Florida State Spring Football Position Preview: Secondary

This is the 9th and final in a multi-part series covering the various position groups as Florida State begins Spring practice today.  So far we've looked at Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver, Offensive Line, Tight End/  H-Back, Defensive End, Defensive Tackle, and linebacker. There is no way to sugarcoat how bad FSU's defense was last season.  Straight by the raw numbers, FSU was 108th out of 120 teams nationally.  Common sense, however, says that to go solely by aggregate yardage allowed is silly as it doesn't adjust for competition level.  The advanced metrics account for opponent quality and they say FSU's defense was somewhere between 80th to 92nd out of 120.  Of the 66 major conference teams, FSU was on the level (or worse than) only Louisville, Kansas, Indiana, Duke, Stanford, Kansas State, Iowa State, Illinois, and of course, Washington State.  The last defenses to be this bad in ACC play were some of the mid-decade Duke teams.  If you want more comparisons and perspective, check out Closing The Book On The 2009 FSU Defense.

To me, there were two groups on FSU's defense that played at or around an average level:  cornerbacks and defensive tackles.  Defensive Ends, Linebackers, and Safeties played horribly.  But both corners and safeties are coached by the same man and I'll address them together.  Everyone knows about Mickey Andrews' tragic family issues and that his focus was obviously not on the team.  Enter Mark Stoops, the decorated defensive coordinator from Arizona.  He will coach defensive backs and coordinate the defense.  Stoops comes highly recommended from multiple Jimbo Fisher contacts, most notably Will Muschamp of Texas.

Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach Mark Stoops

Stoops recently met with the media.  He's quite a bit different than Mickey Andrews.  Andrews was very southern.  Stoops is extremely midwestern.  But like Andrews in his prime, Stoops consistently has his defense performing at a very high level.  Expect articles this off-season on Stoops schematic concepts, but for now just know that FSU is going to be playing a lot more zone.  That is a needed change as FSU's schemes were stale and were quite vulnerable even if FSU had the most elite of talent, which it did not.  The talent is quite good, though young, and Stoops is excited to again work with elite athletes like he had at Miami in the early part of the last decade.  

The most important changes will be stressing assignment football and attention to detail.  Teams exploited FSU's lack of attention to detail and lack of discipline.  It is not about making plays.  It is about executing your assignment with championship discipline and technique.  It's good to force turnovers by putting the offense into a negative leverage down, pressuring the quarterback, and forcing him into a bad throw.  It's not good to attempt to force turnovers by gambling and playing recklessly.  While FSU forced a lot of turnovers last year, the turnovers were often a result of poor process.  And that poor process was exposed on a mind-boggling number of big plays given up.  Stoops will not tell his guys to go make plays.  He will tell them to go play their assignment and let the turnovers come to them.  That change, along with the new zone schemes, will present a major adjustment for FSU's defensive backs.  FSU's defensive backs are going to have to leverage the hash, pattern read, squeeze routes, pass off receivers, etc.  Importantly, Stoops will fit this system to the players better than we saw over the past few years.  It will not be easy and the whole process will probably not show until 2011.  Before proficiency comes competency and competency is the goal for the 2010 defense.

FSU loses its best defender in cornerback Patrick Robinson.  Robinson played very well last season but was exposed a few times as the scheme put him in an untenable position.  Can FSU's secondary get better despite losing one of the top corners in the country?  Definitely, and part of that is because of other losses.  Florida State thankfully is rid of #22 Korey Mangum, a safety who was terrible.  The 'Noles also lose Jamie Robinson, the free safety who played somewhere between average and below average.  Losing Mangum is a huge gain for the 'Noles.  FSU was effectively playing 10-on-11 with him on the field.  Please note that both Robinson and Mangum were great 'Noles who didn't slack.  My evaluation of their play is not a reflection of their person.  Who will step up? 

Cornerback

I said above that I think the corners played a lot better than the safeties.  There's a lot of room for improvement but FSU doesn't need miracles here.

