guys up front and keeping them fresh — facing the spread offenses that we do — it helped us late in games. It’s helped us in each game in the fourth quarter.’’

Gone are three-year starting end Jake Ratliff and two-year starting end Brandon Williams, who caught coaches by surprise by leaving school early to declare for the NFL draft.

That left the Raiders down a player who led the Big 12 Conference with 13 sacks last season.

At end, Tech does return McKinner Dixon, who had nine sacks, Daniel Howard, who made three, and Sandy Riley, who was in the rotation. Brandon Sharpe, who played when the Raiders used 10 or 11 defensive linemen last year, will switch from left end to right end this spring.

Henley played some end in high school at Galveston Ball, McNeill said, and also has played end for the Raiders’ in situational packages in which they use a three-man front.

Sesay came to Tech last summer having played end in high school and junior college, but was moved inside during preseason camp and remained there. He played in 11 games, but made only eight tackles, not quite matching the reputation he had during his coast-to-coast recruitment.

“Watching film, he did some good things,’’ McNeill said. “You hope and wish junior college transfers are productive early, but it’s always a learning curve, how things are done on the Division I level. I think Brandon has learned those things over the last year. It was a teaching year for him.’’

McNeill said his use of Sesay at end might be situational, especially against the run.

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