White defensive backs 08-09

[Jimmy Chitwood]

in past threads, we've talked a lot about the outstanding skill players on North Dakota's offense. however, we've not talked about any of their defenders... which happen to include two very talented white defensive backs.

senior cornerback Drake Otto is the best cornerback on the Fighting Sioux roster. he leads the Great West Conference in pass break-ups with 7 thus far.

senior free safety Rory Manke leads the team in tackles.

Drake Otto

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Boston College senior strong safety Paul Anderson is once again a stalwart in the Eagles' secondary. Anderson is currently fourth on the team in tackles (first among DBs) and tied for the team lead with 2 interceptions.

Paul Anderson makes a tackle last season

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Evan Van Dolah is regarded as the fastest player on the Arkansas State team, which is saying quite a bit because starting tailback reggie arnold (black) is said to have 4.3 speed...

the strange thing about Van Dolah is that he has tremendous acceleration, but doesn't have the top end speed you might expect him to. he's only run a 10.9-100 meters, and an 8.6-60 meters... he had a long jump of 21-4 in high school, though.

through 5 games, Van Dolah ranks 4th on the Red Wolves with 26 tackles.

edited to add: whoops! i didn't realize i'd already mentioned him in this thread. heh.

Edited by: Jimmy Chitwood

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Notre Dame strong safety Kyle McCarthy is another in a long line of white cornerbacks-turned-safety in Division I football.

considering his 4.4 speed and size (6-1, 203), you might think he'd make an excellent corner, but he's never been given a shot to play outside. fortunately for McCarthy, he's tough and smart enough to handle the job at safety.

McCarthy currently leads the Fighting Irish in tackles and has an interception.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

for "some reason" in the offseason California sophomore cornerback Chris Conte lost the starting job that he had earned on the field last year. but despite getting more limited playing time this season, Conte still has a knack for coming up with the big play.

the 6-3 cornerback snagged a third-quarter interception last week to help preserve a Cal win over Arizona State.

Chris Conte (with ball) celebrates his interception with teammates

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Baylor free safety Jordan Lake is another virtually unknown athlete (at least by the SportsCenter type "reporters") despite being one of the best at his position in the nation.

unlike last season when he led Baylor in tackles, this time around the headhunter is currently "only" 4th on the team. despite being feared by opposing offensive coordinators, and their attempts to avoid him in the passing game, Lake still manages to make his presence felt. take for example the blow-out loss to Oklahoma. the lone bright spot in Baylor's secondary was Lake. he had 7 tackles and an interception.

Jordan Lake has a nose for the ball

 

[whiteknight]

some great players by the look i love wihite safties

the thing is though the catse loving draft "experts" coaches and the NFL in general will come up with one hundred and one reason why all these players will be nothing but "special team demon,High motor,overachviers"

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

West Virginia's Nate Sowers is apparently so gifted that the coaches can't make up their mind where to play him. the result? he sits on the bench.

the 6-2, 205-pound Sowers, who piled up 8,515 career yards and 113 touchdowns passing and added 2,427 yards and 38 scores rushing in high school en route to being named West Virginia's Gatorade Player of the Year (while also making National Honor Society), entered WVU as a quarterback. he was then moved to wide receiver. now he's at safety on the defensive side of the ball. as this article shows, it's his versatility that is the "problem."

no matter where the coaches put him, he looks great. at least, in practice he does. because he can hardly see the field except on special teams, where he's a big hit.

but that hasn't translated into playing time. "weird," huh?

sound familiar? the WVU coaching staff did the same thing with Jeremy Bruce (who has now transferred). for a program that touts its desire to recruit and play athletes, apparently only the black ones are worthy of game action. even if they're not as good as their white peers.

Nat Sowers

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Utah State's James Brindley is the best defensive back, and arguably the best player, on an otherwise stunningly dark Aggies lineup.

a pre-season all WAC selection after registering over 100 tackles a year ago, Brindley has done nothing to change that impression. he is currently 2nd on the team in solo tackles (4th overall) and has an interception, despite battling injuries this fall.

James Brindley intercepts a ball last yearEdited by: Jimmy Chitwood

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Kent State sophomore free safety Brian Lainhart was named the Defensive Player of the Week by the Mid-American Conference on Monday. the honor is the first for the Cincinnati native, who becomes the first Golden Flash defensive player to be recognized by the league since 2006.

Lainhart had a first half to remember against Akron, intercepting Zips quarterback Chris Jacquemain three times to set up a pair of Kent State touchdowns. he also added eight tackles in the superb performance.

Lainhart stands out for more than his superb play on the terrible Kent State team. he is one of only two white players in the starting lineup on defense for the not-so-Golden Flashes.

Lainhart snags one of his 3 interceptions last week

Lainhart showing the wheels after a pick last season

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

we've mentioned him in passing a time or two, but Central Michigan's Eric Fraser is a heck of a ball player. a junior, in his career he's started at strong safety, free safety, and cornerback. and he's looked good at all three spots. this year, he's primarily been starting at free safety.

he's not putting up huge tackle numbers, but as a cover man that's usually a good thing.

in high school, he finished second overall in Nike Fastest Kid in Canada and was part of provincial champion 4x100m relay team.