Ochuko Jenije is likely to have one corner spot locked up.  The 5'11" 195 lb Redshirt Senior from Tallahassee (4* recruit) played well at times last year and received some unwarranted criticism that should have rightfully been strewn upon Mangum.  Jenijie can be a tremendous zone corner.  His skill-set was not all that well suited for Andrews' man-heavy coverage schemes.  Jenijie is smart, strong, and a good tackler.  He started most of the games last year and had a few interceptions.  I am fairly sure Jenijie will be a draft pick next April based solely on his physical skills.  He's my bet for surprise player of the year (if I can pick a returning senior starter, haha) as I think he'll quickly grasp Stoops' scheme.  Jenijie had graduated and is now in grad school.

Inside, you'll find breakdowns of the other 10 DBs.

Next is the much-heralded Greg Reid.  I like the 5'8" 174 lb sophomore a lot-- as a kick and punt returner.  Reid is the best return man in the country.  His vision in the open field is incredible.  But as a corner Greg did not play well last year.  He did make some highlight interceptions, but those interceptions and interception attempts highlighted what I talked about above.  Greg didn't make his interceptions as a result of playing his assignment.  He got them by freelancing.  And as a result of that freelancing, he was burnt a ton.  He either didn't know or refused to play his assignment and hurt the defense.  Additionally, Greg didn't tackle well.  Everyone is assuming that Reid will start, and every FSU fan wants to see his natural playmaking skills on display, but he has a ton of work to do.  Reid must know his assignments and pay attention to the details.  He absolutely cannot freelance.  And he must tackle.  He must avoid the sophomore slump.  If he doesn't, we'll be left to watch Greg on special teams and spot duty as the 3rd corner. 

I'm excited about Redshirt Freshman Xavier Rhodes.  The 6'1" 209 lb Miami native had people buzzing last year.  He has a great skill set to play in this new zone-heavy scheme.  While we haven't seen much of his ball skills, but Rhodes is very physical and loves to compete.  Someone told me that if he could have one DB in a street fight, it would be Rhodes.  Rhodes is tough.  If he can understand what he is asked to do in the new scheme, he could really excel.  I am excited to see him re-route receivers and squeeze them down.  His height and considerable size should also help him.  Rhodes was hampered by thumb surgery last year and I'm glad he was redshirted.  It would not surprise me if Rhodes played a lot and maybe even start.

Dionte Allen is quite the unknown.  Rated the 40th best overall player in the country in 2007, Allen definitely has ability.  But injuries have hampered the 5'11" 183 lb Michigan native.  He redshirted in 2007 while battling injuries, battled injuries again in 2008, and played sparingly last season.  Foot and ankle injuries are a tricky thing and there's a big question as to how much those injuries have robbed of his ability.  He also had surgery on his hand or thumb (can't remember).  Allen is likely playing for his scholarship this year as FSU could take up to 6 defensive back recruits and there won't be much room for many bench-warming seniors in 2011.  I don't want to say that Allen can or can't play, because he just hasn't played very much.  Let's see what he does.  New schemes have a way of re-energizing players and highlighting previously unseen skills.

Avis Commack was moved to defensive back and I've heard conflicting reports as to where he would line up.  I'm not going to address him, however, because he broke his femur and is trying to make it back in time for Fall camp.

There are some impressive freshmen coming in but I would be shocked if any of them start.  JUCO corner Mike Harris will immediately be in the mix for a starting job, but like the freshmen, he doesn't arrive until June.  This is a Spring preview. 

Safety

The safeties are a great concern to me, but Stoops has been a miracle worker with safeties at previous stops and if he can get two guys to play at an average level this season it will be a huge coup.  Nobody knows what to expect from this group.  Whatever safety best demonstrates his grasp of the new scheme will play, regardless of play-making ability.  Under no circumstances can FSU have it's centerfielder playing a guessing game.  Stoops will ask these guys not to get burnt deep and to know their assignment on each play.  Safeties will almost always be asked to play pass first, run second.    

