2016 Leatherneck Football Preview - Defensive Backs

[ST_Lawson]

Defensive Backs

DBs are the guys defending the “long ball” and making TD-saving tackles if a guy gets past the team’s first lines of defense. They need to be able to run backwards and turn around without missing a beat, and they need to have eyes in the backs of their heads. A good DB can turn an opponent’s 64-yard TD bomb into an incomplete pass....or if their timing is right, a turnover.

Following last season, we lost 4 senior DBs, Louis Sharpe, Kyle Hammonds, Dwayne Phillips, and Dallas Nichols. Still, we have a deep DB crew this year, and a great deal of promise looking down the road towards 2017 as well.

So, here’s who we have on the roster for this year at the DB position:
#4 Junior Trev Hadachek - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#5 Junior Aaron Diggs - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#23 Junior Josh Smith - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#32 Junior Elliot Montgomery - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#38 Junior David Griffith - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#42 Junior Myles Spearman - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#3 Sophomore Timothy Smith - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#6 Sophomore Xavier Rowe - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#29 Sophomore DeVante’ Clark - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#30 Sophomore Justin Fitzpatrick - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#20 R-Freshman Eric Carrera - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#32 R-Freshman CJ Weydeman - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#15 Freshman Cameron Clemons - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#16 Freshman Clint Ratkovich - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#24 Freshman Mike Viti - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football

Breaking down the top DBs stats from last year for players with more than 20 tackles (players not on team this year in italics):
David Griffith - 77 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sack, 3 INTs (for 27 yards), 4 breakups, 1 forced fumble
Xavier Rowe - 64 tackles, 1 for loss, 7 breakups
Dallas Nichols - 61 tackles, 5 for loss, 2 INTs (for -8 yards), 5 breakups
Aaron Diggs - 54 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 INTs ( for 95 yards), 1 breakup, 2 forced fumbles
Timothy Smith - 36 tackles, 2 for loss, 4 INTs (for 37 yards), 6 breakups
Myles Spearman - 35 tackles, 2 INTs (for 21 yards), 3 breakups
Luis Sharpe - 22 tackles, 1 for loss (for 2 yards)

So, out of the top 6 DBs (in terms of tackles made) from last year, 5 of them are coming back this year (and in 2017 as well). In fact, none of this year’s DBs are considered Seniors, so not only will they play this year, but assuming they stick around, they will all be here again in 2017.

In addition to all of the returning players, we also have CJ Weydeman who was a walk-on listed as a QB as a Freshman last year and was moved to DB as a R-Freshman for this year. We also have incoming Freshmen:
Cameron Clemons (just had name changed on roster from Russell-Clemons) - a WR in high school (at Lutheran North HS in St. Louis), has been moved to DB.
Clint Ratkovich - played QB, RB, WR, and MLB in high school (Crete-Monee HS in Crete, IL) has been moved to DB...a very versatile player...could be used in many different situations.
Mike Viti - very highly regarded DB (safety) out of Cedar Cliff HS in Camp Hill, PA who at one point had an offer on the table from the University of Maryland (B10).

My guess as for who we’ll see playing the majority of the time this year is probably pretty much the same as we saw last year (minus Nichols, of course), plus possibly Mike Viti if the coaching staff feels that the benefit from playing him right away outweighs the negative of not having that “extra” year of him on the roster. I’d assume that they’ll likely try to keep him redshirted if at all possible, but if the DBs seem to be struggling, they may go ahead and play him. The rest of the freshmen DBs are actually migrating to DB from other positions (neither played DB much, if at all, in high school), so I'd imagine that we'll see them redshirted, both due to depth at the DB position, as well as giving them an extra year to learn the position better.

[letsgonecks]

No biggie, but Dallas played LB last year.

According to Spotts in an earlier post, Wheeler will be getting a chance to compete for a CB spot this fall. Makes sense if he wants a shot to play now since the WR crew is deep.

CJ has himself as an OLB on Twitter if that means anything.

I have a good feeling about Clark stepping up big this year. If he's 100%, might have a shot to make some plays.

We should be solid in this area and plenty of depth.

[ST_Lawson]

He was shown over in the recruiting thread, but I hadn't included him in the preview since he wasn't listed on the official roster online yet, but we can add Alex Olivas to the mix: http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
He's a 5'9" DB who comes in as a Junior after playing a couple of seasons at Chaffey College in California.

And kinda like letsgonecks was saying in the previous post, we'll probably see a bit of position switching through summer/fall camp before the season starts as players and coaches figure out what will work best for everyone. Some guys down on the depth charts at one position might get a shot at another position to get more playing time, for example. I'll be sure to post updates if I see any movement along those lines.

[ST_Lawson]

No biggie, but Dallas played LB last year.

According to Spotts in an earlier post, Wheeler will be getting a chance to compete for a CB spot this fall. Makes sense if he wants a shot to play now since the WR crew is deep.

Dallas - Oh, I didn't realize that. I was going off of what he was listed as on the roster last year (DB: http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football)

Also, Wheeler has now been switched on the roster to the DB position. So he might have a shot at helping out sooner on the defensive side of the ball.

[Western_101]

Scott,

I wanted to let you know that I really appreciate all of the work you put into this site and all of the content you contribute. I don't know how you have become so great at analyzing data and communicating your knowledge, but, I can assure you myself and I would guess the Leatherneck fan base appreciates it.

keep it coming.

[ST_Lawson]

Scott,

I wanted to let you know that I really appreciate all of the work you put into this site and all of the content you contribute. I don't know how you have become so great at analyzing data and communicating your knowledge, but, I can assure you myself and I would guess the Leatherneck fan base appreciates it.

keep it coming.

Thanks Red, I do my best. I'm glad you guys appreciate it.

[ST_Lawson]

As noted on the depth chart for the game at Eastern (page 18 on this: http://goleathernecks.com/documents/201 ... df?id=4307), true freshmen Darron Wheeler and Mike Viti are listed as backups on the depth chart as DBs (CBs, specifically). So it looks like we could see them play right away this season if needed.