Cornerbacks:
I’ve expressed my concerns over the lack of depth at corner throughout the offseason, but things looked better than I had thought during the spring game. Cartier Rice, Marcus Caffey, Eric Dixon, and Eric Simmons all looked more than capable of playing and gave me a little bit more confidence than what I had before the game. Rice was injured early and sat out most of the game, so Dixon, Caffey, and Simmons rotated in and out with the first team after he left. Dixon and Caffey in particular are two imposing corners and neither are scared to come up and deliver a blow to the running backs. Simmons looked surprisingly comfortable in coverage as well and one has to wonder if available playing time has flipped a switch for him. Due to the lack of depth at corner, all three of these guys ran with the first and second teams. Walk-on Jerry Williams had a couple of good plays as well, but he only played with the second team. He might be a guy to keep an eye on.
Starters: M. Caffey/C.Rice
Second Team: E. Simmons/E. Dixon
Safeties:
A lack of depth at safety meant that several players spent time on both the first and second team during the scrimmage. The first team starters were seniors Mikie Benton and Martavius Neloms, with Ashely lowery coming in when the team went to some of their nickel packages. While the safety positions may not have depth, they certainly have talent. There doesn’t seem to be a huge difference between Benton/Neloms or Lowery/Faulkner and both pairs played well in the game. If the staff can get one more guy to spell the top four and play special teams, this position will be fine in 2012. All four of these guys are going to play quite a bit this year between nickel and dime packages, injuries, and special teams. Of all the positions on the team, there was none that have a better looking two-deep than the safeties looked on Saturday.
Starters: M. Neloms/M. Benton
Second Team: G. Faulkner/A. Lowery
Overall, I thought the spring game went well. The younger players showed that while they lack experience, that this team has more natural talent than many people think they do.