Predicting the Depth Chart: 2015 BYU Cornerbacks
By Mitch Harper
In the Cougar Club room at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Signing Day in 2002, assistant coach Paul Tidwell’s cell phone rang. Tidwell with a big smile on his face after answering the call turned to the Cougar Club members who had gathered for the first ever Signing Day luncheon at BYU and said, “Guys! Walt Williams is on the line.”
The 30 or so people in attendance for that inaugural event cheered. Walt Williams was a 5-star recruit that was going to revolutionize a cornerback position that for years had been cursed at BYU.
Well as everyone knows, the curse continued as Walt Williams never matriculated at BYU and he basically vanished into thin air.
Things have gotten better at cornerback in Bronco’s 10 seasons as the head coach. But whenever you discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a BYU football team, the latter will usually be where the corners land under.
What do the 2015 cornerbacks have in store? Are they going to be a weakness or strength for this defense now ran by Bronco again? Let’s take a look at how we think the depth chart for these cornerbacks will look this fall when BYU takes on Nebraska in 198 days.
Players Lost: Robertson Daniel (Graduated), Jordan Johnson (Graduated; no medical redshirt granted), Trent Trammell (transferred to UTEP)
Starters
Michael Davis (Field) & Jordan Preator (Boundary)
There will be a lot of pressure on both Davis and Preator to remain healthy in 2015. As you will see in the rest of this article, none of the names in this position have had significant reps in a D1 game. Coaches are banking on Michael Davis to hold down the field cornerback spot.
Davis and Preator, if healthy, will be solid corners in 2015. Both players are very young and gave BYU some playmaking ability from the corner spot last season.
BYU won’t be pressing at the line of scrimmage anytime soon, but these two fit well into Bronco’s 3-4 scheme.
It’ll be interesting to see how much progress these two make with new strength & conditioning coach Frank Wintrich. Wintrich is focused on getting each position specific needs to meet their peak potential. Davis is already one of the fastest players on the team and Preator is a solid athlete in his own right. If these two take their games to a higher level, BYU could be in the cornerback business for once.
Primary Backups
Michael Shelton, Dayan Lake, Garrett Juergens
Last year, Shelton had moments during fall camp that created some buzz about possibly being in the two-deep as a true freshman. Due to the number of players BYU had entering the season last year, the coaching staff felt they were better served to redshirt the North Carolina native.
Shelton will push Preator to be the starter at boundary. It’ll be a competition that’ll start in spring ball and go through spring, but either way, Shelton is going to see quite a bit of playing time this season.
Dayan Lake has been a name that Cougar faithful have been waiting to see in Provo for what feels like five years already. Lake has the rare ability to compete for a spot on the two-deep from day one of fall camp. Lake will play four straight years and has zero plans for a mission.
Garrett Juergens saw time towards the tail end of last season due to the laundry list of injuries that took place. He will be in the mix this season competing for a spot, as he is one of the few players in this group that has experience in an actual game.
Wild Cards
Riley Burt, Micah Hannemann, Trevor Brent
Depending on the situation with Charles West, I wouldn’t be surprised if Riley Burt switches to the offensive side of the ball at running back. But for now, Burt is going to play cornerback at BYU. Mission plans are still up in the air for Burt who is LDS.
Hannemann might be the kid I like the most to emerge from nowhere to a significant role in 2015 at cornerback. Like his older brother, Jacob (former BYU Baseball player & football prospect now with Chicago Cubs), Micah is a great athlete who played multiple sports in high school.
Brent is one of the six kids from the state of Texas to sign in the 2015 class. Besides being an excellent violinist, Brent was a star for his Mesquite High squad at cornerback. Brent is a possible redshirt candidate, but as Bronco continues to move away from redshirting players, Brent will get every opportunity to play right away this season.
The Rest
Kamel Greene: A 5’11” 178-pound walk-on transfer from Washington State. Greene has four years to play four at BYU, so he will have time to develop.
Sam Lee: Usually junior college players provide an instant impact. That wouldn’t be the best term to summarize Lee’s career at BYU thus far. Lee has been plagued by numerous injuries during his time in Provo. Now entering his senior season, it’s hard to picture reps for him at this point.