Eric Fraser says hello

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

it is damn depressing that these guys are so few and far between.

 

[jared]

I mentioned him in the Minnesota thread, but sophomore safety Kyle Theret has been playing very well for the resurgent Gophers and was key in their defeat of Illinois today.
He's been starting since his freshman year when he played both safety and corner. Right now, his stats are 39 tackles (30 solo - 2nd on team), 1.5 TFL, 2 INT, 1 PD, 1 FF. He really flies around the field and is a sure tackler one on one. Edited by: jared

 

[jared]

Texas has a true freshman starting safety this year in Blake Gideon. He doesn't have any big time stats yet but he has the all the confidence of defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, as Gideon is frequently tasked with lining the defense up correctly.

 

[GreatLakeState]

MSU"s Danny Fortener had a pick in a win at Northwestern. He not has two INTs, and one for a safety which doesn't count in the official stats.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

here is a very complimentary piece on Texas freshman safety, Blake Gideon that Bronk spotted.

some interesting excerpts:

You want to know Blake Gideon? Know he played four varsity football games with his back broken in four places as a sophomore in high school ...

It's more than his 26 tackles, which tie him for second on the team, and his four pass breakups.

It's the fearless attitude the 6-foot-1-inch, 190-pounder displays, like when he tackled Oklahoma's 6-6, 250-pound tight end Jermaine Gresham.

It's the leadership he displays on the field ...

(black freshman safety Earl) Thomas says, "He doesn't like to play around like that. So I'll just leave him alone. He'll be the angry guy."

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Baylor's Jordan Lake had 11 tackles at halftime against Nebraska today, and finished the game with 15 and a forced fumble.

sophomore cornerback Krys Buerck also had a solid game. he's emerged as Baylor's top cover man after moving from wide receiver in the spring. Nebraska threw away from him most of the game.

 

[SteveB]

Buerck is half black.

 

[backrow]

Northwestern's Brendan Smith had his second intercoption returned for a TD this season vs Minnesota

 

[Deadlift]

Northwestern's Brendan Smith had his second intercoption returned for a TD this season vs Minnesota

I watched that game live.

It was an impressive and clutch finish! Brendan's legs kept churning. He just might be "fast-twitch" and "loose" in the hips.

 

[backrow]

Daniel Charbonnet returned an interception for an 18 yard TD versus Texas. it was his 6th interception of a season, we'll see if he gets any looks from NFL...

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Daniel Charbonnet played exclusively as a slot cornerback in the game against Texas. he was matched up against Jordan Shipley for nearly the entire game and was incredible.

in fact, did anyone else notice that all (except for possibly 1 or 2) of Shipley's catches came when Charbonnet was covering another receiver?

MUCH respect to Charbonnet's cover skills!

also, younger brother Taylor was a mad man on special teams. those two dudes are wicked fast and very, very good.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Arkansas Razorbacks free safety Matt Harris doesn't start because his coach claims that at 6-2, 192-pounds he is "too small." (one of the normal starters at safety for Arkansas is 5-9, but he's black so that makes him big enough apparently.

)

anyway, despite not starting in the Razorbacks secondary on Saturday against Tulsa and their #1-offense in the nation, Harris had more SOLO tackles than the total tackles of all six linebackers on the two-deep COMBINED! he had more tackles than the rest of the secondary combined, as well.

Harris had 12 solo tackles against the Golden Hurricane. to that impressive number, 2 of the tackles were for loss, and he added a forced fumble (which he wasn't given credit for in the stat sheet) and a pass break-up on a HUGE hit on a receiver coming across the middle.

the ball must've gone 15 yards in the air when he smoked the wideout.

for some reason, Harris wasn't credited for any of his assisted tackles, or his numbers would have been truly phenomenal. perhaps after once again showing that he is CLEARLY the best defensive back on the team (and possibly the best defensive player), Harris will finally be named to the starting unit.

despite the offensive facemask shown here, Harris made this tackle and a bunch more against Tulsa.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

That is great to hear Jimmy! I hope UA will start more whites on defense.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i don't normally talk too much about small school defensive backs. mainly because i have so little available information about them. however, i'd like to mention four who i've noticed real quick like.

Eastern Kentucky features a pair of ball-hawking, head hunting safeties. Zach Denton was a second-team all-conference pick a year ago, but his performance this season may gain him better notice. he already has 47 tackles and 4 interceptions this season.

Brandon Gathof has been a first-team all-conference performer the past two seasons, and likely will be again this year. he already has 58 tackles and 3 interceptions.

Zach Denton

Tommy Irvin

Wofford got spanked by Appalachian State their last time out, but sophomore strong safety Tommy Irvin was certainly a bright spot. i know, his bio still lists him as a linebacker. however, his performance even got him noticed by the guys at DraftDaddy. he'd missed three games to start the season because of an injury, but his return has sparked the defense.

it should be noted that his backfield mate, undersized free safety Jason Leventis, is also pretty good. he's second on the team with 27 solo tackles (41 total), has both a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, and he returned his one interception 82 yards for a touchdown.

Jason Leventis