In this article we will move over to the defensive side of the ball, which we shall see is a bright picture for 2025, with 8 of the 11 starters returning. This half of the series will be divided into three parts reflecting the 3 levels normally used to define a base defense: Defensive Line, Linebackers, and Defensive Backs. We’ll start up front with the Defensive Line.
Defensive Coordinator Nate Woody uses 3 defensive linemen in his base defense. Different people use different terms to describe the three down linemen, but for simplicity sake we will refer to them as a Nose Guard (NG) and two Defensive Ends (DE), and treat the Ends as relatively interchangeable.
Departing Defensive Linemen
The Black Knight defense will be losing 4 seniors from the defensive line, two of whom were team captains in 2024.
DE and Team Captain Kyle Lewis appeared in 1 game with 12 snaps as a plebe with no tackles. He appeared in 4 games in 2022, playing 30 snaps and recorded 2 tackles. He moved into the regular rotation in his junior season, playing in all 12 games with 11 starts and 488 snaps. He started the first 9 games of the 2024 season, getting in 313 defensive snaps before he was sidelined by an injury. He finished his career at Army with 51 career tackles that included 6 TFLs and 5 Sacks along with 2 Forced Fumbles and a Fumble Recovery.
NG and Team Captain Cody Winokur was a surprise choice as one of the 2024 team captains considering that he played in only 6 games with 32 snaps prior to his senior season. He entered West Point in 2019 and left in 2020 to spend a couple of years on active duty as a field artilleryman before returning in 2023. He appeared in 12 games and started the last two games of the 2024 season, with 212 snaps for the year. He made a modest contribution to the defense, finishing his career with a total of 7 tackles, including 1 TFL.
DE Trey Sofia was a major contributor to the defene starting in his sophomore season of 2022, when he appeared in 9 games with 66 snaps. He appeared in 11 games with 1 start and 226 snaps in 2023 and rounded out his career by appearing in all 14 games with 1 start as a senior. He finished his career with 30 tackles, including 3.5 TFLs and 3 Sacks. He also had 1 blocked kick.
DE Dre Miller appeared in two games with 11 snaps in his plebe and yearling seasons and then got more playing time as a junior appearing in 9 games with 97 snaps. He played in all 14 games in 2024 and got his first start against UTSA and finished his career with 4 straight starts. He played 328 snaps in his senior season and finished his career at Army with 30 tackles, including 0.5 TFLs and had 1 fumble recovery.
DE Tyler Rafferty started as an OLB in 2022, playing in 2 games with 13 snaps. He moved up to the defensive line in 2023 and appeared in 3 games with 19 snaps in his junior year and then played in 7 games with 52 snaps as a senior. He had a total of 2 career tackles and 1 Pass Defended.
Returning Defensive Linemen
The current roster lists 18 returning DLs, to include 3 rising seniors, 6 rising juniors, and 9 rising sophomores. Listed below are the DLs who return with experience on defense.
Rising Junior NG Kody Harris-Miller broke into the starting lineup this past season, appearing in 11 games with 10 starts and 269 snaps in 2024. The young nose guard registered 29 tackles including 5.0 TFLs and 2.0 Sacks this season.
Rising Senior DE Jack Latore did not see action as a plebe, but played in 12 games with 257 snaps in 2023 and started all 14 games with 424 snaps this past season. He has registered 39 career tackles, including 5.5 TFLs and 2.5 Sacks as well as 2 Fumble Recoveries.
Rising Senior DE Jacob Tuioti played in 9 games with no starts and 153 snaps in 2022 but was sidelined in 2023 and returned to appear in 12 games with 2 starts and 206 snaps this past season. Tuioti has a career total of 12 tackles including 1.5 TFLs and a Sack.
Rising Senior DE Deshontez Gray made his debut in 2023, appearing in 4 games with 15 snaps, and played in 13 games with 179 snaps this past season. He has 14 career tackles including 1 Sack.
Rising Sophomore NG Matt Gemma made his much anticipated collegiate debut against Notre Dame and also appeared in the AAC Conference Championship game against Tulane and in the Independence Bowl for a total of 19 snaps in his plebe season. The 3 star recruit from NJ is still a work in progress and hasn’t made it into the statistics yet, but the staff expects him to see a lot more action in 2025, most likely sharing time at NG with Harris-Miller.
Rising Junior DE Amir Ali has appeared in 3 games with 24 snaps and has recorded 2 career tackles.
Rising Junior DE Dillon Stowers appeared in 5 games with 29 snaps this season and has one career tackle.
Rising Sophomore DE Sean Donovan has appeared in just one game with 3 snaps.
Outlook For The Spring
Defensive Coordinator Nate Woody likes to rotate his defensive linemen regularly to keep them fresh; so he’s always on the lookout for more talent on the defensive front and tries to get some of his younger players early experience. Despite the loss of two team captains from this unit, the forecast looks good.
Kody Harris-Miller is one of the best nose guards Army has had in years, and he should be getting a lot of help from Matt Gemma at that spot this coming year. Jack Latore is a seasoned veteran and Tuioti and Gray will bring a lot of experience to the DE positions as well. The staff is also looking forward to having Jack Boussom back from medical leave, although we have no data to report on him.
It usually takes a year or two for a young player to learn the ropes on the defensive line and spring is the time for doing that; so we hope to see some progress among the younger players this spring as well.
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