2020 Defensive Backs

Jimmy Chitwood

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a few quick updates and one somewhat lengthy recap:

Arkansas redshirt freshman walk-on cornerback Hudson Clark, who earned the weekly Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back last week after intercepting 3 passes against Ole Miss (and only giving up one completion), will be receiving a scholarship in January. the Razorbacks will face Texas A&M this Saturday after a bye week.

Wake Forest walk-on true freshman free safety Nick Andersen will also be receiving a scholarship in January. he, too, picked off 3 passes in his game this week. Andersen, from Virginia, was NOT recruited by any of the programs in his home state. one wonders why ...

Clemson free safety Nolan Turner picked off his third pass of the season this past week, albeit not all in one game. if memory serves, that makes him responsible for 4 turnovers already this season.

frequent miscommunication by the Iowa linebackers and secondary repeatedly left Purdue’s best wideout wide open, and it also made a formerly unknown player into a frequently called name by the play-by-play announcer, as the Hawkeyes lost a close one in their opener. free safety Jack Koerner and cornerback Riley Moss appear to be the highest graded players in the secondary, although Koerner was on the receiving end of a Leonard Leap by Purdue’s Horvath. but neither were tested much, so i guess time will tell if it was because they played well or were hidden by the coaching staff ...

Moss doesn’t seem to have the “confidence” of Iowa’s media coverage folks, but it’s hard to say if that’s because of the usual reasons or if he simply isn’t as good as the other corner who “looks the part” (but was repeatedly rang by Bell for 13 catches, over 100 yards, and 3 scores ... albeit in zone/blown coverage part of the time).

against Northwestern, there will be a new name in the secondary to be on the lookout for. redshirt freshman free safety Quinn Schultte (sp?) is listed on the 2-deep for the first time, behind Koerner.

did anyone see any of the Rice game? i’d really like to know how good Andrew Bird is, but i’ve never had the pleasure of watching him play. it would be nice if someone with a good eye could evaluate his play ...
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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entering Saturday’s game against Texas A&M, Arkansas redshirt freshman cornerback Hudson Clark had the 8th highest grade of ALL cornerbacks nationwide.

as has been noted here at CF repeatedly however, facts don’t matter to the masses of DWFs across the landscape. after Arkansas’ loss to the Aggies, who did the self-loathing losers attack? there’s no need to guess ... despite only giving up only 2 completions (by my observation, although it should be noted the Hogs played a lot of zone and he may have been responsible for something i didn’t see), it was (of course) Hudson Clark who was to blame for the huge passing total by A&M’s black quarterback.

the Aggies threw down the middle and to the other side of the field nearly the whole game, but that’s “irrelevant.” idiots!

i’m eager to see what his actual grade is for the game, if anyone has paid access to PFF’s data.

Iowa cornerback Riley Moss looks like the real deal. he’s playing top notch football. he was barely challenged by Northwestern, only giving up one completion of note that i saw, and it was a terrific throw into tight coverage.
 

Shadowlight

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As I mentioned in another thread I see Riley Moss as having NFL talent. In the real world I'm not sure that has much heft. But I will be watching him Saturday against Michigan State.

Safeties that are playing really well this year include Wake freshman Nick Anderson who I have seen play some, Ross Elder the junior from Kansas State and of course Nolan Turner who their head coach recently said is playing the best safety during his time as coach at Clemson. Too bad the NFL draft gurus continue to neglect him.

I have been reading with interest reports here on CB Hudson Clark but I have not seen him play yet and I don't like to rate players until I have seen them play. I will have to wait two weeks for that. They play Florida this week and that should be a good test for him. A walk on like Anderson it sure does seem based on reports here he is a promising prospect. And like Anderson has had some big splash moments (3 interceptions in one game).
 
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Jimmy Chitwood

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i just finished re-watching the Razorbacks game vs Tennessee, and i need to update my post ... Hudson Clark was penalized for defensive holding in the second quarter after biting on a double move by Tennessee’s best receiver (Palmer). Clark didn’t panic, however, and wisely grabbed the receiver to prevent a potentially big play. Clark wasn’t targeted again until the final play of the game, which he broke up in the end zone, deflecting the pass and allowing a teammate to intercept it.

it’s hard to believe that Clark didn’t receive a single Division I scholarship offer coming out of high school. the kid can play.
 
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