Secondary Preview



Well I had to work today, but I was able to trade shifts! Lucky me because I needed to work on this blog. I've  only been working on this thing all day, and I'm also waiting  on Zac. We have much to cover, and discuss.

Field Cornerbacks | Now as we stand in the coming season, we introduce an entirely new secondary. Some could argue that Bruce Jones is somewhat of a returning starter in the cornerback position considering Douglas spent most of the season on the bench due to injury.  According to Texas Tech's official site, he had 6 starts out of the 13 games he has played in. Not many numbers on the stat sheet, so you can say he did his job and held the position down, which most would argue he did. I know he did some rotating with Mays as well, but that's old news. Now as the starter, and I would say one the leaders of the defense (and team), Jones has no time to be average. He'll have to be a ball hawk. He's on the short side for sure listed at 5'7 with 171 lbs on him, so there are some areas of concern. I understand now that we have a field corner and a boundary corner in this 3-4 scheme. As it states right now, Jones is going to be playing to the wide side of the field making him the field corner. That corner can be of smaller size, but he has to make excellent open field tackles. It goes without saying again that Jones will have to be more than average because every week he will be targeted.

“He’s got a lot of confidence,” Kingsbury said. “He’s not the biggest guy, but he’ll take chances, which we like. He’s aggressive out there, puts his nose in the run game. There’s a lot of things we like about him.” 



I think it's great that he takes chances and jumps routes when he gets a feel for what he see's during the course of the practice competitions, but that's just it  - it's practice. I cant speak on his dedication to film study or things of that nature, but if he's one of those guys that plays instinctive, then he's either going to be really explosive, or extremely unlucky.
Jeremy Reynolds is playing back up to Jones as it stands right now. I expect that a juco player or maybe even one of our recruits from the high school level may challenge Reynolds for the spot, but I'm getting to that. I don't  know much about him, but I do remember him being listed as hurt for most of the spring. If memory serves me correct, he was starting on the boundary side. I'm sure there will still be some of the type of competition.
 
Boundary Cornerbacks | I will be honest with you, I did not expect Olaoluwa Falemi to be the one listed as the starting boundary cornerback, and honestly I don't know how long that will last. Being as it is, I am still competing to make this squad, so I've been asking about these guys, and most guys say Falemi is pretty fast. Non of those people I've talked to were able to give me a confidence answer as to him being able to keep the position. I think Falemi was the best of the few, and that isn't saying much. Of course, as the boundary corner you are suppose to be big and physical which is why Derrick Mays was the initial starter, but I think he also suffered an injury early on in the spring. Falemi is listed at 5'9 -157, which to me isn't quite ideal for a set-the-edge type of cornerback. Make no mistake, Falemi and I are cool. I am strictly talking football. I do not want to doubt anyone based on size, but it is an area of concern.
As I listed earlier, Mays got hurt early and missed out on spring, but from what I seen of him last year (Minn Bowl Game) he has much to improve on. I think he needs to master his footwork for the man coverage. I know this defense will be in a tampa two look more times than not, but if you can't run man on this level, your defense will get exposed- FAST & EARLY. More time in the film room may also be my suggestion, but this is mostly off a few games (mostly an eye test). I expect this battle to be wide open right now.

Free Safety | Everyone that knows Texas Tech football knows that this is undoubtedly the position that will be missed the most. I mean we had a stud in Cody Davis,  and a very solid player in D.J Johnson playing in the back of that defense. There will be big shoes to fill, and I think this position will make or break the defense. I have some concerns with the safety position as it stands right now because I've seen a few times where Jakeem was able to slip past the safeties due to them biting, or wanting to make a play on Amaro during the spring game. Offenses will sometimes bait a player right at ten yards to freeze a safety and literally #atmo because that pause gives a WR a chance to get wide open. Also, when players with speed like Jakeem command safeties to respect their speed, you will see players like him go on a go/fly/fade route to give (in this case) Amaro some room right in the zone between the linebacker and safety to make an over the top catch. With Gaines being the front man right now, I just hope that he is learning the disciplines of the position. I hear that Austin Stewart is probably the better athlete, but may lack the discipline to be a starter. I hope he gets on track and learns to learn the importance of knowing the playbook and watching film. Being that I played safety for 10+ years, I know all too well that it's not an easy position to learn. I also understand the transition period is rough mentally. All I'm saying is, it may be tough right now for Gaines and Stewart to be what we define as perfect, but they will get there with continuous reps and study.
Strong Safety | Last, but not least, the free safety position. Tre Porter is one of the guys who I think has sort of locked down their position, and the battle is for back-up. At 6' even and weighing in at 202, Porter is solid. I don't know much about his speed, especially with him being in a red jersey all of spring. He did manage to play through his injury all spring, and I respect him for that. Injuries happen to the best of us; ask Kobe, so for him to want to come in and learn the system while getting the reps shows commitment. As far as his skill set goes, last year for me, he was the Achilles hill for this secondary at times with his lack of coverage skill at the nickel, and also the immaturity. I recall a few times where he got beat man to man, and instead of getting back and brushing it off, he turned around to point blame. I don't think that's anything to be concerned with because I fully expect this guy to be a full fledge leader; I'm just recalling my in-game eye test opinion from last year. Overall, I look for him to be a staple in this defense this coming season.
New Additions | The LAJ has great article on the new comers, which I assume most of you have read already because I stole it from Seth. Since there isn't much information to dissect, I'll wait to form an opinion on the new guys. They are all new to the division 1 lifestyle, and I know all too well that there is quite a bit of free time in the summer for athletes... we'll see how these guys adjust mentally and physically.