What the fuck is Jimmy doing at Safety? I expected Molden to move over to free safety because he doesn't have ideal corner length but he does have probably the highest football IQ in the secondary, 4.4 sideline to sideline speed, ball skills, instincts, good tackling ability, and probably wouldn't be a huge drop off from Rapp.
But no, instead Molden is still at corner and he starts Spring ball off with Gilchrist running with the ones who's A HUGE FUCKING DROP OFF from Tayler Rapp and the only guy he moved to safety so far is Julius Irvin who's coming off a redshirt and has barely played. On top of that, McKinney is iffy in pass coverage and looked lost against Ohio State. Dude, WTF? I'm really nervous about both safety positions. I could see them getting taken advantage of and giving up big plays over the top this season. Fuck.
You take Spring ball way too seriously. Irvin is already playing safety.
That's my fucking point you retard. We need RS Freshman Julius Irvin, who has next to zero college experience and is coming off an injury that held him back his redshirt season, to hopefully beat out Gilchrist and start for us at FS after losing Tayler Rapp. We also need a converted WR who hasn't played DB since high school to be good and provide quality depth. Yeah, that's real reassuring guys. Good stuff. There's no way we suck at safety right now. What was I thinking?
Ok but what does this have to do with Day 1 of spring practice.
This was going to be the case as soon as Joyner retired. Did you just figure it out?
Either Hampton or Irvin or both will have to be ready to step up and start whether it be corner or safety.
They experimented with Austin Joyner at safety last Spring. He was getting the ball thrown over his head so they moved him back to corner. Elijah Molden should have been moved to safety a long time ago. Anybody can fucking play corner. It's not a cerebral position. I'm not worried about guys like Hampton or Gordon playing for us at corner with little to no experience. They're both super talented and can hold their own. Safety is way more cerebral than corner. It's not some throw away position where guys can move over from corner and easily play. We can't afford fuck ups at that position. Fuck ups at safety are touchdowns.
Lake is responsible for the secondary's performance period. There are no fucking excuses of "Well Taylor Rapp left early and Austin Joyner had to retire." I DON'T GIVE A FUCK! That shit happens at every major program across the country. That or really talented guys transfer out. There's no fucking excuses here or elsewhere. We should have better depth at safety to replace what we lost.
This is what we got:
SS: Brandon McKinney: Looked like he didn't belong on the field in the Rose Bowl
Alex Cook: Converted WR, most likely sucks really bad and won't be ready to contribute this Fall as a reliable rotation player.
FS: Isaiah Gilchrist: Chubby doughboy. Clearly likes to eat and has never stepped foot on a treadmill. Too slow. Not athletic enough. Guys can run right past him in the the run game and pass game.
Cameron Williams: True Freshman, nuff said
And then somewhere in there Julius Irvin: Talented but coming off an injury, still only 183 pounds. Basically on the same level as a true freshman at the safety position because he was practicing at corner his redshirt season.
That is terrible depth and Austin Joyner wouldn't have made it much better. The safety position has been neglected in recruiting by Jimmy Lake.
