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PROVO — Injuries to BYU cornerbacks have, literally, decimated the defense.
dec-i-mate: to select by lot and kill every tenth man
Well, maybe not literally, but Bronco must feel that way. Of his 56 defensive players, five cornerbacks have gone down in the last few months.
The most devastating — during the decimation — has been Jordan Johnson, who went down with a season-ending ACL injury in fall camp.
Junior college transfer Trent Trammell was expected to compete for a starting job when he blew his ACL fielding kicks in spring ball.
Senior Mike Hague is recovering from surgery on his IT band (knee), senior Adam Hogan has a quad injury and true freshman Dallin Leavitt is suffering from a hip flexor/pointer injury.
BYU lists 20 players as defensive backs, but former BYU cornerback Brian Logan isn't sure if that depth will be good enough to fill the void.
I don't see that talent really being there on that level to really take somebody's starting position.
–Brian Logan, former BYU cornerback
"You would want to say so, but I really don't see it happening; and the main reason why, is the lack of talent," Logan said this week on Cougar Sports Saturday with Cleon Wall and Randolph Fairbairn.
BYU has a hodgepodge of experience in the defensive backfield. Seven seniors, five juniors, three sophomores and six freshmen — six of those are junior college transfers.
"I don't see that talent really being there on that level to really take somebody's starting position," Logan said. "What I see now is just having a younger guy step up and kind of maintaining rather than fully emerging as a starter for maybe two, three more years down the road."
Logan was a JUCO player at Foothill College and had a difficult time adjusting in his first year at the Division I level. A common misconception is that there's a huge speed difference in the collegiate jump.
"The speed is definitely a factor, but it's not huge," said Logan who played professionally in the Canadian Football League as well as the Arena League. "The things that I had difficulty with were the routes and how fast the ball got there. If a receiver was running an out route at the junior college ranks, I would consider it a banana. The Division I ranks, it's a 90-degree angle. You have to adjust on how you are actually covering the receiver and the routes, anticipating the ball being that much faster."
One player, expected to play a big role at corner, is Robertson Daniel — a JUCO transfer from De Anza Junior College.
"I think he has all the ability in the world," Logan said. "With Daniel, he's very talented, he has good speed, he has nice hips — loose hips — he makes plays on the ball."
Logan likes what he's seen from Daniel in drills: "He's getting interceptions, he's getting a hand on the ball. But when it comes to a team period, that's when you have to tie in all that knowledge, all of that technique and really make plays on the ball.
"That's what it really comes down to; it's an 11-on-11 game," Logan added "It's not one-on-one."
