Fall camp is just four days away!!
Today we take a look at the cornerbacks and safeties.
David Mackie is the new safeties coach at Tech for the 2021 season. Mackie spent the 2020 season as a defensive analyst for the Bulldogs.
Perry Carter is the cornerbacks coach for the Bulldogs in 2021. Carter was previously at ULM.
We’ll start with the safeties.
Beejay Williamson, Jaiden Cole, and Khalil Ladler return in 2021 after serving as the top three safeties a season ago.
Williamson was a 1st team All-CUSA selection in 2020, he’ll play in the NFL one day. In fact, I would imagine there is pretty good chance that he’s a Team Captain in 2021 along with LB Trey Baldwin.
Cole had a rough year in 2020 with numerous missed tackles and bad angles, but he did look a little better this past spring.
Ladler never really seemed to settle into DC David Blackwell’s defense in 2020 after coming over from Virginia Tech. Ladler is a guy I would expect to move around a lot in 2021, he’s more of hybrid/no true position type of player than a true safety to me.
Myles Mason also transferred into the program from Arkansas in the off-season. Mason is a thumper that is a very good tackler. Ultimately, I think Mason ends up starting next to Williamson at the other safety spot, but we’ll see. I love his game.
Jamison Kelly saw a little bit of time a season ago as a true freshman, he’s going to be a good one. Watch him on special teams covering kickoffs in 2021, he’ll absolutely demolish you.
Marquallius Turner, Christian Archangel, and Carlos Dunovant round out the safety group.
Turner is a veteran walk-on, special teams type guy. Archangel is working his way back from an ACL injury suffered in the spring, and Dunovant is a TR FR signed back in February out of GA. Dunovant might play some CB as well.
Shifting to the cornerbacks, it’s not secret that the Bulldogs struggled in every way imaginable at cornerback in 2020.
David Blackwell was forced to play a lot of 3-deep zone because there wasn’t one CB on the team that could play man coverage on a consistent basis.
Blackwell’s response? He added Baylen Buchanan (Tennessee) and Elijah Hamilton (Vanderbilt) from the transfer portal prior to the spring.
Buchanan was really impressive in the spring, he’s a top 3-4 talent at CB in C-USA.
Hamilton is a bigger CB at 6’2, 203 pounds, will battle it out with Cedric Woods for the 2nd CB spot.
Woods was the surprise in the secondary in 2020. The Carroll HS product had his moments of struggles, but he finished the season with 30 tackles, 6 PBUs, and 2 INTs. Woods is probably the best athlete on the whole team.
Behind these three is 6th-year senior Zach Hannibal. Hannibal is a zone CB that struggles with WRs with speed, as we’ve seen in the past.
DJ Brown is a transfer from Penn State that I’m going to be watching really closely at Penn State. He transferred in last year during camp, went through his two week “Covid period”, then he strained a quad on his first day. Then when he got healthy he never really seemed fully engaged, nor did he know the defense. All in all, the year was just a wash. Is that who he is? We’ll find out starting Friday. Tech could use another guy stepping up at CB.
Dallas Taylor-Cortez and Brodrick Calhoun round out the CB room.
Taylor-Cortez started his career at Iowa State, then went to a JC, then came to Tech. He didn’t see any action a season ago. He’s long at 6’2, 6’3, but will he lock in and show some of the physical skills that he has?
Calhoun is a 4th-year kid that signed in the same class at Beejay Williamson out of the Dallas area. I like Brodrick. He’s really competitive, but his lack of size can hurt him at times. Ideally, he’s a guy that comes in and plays in the slot on 3rd & 7. If he’s gotten stronger, maybe he can help some. Will play on all the special teams units.
The secondary will be better in 2021, could it be worse? I’m most excited to see how Blackwell uses Williamson, Cole, Ladler, and Mason. I don’t think Cole & Ladler are every down players, but I think they can play certain roles on certain down and distances that allow for the defense to be successful. At CB, if they can play man coverage effectively, Blackwell is going to unleash some fun blitzes up front.
