2017 Defensive Backs

Shadowlight

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Two things you need to know about Clemson yesterday. When Hunter Renfrow caught his first pass the entire stadium gave him a standing ovation in recognition of his winning TD catch last year in the Championship against Bama.
Tanner Muse is on the STUD WATCH!!!! 4.55 you say? I am hearing he might be the fastest player on the Clemson team. HE RAN A 4.36 THIS SUMMER. The guy looks so good out on the football field could we be looking at a first round NFL DB draft pick in 2019? I sure and hell hope so. And who can forget his magical interception return for a TD last season.

 

Red Raider

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I haven't heard much about him on here but Penn State has a starting white safety named Troy Apke, haven't seen much from him but he has solid size and is starting for a solid team
 

Shadowlight

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Red Raider of the most annoying long term trends at Penn State has been their lack of white WR's. Going back for what? two decades now Penn State has not played many if any white wide receivers. Apke, a senior now, was a star WR in High School but was quickly converted to safety once he stepped on campus. I don't trust their current coach to recruit white skill players despite the fact their stud QB runs a 4.5 40 yard dash. One prime example is when he snubbed a star white RB from PA last year who eventually ended up at Yale. No offense to Pitt, who they are playing today in a backyard brawl, but everybody knows PA kids want to star at Penn State! Back to Apke. He was touted as running a 4.48 40 coming out of High School and it seems like the safety job is his this season. Penn State is always on TV so we can get a real good look at how he is performing. He played some last year but didn't start. From what I have seen he seems like a solid player with ranginess.
 

Leonardfan

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Brad Ellis had a pick 6 on Saturday vs. EMU to go along with a PBU in the end zone.

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Has anybody heard of Hawaii CB (Jr) Manu Hudson-Rasmussen 6'0 185 who is listed as one of their starting Cornerback's. He might have some poly ethnicity, likely 3/4 white 1/4 poly? Appears white to me though.
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Thoughts?
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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BYU former-cornerback, now-safety, Micah Hanneman with the pick 6 against Utah State tonight.
 

celticdb15

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Brad Ellis had a pick 6 on Saturday vs. EMU to go along with a PBU in the end zone.

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Ellis is having a good Senior season. 40tkls and 2ints including that pick 6! He's a longshot NFL prospect but I'd like to see him stick around! As you mentioned in the 18 draft thread we need more DBs drafted!
 

celticdb15

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A few more updates regarding some of the Senior Athletes mentioned in this thread.

BYUs Micah Hannemann has 34tkls and 1 int

IUs Chase Dutra has 70tkls !

CSUs Jake Schlager has 50tkls!

CUs Ryan Moeller has 58tkls!

JMUs Jordan Brown has 4ints !
 

celticdb15

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USUs Dallin Leavitt has 60tkls and 3ints!

UCs Carter Jacobs has 54tkls!

Cals Luke Rubenzer only 14tkls..

Notre Dame's Drue Tranquill has 47tkls, 1.5 sacks and 1int!

Cornell's Nick Gesualdi has 2ints! 8 the past two seasons!

UWs Joe Ferguson has 4ints and 6total turnovers!
 
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Heretic

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Snyder tore his ACL again and is out for the year. I think he was rushed back too soon. He's a Junior, so he has one more year of eligibility.
 

celticdb15

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celticdb15

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Jimmy Chitwood

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Ohio redshirt senior cornerback Bradd Ellis (that's not a typo) is second in the nation in passes defended with 19 (17 passes broken up and 2 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown). not bad for a first-year starter and ... you guessed it ... a former walk-on.

Ellis is an interesting story, having not earned a scholarship until the spring before this, his redshirt senior, year. he started in 3 games a season ago (due to injury to the "real" player, if i recall correctly), but until this campaign he'd been little more than a White Special Team Demon. and while i'm of the general opinion that the fewer stats a cornerback puts up the better the job he is doing, it is a testament to Bradd's talent that he's made so many plays in coverage. having watched several Ohio games this year, part of the reasoning for his numbers is that opposing teams frequently attack the 5-foot-10 White corner until he (usually) proves he is better than opposition's best wideout. that being said, his coaching staff has recognized that Bradd is their best cover corner, and he is usually lined up with no safety help in their scheme against the opponent's top wideout. one wonders how that statement is true, if it took so long for him to earn A) a scholarship and B) significant playing time. one might also wonder that it mightn't be true, but then C) how bad must the defensive blacks *TM* on the roster be? and D) what exactly is the evaluation criteria for prospective "talent" and how can the recruiting coordinator keep his job if a White walk-on is getting reps at the boundary corner over "real" talents?

all in all, Bradd Ellis is a solid cornerback. if it weren't for the Caste System, i would certainly wonder how he is such a rare specimen.
 

Red Raider

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Texas Tech sophomore nickel/safety Justus Parker was given the opportunity to expand his special teams role in week 6 and hasn’t looked back. The 6’0” 210lb transfer from DIII Texas Lutheran has responded with 42 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 4 INT, 4 PD, 4 FF, 1 FR for a TD and is also one of the 2 kick returners! This kid is an incredible player and should be a fun one to watch these next 2 years. He deserves to be 1st team all big 12 this year. His nickname is ballhawk and he apparently gets the most turnovers in practice as well (i remember he had a pick 6 in the spring game).
 

Leonardfan

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Only Apke and Reyes have been invited to All Star games - Apke to the NFLPA Collegiate bowl and Reyes to the Shrine game. Unacceptable considering the number of very good senior white DBs in this year's class. For the modest gains we have seen at the WR positon the DB position is getting absolutely stonewalled in terms of white players being able to make it to the next level.
 
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