Bracken El-Bakri Feels BYU’s Defensive Line Will Be A Strength This Season

PROVO, Utah – Redshirt junior defensive tackle Bracken El-Bakri is a self-made man.  A former walk-on fullback two years ago, El-Bakri has now emerged as one of the top interior defensive tackles along the BYU defensive line.

Now on scholarship, El-Bakri is excited for this season both for himself and the entire defensive line unit.

“I’m really excited for our team.  Our defense is going to be really good.  So is our offense, but the strength of our team is really going to be our defensive line.  There’s a lot of dogs on the defensive line,” said El-Bakri.

BYU defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Ilaisa Tuiaki said at Media Day that his defensive line goes three-deep currently.  El-Bakri, who started in eight games last season, will be one of those key contributors.

“If you look at the best position groups in the country, it all comes because there is a lot of competition,” El-Bakri said. “When you feel somebody breathing down your neck, you start working faster and you start working harder.  You start doing two, three, four, or even five things a day, every day, because you realize the dude right behind me could easily start.”

BYU’s interior defensive line includes El-Bakri, future NFL hopeful Khyiris Tonga, Lorenzo Fauatea, Earl Tuioti-Mariner, and Atunaisa Mahe just to name a few.

“We’re going to rotate a lot.  We pushed ourselves a lot this offseason.  That competition is what pushes position groups to be the best of all-time, looking forward to it,” said El-Bakri.

A lot of the credit for the excitement surrounding BYU’s defensive line has been the coaching from Tuiaki.

“Coach E really knows what he is talking about.  Whenever people ask me about Coach E, the main thing I tell them is that he’s a genius,” El-Bakri said.  “You guys saw our Wisconsin game, our Hawaii game, and you saw two totally different defenses come out there.  That’s because he and his staff are really good at watching the film and deciding what’s going to beat a team and then teaching it to us.  Then we have to go out and execute.”

Last year, El-Bakri accounted for 24 tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble in 12 games played.  He looks to build on those numbers in 2019 along with the rest of BYU’s talented defensive line.

Listen below to El-Bakri during his interview with me and Matt Baiamonte from Cougar Sports Saturday on KSL Newsradio.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.