Today we take a look at the cornerbacks and safeties.
David Mackie is the new safeties coach at Tech for the 2021 season. Mackie spent the 2020 season as a defensive analyst for the Bulldogs.
Perry Carter is the cornerbacks coach for the Bulldogs in 2021. Carter was previously at ULM.
We’ll start with the safeties.
Beejay Williamson, Jaiden Cole, and Khalil Ladler return in 2021 after serving as the top three safeties a season ago.
Williamson was a 1st team All-CUSA selection in 2020, he’ll play in the NFL one day. In fact, I would imagine there is pretty good chance that he’s a Team Captain in 2021 along with LB Trey Baldwin.
Cole had a rough year in 2020 with numerous missed tackles and bad angles, but he did look a little better this past spring.
Ladler never really seemed to settle into DC David Blackwell’s defense in 2020 after coming over from Virginia Tech. Ladler is a guy I would expect to move around a lot in 2021, he’s more of hybrid/no true position type of player than a true safety to me.
Myles Mason also transferred into the program from Arkansas in the off-season. Mason is a thumper that is a very good tackler. Ultimately, I think Mason ends up starting next to Williamson at the other safety spot, but we’ll see. I love his game.
Jamison Kelly saw a little bit of time a season ago as a true freshman, he’s going to be a good one. Watch him on special teams covering kickoffs in 2021, he’ll absolutely demolish you.
Marquallius Turner, Christian Archangel, and Carlos Dunovant round out the safety group.
Turner is a veteran walk-on, special teams type guy. Archangel is working his way back from an ACL injury suffered in the spring, and Dunovant is a TR FR signed back in February out of GA. Dunovant might play some CB as well.
Shifting to the cornerbacks, it’s not secret that the Bulldogs struggled in every way imaginable at cornerback in 2020.
David Blackwell was forced to play a lot of 3-deep zone because there wasn’t one CB on the team that could play man coverage on a consistent basis.
Blackwell’s response? He added Baylen Buchanan (Tennessee) and Elijah Hamilton (Vanderbilt) from the transfer portal prior to the spring.
Buchanan was really impressive in the spring, he’s a top 3-4 talent at CB in C-USA.
Hamilton is a bigger CB at 6’2, 203 pounds, will battle it out with Cedric Woods for the 2nd CB spot.
Woods was the surprise in the secondary in 2020. The Carroll HS product had his moments of struggles, but he finished the season with 30 tackles, 6 PBUs, and 2 INTs. Woods is probably the best athlete on the whole team.
Behind these three is 6th-year senior Zach Hannibal. Hannibal is a zone CB that struggles with WRs with speed, as we’ve seen in the past.
DJ Brown is a transfer from Penn State that I’m going to be watching really closely at Penn State. He transferred in last year during camp, went through his two week “Covid period”, then he strained a quad on his first day. Then when he got healthy he never really seemed fully engaged, nor did he know the defense. All in all, the year was just a wash. Is that who he is? We’ll find out starting Friday. Tech could use another guy stepping up at CB.
Dallas Taylor-Cortez and Brodrick Calhoun round out the CB room.
Taylor-Cortez started his career at Iowa State, then went to a JC, then came to Tech. He didn’t see any action a season ago. He’s long at 6’2, 6’3, but will he lock in and show some of the physical skills that he has?
Calhoun is a 4th-year kid that signed in the same class at Beejay Williamson out of the Dallas area. I like Brodrick. He’s really competitive, but his lack of size can hurt him at times. Ideally, he’s a guy that comes in and plays in the slot on 3rd & 7. If he’s gotten stronger, maybe he can help some. Will play on all the special teams units.
The secondary will be better in 2021, could it be worse? I’m most excited to see how Blackwell uses Williamson, Cole, Ladler, and Mason. I don’t think Cole & Ladler are every down players, but I think they can play certain roles on certain down and distances that allow for the defense to be successful. At CB, if they can play man coverage effectively, Blackwell is going to unleash some fun blitzes up front.
