BYU football: How reliable is the Cougar secondary?
By Ron Jensen
On paper, BYU football has young and talented defensive backs. But, when the games start, will they be reliable?
When choosing personnel for the secondary, many contributors come into play. Speed, instinct, and skill are a few of the essentials. The key for BYU football, however, boils down to one word:
Reliability.
Mistakes are costly in this part of the field and can give up scores, lose games and even destroy seasons. If coaches can’t rely on individuals with full confidence, they won’t play.
Thankfully for BYU football, it looks like there are plenty of options.
Cornerback
BYU returns both cornerback starters – Dayan Ghanwoloku and Troy Warner – from last year. When it comes to being dependable, experience is invaluable. This will benefit the Cougars immensely this season.
Ghanwoloku returns after an impressive redshirt freshman year where he beat out Michael Davis for the starting spot. Taking that role from the NFL bound Davis was an impressive accomplishment. Ghanwoloku’s ability to press receivers was a valuable skill for the Cougars and he reminded everyone why he received heavy attention from Alabama during his recruiting process.
Warner returns to the other corner spot after possessing it in 2016. This heavily recruited athlete started as a true freshman and performed well, especially considering his youth.
Sophomore Chris Wilcox played quite a bit last season. Though he made some errors that contributed to playing less, earning game time as a true freshman demonstrated the confidence the coaching staff – especially Ed Lamb – had in him.
Veteran Michael Shelton returns for his junior year. Maybe not as flashy as his associates, Shelton has been a stalwart that has shown that he can be counted on.
Safety
Lamb will have to do some restocking after losing one of the best safeties in recent BYU football history. But while Kai Nacua is gone, the cupboard is by no means empty.
Senior Micah Hannemann returns as the strong safety. With 33 starts under his belt, Hannemann is one of the more experienced players on BYU football’s roster. I expect Hannemann to put together a strong season, but even with his experience, expect to see some of Tanner Jacobson and Kamel Greene as well.
Jacobson started a few games for Texas Tech before leaving for a mission. After transferring last season to BYU, he got some playing time, but never cracked the starting lineup. He had a good spring and it remains to be seen if he’ll claim the starting spot.
At free safety, there is a log jam. Matt Hadley and Zayne Anderson are currently battling for the position, not to mention Utah transfer Austin Lee.
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Senior Hadley has the most experienced of the three, but has never been able to grab sole possession of the job. After an attempt to play running back this spring, he’s back to the defensive side of the ball to lay claim on the position.
Anderson, a junior, is also in the mix. At 6-foot-2, 200-pounds, he is a little more imposing than the other candidates. His build is similar to former Cougar great, Daniel Sorensen.
Another option is true freshman Chaz Ah You. Ah You was the most highly touted recruit of the 2017 class. He is obviously very athletic and talented.
Although a true freshman, it is not entirely out of the question to think he may have a chance to start. Look no further that last year to Troy Warner for proof that the coaches are willing to make such decisions.
BYU football’s coaches have said before that they’d move Warner and Ghanwoloku to safety if they could. It would help both players get to the next level, as well as shoring up BYU’s defense. In order for that to happen, some newcomers will have to make an impact at cornerback.
Keenan Ellis, D’Angelo Gunter, Trevion Greene – as well as junior Isiah Armstrong – all have the potential to play lockdown cornerback. If that happens, the Cougar defense might be even better than many are projecting.
Whatever choices are made, reliability will be the determining factor.