harvey-clemons is the next kam chancellor...if he can grow a brain
Maybe. But he's already gotten kicked off of Georgia, and doesn't have a school yet. He's as close to the street as he is to being the "next Kam Chancellor".
Regardless, as I mentioned in the defensive blueprint thread, the evolutionary pressure at the college level is driving the recruitment and development of more and more guys with length and speed who can play in space. No where is that more clear than with Ellis Johnson and Auburn in the SEC:
Ellis Johnson, Melvin Smith and Charlie Harbison have never made a secret out of what they want in the secondary.
Auburn's defensive coaches like length.
Finding players with the kind of length that can match up with big SEC receivers and shrink passing windows on the outside was a priority in Auburn's 2014 signing class, and the five defensive backs the Tigers landed all fit the bill.
"If you look at this group, they are long, and they have length," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "They can run, they are good tacklers. They have very good ball skills. They will give us some versatility."
When Auburn's current staff took over after the 2012 season, Johnson, Smith and Harbison inherited a roster full of defensive backs who check in at 5-10 or shorter.
Despite an improved performance in 2013 -- the Tigers picked off 13 passes after only grabbing two the year before and improved 39 spots in pass efficiency defense, from 101st to 62nd -- Auburn still struggled against big receivers like Texas A&M's Mike Evans, Missouri's trio of targets led by Dorial Green-Beckham and Florida State's Kelvin Benjamin.
Ideally, Johnson wants his safeties bigger than 6 feet and 200 pounds, and Smith has always said he looks for corners who top the 6-foot mark, too.
Bringing in a pair of 6-foot cornerbacks -- Kalvaraz Bessent, Nick Ruffin -- and a trio of safeties that stand 6-3 (Derrick Moncrief), 6-2 (Markell Boston) and 6 feet (Stephen Roberts) will help the Tigers match up against those big bodies in the future.
"This is the first year where our guys really got a whole year to go after the body type and the type of athleticism that goes with each position," Malzahn said. "That’s what’s exciting for our coaches. They had a whole year to not only identify, but to recruit these guys."
Auburn revamping secondary by signing bigger defensive backs | AL.com
- Josh Harvey-Clemons (formerly Georgia). 6'4" 220#.
- Justin Garrett, Auburn. 6'1" 218#.
- Derrick Moncrief, Auburn (juco transfer). 6'3" 225#.
- Cody Prewitt, Mississippi. 6'2" 220#.
- Derrick Malone, Oregon. 6'2" 216#.
- Shaq Thompson, Washington. 6'2" 225#.
Lots of others. Some are safeties, some are LBs, some are even CBs or DEs. Nick Saban broke the mold at Alabama by recruiting guys like 6'6" 230# DE Mekhi Brown, a guy who doesn't fit the 2-gapping 3-4 model at all, but who excels in space, and who describes himself as originally being a "really a basketball player and just played football for fun".
A couple of years ago Jeff Chadiha wrote a nice article for CNNSI on the evolution of the safety position, and the challenges posed by athletic TEs (Gronk, Graham, etc.) and bigger WRs. He had this interesting quote from Tony Gonzalez:
Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez joked that there are so many agile tight ends that teams may have to start scouting basketball games for safety talent. "Maybe they should find some 2-guard types, 6-foot-4 guys who can match up with tight ends," he said.
NFL shifts from big, physical safety to a more versatile model - ESPN
What we're seeing is that the colleges are indeed getting guys with basketball backgrounds and bodies and converting them to football. We'll see more and more of these long, agile guys coming down the pipe.
