Coach Clawson has talked about needing internal competition, and he clearly seems to have it. The defensive backfield was a big problem last season...the team just had no depth, had some injures, were using 2 non-scholarship players, etc and were not helped by the lack of a pass rush. For evidence of the issues, see the first quarter of the UT game.
Keith Morgan was probably our best player in the d-backfield, and he has moved up to Rover (a LB/DB hybrid position). At the corner, Von McKoy (r-FR) (who as far as I can tell came to BG as a walk on) is apparently solid at one spot, while Adrien Spencer (Sr.) and Cam Truss (r-JR) are battling for the other spot. Truss looked good in spots last year, especially against Marshall. Spencer has logged a lot of playing time over the years in some weak backfields.
At Safety, Aaron Foster (So) apparently has one spot in hand. He worked his way onto the depth chart, played all 12 games and had a nice game at CMU. The other S spot is between Ryland Ward (r-FR) and Jovon Leacock (sr). Leacock is a JUCO guy who came here as a WR and was forced into D-back duty last season. He finished second on the team in tackles and according to the article, was pushed and has gotten himself back into the starting race after perhaps faltering a little. Ryland Ward red-shirted last year but was all-Ohio in HS. For him to be pushing this hard now is a very good sign.
Ultimately, in today's college game you need more than 4 d-backs. You are often in nickel and dime looks, so it stands to reason that most of these guys will be called on. Still, if they are pressuring each other, then you have a better chance at getting good players.
The d-backfield is only part of the puzzle. Yeah, they gotta keep guys in front of them, but we have to be able to get pressure from our base set and be able to keep good numbers back in coverage. Everyone on the team needs to tackle better in open space. That will make everybody look better.
In other notes....
The media guide is out in an online only form (by NCAA rules, which I think is fine but might make you wonder if the NCAA didn't have something better to be doing (*cough* *Cough* Miami Hurricanes). Anyway, a few other notes on the depth chart listed there.
- JUCO OLineman Scott Hodges and Dominic Wharton are both in backup roles.
- The Flewellyn and Roussos makeshift team on the right side of the line remains intact.
- TE Kendall Montgomery of Miami is now #2 on the TE chart.
- BooBoo Gates is currently on the 2nd string. (note the lack of his mention above).
- There are 13 r-FR on the two-deep.
- Jerry Phillips is listed #1 at punter over Brian Schemidebush, which is a little bit of a surprise.
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