The most known commodity here is Nick Moody.  The 6'2" 226 lb sophomore from Pennsylvania has de-bulked in the 4th-quarter program as FSU wants him to gain more flexibility, losing about 4 lbs of muscle.  Moody should have played over Korey Mangum last season at the strong safety position, and Andrews refusal to play him illustrated the problem of having lame-duck coaches.  The proper move would be to play the young kid, provided he was about as good as the older player, particularly when both have a similar amount of experience.  But the interests of a lame duck coach are adverse to the interests of the program.  There is no incentive for that outgoing coach to act in the best interest of the program and develop the younger player!  Moody is a big hitter and a solid tackler.  There was some thought that Moody would move to linebacker, but his weight loss probably signals that he will stay at safety.  He could be a nice fit in the cover-3 sky:

via smartfootball.com

But Moody has some serious work to do in the football classroom.  I'm told he performed poorly on the coverage tests last season.  That won't fly under Stoops.  The defense needs to be solid, and it can be solid by having lesser athletes execute their assignments.  Nick has a long way to go, but he is a really nice fit at Strong Safety provided he is willing to put in the work to understand his role within the scheme. 

Teamwork is very important while playing zone defense.  Zone defense where everyone simply goes to their zone is not good zone defense.  Zone defense where everyone is using their step advantage (positioning off tendencies, motion, etc), leveraging percentages to the hilt, passing off receivers, etc.  That is good zone defense.  And that can't happen until everyone first knows and perfects their individual assignment. 

Next up is Terrance Parks.  The 6'2" 212 lb Junior safety is very talented.  But he is lazy in practice.  That's not acceptable and the coaches are loathe to play someone who is willing to work hard in a game and not in practice.  There's some thought that Parks may have faked injuries in the past in order to get out of difficult drills, then acted healthy when it came time to scrimmage.  Everyone gets a clean slate under the new staff and this is his opportunity to start off on the right foot.  Parks has great range and good size.  In a perfect world, he would start at free safety and patrol the deep third of the field.  Parks needs to make sure his career doesn't go up in smoke.  If it does, he could be out after this season, under the "senior non-starters who aren't team leaders or serious contributors won't be welcome" idea.  Oh, and he also has some of the Nick Moody know the play problems.  Stoops needs to be able to trust Parks if Parks is to be the free safety.  He'll have to earn that trust.  But if he does, look out, because he has a ton of ability.

I am impressed with Redshirt Freshman Gerald Demps.  The 5'11" 206 lb Demps was Greg Reid's secondary mate for Lowndes Co. HS (Valdosta, GA).  He is unquestionably the lesser known of the two.  Demps has a fair amount of ability and has really embraced the new strength and conditioning program, bulking up to 206 lbs.  Demps plays smart on his high school film.  I think he needs a dose of confidence, as he really got down on himself last year, but his work in the off-season program is encouraging.  It would not surprise me if he starts.

Jajuan Harley is a bit of an enigma.  He's easily the most athletic safety and checks in at 6'2" 210 lbs.  The former 4* recruit played mostly on special teams last season, and I'm eager to see what he can do as a sophomore.  But there are concerns here.  Harley had a concussion last season and sometimes those injuries are funny.  He never really came back right from the concussion, and on top of that he lost some weight with what I seem to remember being a viral infection.  He also had a head injury in high school.  Every FSU fan hopes that Harley can get right in the head.  Because if he can get right, his Athleticism is head and shoulders above all the other DBs.  I think he's a bit overrated, though, more of the "great athlete not great football player" mold, at least from his high school film.

I don't think Redshirt Sophomore Ed Imeokparia or Redshirt Freshman Justin Bright will figure into the equation.  It's unlikely either player would have been recruited by the new staff had they had the chance.  Imeokparia is 6'0" 196 lbs and isn't profiled in the Spring guide, nor listed in the Secondary section.  He tore his ACL prior to the 2008 season and redshirted while recovering.  I'd bet money that he's not on the 2011 roster.  Bright was recruited to lure the 2010 Byrnes high school kids to Florida State (which did not happen).  He's not very athletic and looks like a womens soccer player in his recent photo with the pony tail.  He's bulked up to 6'0" 185 from 180 lbs.  Bright has a very outside chance to start at safety if (and really only if due to his lack of ability) the other safeties screw around and don't take their football studying seriously.  If that happens FSU has a serious problem.  FSU is bringing in some serious stud recruits at safety this year and Bright could (should) be part of the attrition crunch after this season or next unless he makes huge strides.

Expect a lot of mistakes from this group and potentially an ugly Spring game.  By Fall though, they should make enough strides to have FSU's defense in the top half of BCS conference teams.