AMHERST — In today’s era of college football, there are holes to fill every offseason considering the overwhelming number of transfers. UMass football head coach Don Brown has welcomed the transfer portal with open arms, and he almost didn’t have a choice with the crucial need for defensive linemen.

The Minutemen lost their two big interior run stoppers in Billy Wooden and Cletus Mathurin to graduation, and a handful of other contributors – including edge rusher Marcus Bradley – on the defensive line to the portal.

But Brown and d-line coach Ben Albert went to work to bring new players in to contribute right away. Jaylen Hudson from Wake Forest and Tim Grant-Randall from Eastern Michigan – both graduate transfers – are emerging as important cogs for the Minutemen now through two full weeks of summer practice.

Albert said a few others who have been with UMass for some time now are also showing signs of improvement.

“I’m really proud of the steps we’ve taken collectively,” Albert said. “Tim Grant-Randall has been a shot in the arm for us as a transfer, Jaylen Hudson has been a shot in the arm. But we have some guys that have been here for awhile. Louce Julien has really stepped up his game, Aaron Beckwith, Shambre [Jackson] has been with us for awhile. There’s a whole host of guys that we’ve seen tremendous improvement with, and we’re proud of the whole group collectively.”

Albert admitted UMass is smaller at the position than it was in 2023. Wooden and Mathurin contributed to the Minutemen’s solid size up front, so without the two of them, they aren’t as big in the middle.

That isn’t exactly something that concerns Albert though, and that’s because of the technique and quickness of the players on the line in 2024. Schematically, with how Don Brown and defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski like to dial up pressure in unique ways, smaller but quicker linemen may actually benefit the Minutemen.

“We are smaller somewhat, but we have guys who have the ability to use their hands, play with leverage to shed and tear and get off blocks,” Albert said. “This defense is predicated on speed. We’re gonna try to out-number you at the point of attack. We have guys that are capable of winning.”

The size difference only means that UMass’ front four will play with an even larger chip on their shoulders.

Oh, and Albert has found a metaphor that the unit has quickly adopted.

“If you look through the history of the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, there have been a lot of different types that have won the heavyweight championship,” Albert said. “Every time we come out here, we have the mentality that we’re gonna be the heavyweight champ, regardless of our size... Our goal is to try to get better every time we walk off the football field after practice, and we feel like we’ve done that.”

The only area of concern Albert has at this point is the lack of pass rushers on the line, an issue that plagued the Minutemen a season ago. In 2023, UMass tied for 117th in FBS in sacks per game (1.4).

With two weeks to go until the season opener against Eastern Michigan on Aug. 31, finding consistency at the edge position is unquestionably a point of emphasis.

“The biggest challenge for us is trying to find guys who can rush the passer, win 1-on-1s,” Albert said. “We’re an aggressive, get-off-and-attack style defense. We’re trying to create 1-on-1 situations, so we have to [be able to] win at junction points.”