[washingtonismoney]

Here's Mason:

"When I first got here, Ben [Gardner] was a more of a third-down lineman, a guy that had a chance to get on the field in certain situations," defensive coordinator Derek Mason said. "But he proved last year that he was an every-down player. He changed his body. He's physically gifted and he just has superior skills. He's ready."

"Trent Murphy may be the best outside linebacker nobody's heard about," Mason said. "He has all the attributes you need and more than anything, he's put it on tape. With Chase drawing so much attention last year, and with [inside linebacker] Shayne Skov out, Trent made his presence known."

Physically, "Shayne probably looks as good as he's ever looked," Mason said. "We'll get into camp and be smart. We don't want him to overextend himself. The biggest thing is making sure he feels secure [with his knee.]"

"In the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, [a loss to Oklahoma State], Terrence took that game to heart," Mason said. "He felt like he could've made more plays. There were some one-on-one tackles he felt he should've made and the [outcome] could've been a different story."

"Ed {Reynolds] is probably the catalyst of our defense," Mason said. "He had a great spring. Started off a little slow, but as the spring went on, he established himself as a No. 1 guy."

At strong safety, sophomore Kyle Olugbode (6-1, 195) had 10 interceptions in the spring. "And that's something we were missing a year ago," Mason said. "You talk about playmaking in the secondary, this group is a little different. This group has guys with elite ball skills. We feel confident in our ability to get the ball turned over."

[washingtonismoney]

Here's Mason:

"When I first got here, Ben [Gardner] was a more of a third-down lineman, a guy that had a chance to get on the field in certain situations," defensive coordinator Derek Mason said. "But he proved last year that he was an every-down player. He changed his body. He's physically gifted and he just has superior skills. He's ready."

"Trent Murphy may be the best outside linebacker nobody's heard about," Mason said. "He has all the attributes you need and more than anything, he's put it on tape. With Chase drawing so much attention last year, and with [inside linebacker] Shayne Skov out, Trent made his presence known."

Physically, "Shayne probably looks as good as he's ever looked," Mason said. "We'll get into camp and be smart. We don't want him to overextend himself. The biggest thing is making sure he feels secure [with his knee.]"

"In the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, [a loss to Oklahoma State], Terrence took that game to heart," Mason said. "He felt like he could've made more plays. There were some one-on-one tackles he felt he should've made and the [outcome] could've been a different story."

"Ed {Reynolds] is probably the catalyst of our defense," Mason said. "He had a great spring. Started off a little slow, but as the spring went on, he established himself as a No. 1 guy."

At strong safety, sophomore Kyle Olugbode (6-1, 195) had 10 interceptions in the spring. "And that's something we were missing a year ago," Mason said. "You talk about playmaking in the secondary, this group is a little different. This group has guys with elite ball skills. We feel confident in our ability to get the ball turned over."