clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Positional Reviews and Previews: Secondary

By Seth C

This is series of positional reviews, which entail a look back and a look forward at each position for the Red Raiders. We'll try and take a look at who is gone, who remains and who we can look forward to playing in the not so distant future.

Season Review and Preview: Secondary

Who Is Leaving: Joe Garcia, Chris Parker and Taylor Read (Read was a senior, but never played for the Red Raiders, but we certainly wish him well) have all moved on to greener pastures. Both Garcia and Parker both contributed to much of last year's success and honestly, Garcia was one of my favorite players.

Let's take a look at their work:

  • Joe Garcia, #49
    Year Tackles INT's TFL
    2007 87 0 6
    2006 87 1 3
    2005 16 0 1
    2004 0 0 0

  • Chris Parker, #17
    Year Tackles INT's TFL
    2007 42 1 3
    2006 50 2 0
    2005 21 1 3
    2004 0 0 0

God Speed, gentlemen.

Who Returns: Actually, the Red Raiders have a ton of options here. Although Parker and Garcia graduate there were a number of players that saw significant playing time last year. Again, there's just a ton of options and at this point, I'm really just guessing.

Player Ht/Wt Year Position Games Played Tackles INT's TFL
Darcel McBath, #7 6-1/196 Sr. S 13 73 2 0.5
Jamar Wall, #3 5-10/195 Jr. CB 13 54 5 0
Daniel Charbonnet, #10 5-11/195 Sr. S 13 34 1 1
Marcus Bunton, #1 5-8/196 Sr. CB 13 25 0 0
Anthony Hines, #23 6-1/212 Sr. S 12 24 1 1
Steven Harris, #41 5-11/190 So. S 13 10 0 0
Jordy Rowland, #38 6-1/199 Sr. S 13 10 0 0
Lance Fuller, #24 6-2/222 Sr. S 13 9 0 1
LaRon Moore, #28 5-9/186 So. DB 13 8 0 0
Pete Richardson, #80 6-2/201 Sr. S 9 5 0 0
L.A. Reed, #86 6-2/201 Sr. S 9 5 0 0
LaShawn Vation, #26 5-9/194 Jr. S 5 1 0 0
Nathan Stone, #40 5-8/170 So. DB 3 0 0 0
Brent Nickerson, #33 6-0/179 Jr. CB 1 0 0 0
De'Shon Sanders, #21 6-1/188 Jr. DB 0 - - -
Taylor Charbonnet, #8 5-10/155 RS Fr. DB 0 - - -
Trent Nickerson, #30 6-4/196 RS Fr. CB 0 - - -
Brett Dewhurst, #32 6-0/203 RS Fr. S 0 - - -
Chris Scott, #34 6-1/175 So. DB 0 - - -
Franklin Mitchem, #37 6-2/194 So. S 0 - - -
Michael Rayos, #14 5-10/195 So. CB 0 - - -

Um, after this year, things get a little dicey. I had never really considered how top-heavy the secondary is, and it is top-heavy with a ton of juniors and seniors. Again, Starters and Backups:

  • Starters: I'm pretty comfortable with a number of these guys starting, including all of their backups. In fact, I had a hard time determining who would start and who would sit and I'm pretty conflicted about Moore and Richardson and think they have as good a chance as any to start.
    • Jamar Wall - I like his size and think he has the speed and athleticism to stick with just about any Big 12 receiver.
    • Marcus Bunton - Bunton gets the nod here because he's a senior, but I would expect Moore and Richardson to get a ton of time.
    • Darcel McBath - The senior leader with the most playing time. It's time for McBath to step it up.
    • Lance Fuller - I honestly think that it could be any number of players and think that Daniel Charbonnet could have a chance at this position as well as Hines.
    • L.A. Reed - This is a really full backfield and although I love Reed's play, I'm wondering how much time he really gets his senior year with all of the other competition. Of course, on the other hand, he doesn't move to the secondary unless there's really an opportunity for him. Perhaps he steps right in for Garcia.

  • Backups: There are a ton of different options here and lucky for the 2008 group, there's a ton of leadership in the secondary.
  • Moore, Richardson, Hines and Charbonnet could all start. I don't know how McNeill will also fit in Rowland and Harris. I'm interested in seeing what Sanders can do and hope he sees some time on the field. Brent Nickerson is an unknown quantity to me so I'm not sure he has anything.
  • Taylor Charbonnet and Franklin Mitchem could also see time. They're both talented players.
  • I know little to nothing about both Nickerson's. Trent seems to be a bit taller, but Brent was the higher ranked recruit.

Who Is Going To Be Here:

Player Ht/Wt Position
Jarell Routt (JUCO) 6-0/205 CB
Cody Davis 6-2/205 S

I think Routt is going to need some time adjusting to playing cornerback. I would bet that Routt's got great speed, but not much instinct. I'd love to see Routt play quite a bit on special teams and get him focused on being more instinctual. I'd love to see Routt take over the same position that LA Reed manned for so many years.

As far as Davis, I think he projects out at safety, and if he truly has 4.5 speed then let's just leave him there and not move to linebacker. The secondary is already pretty thin and if you move Davis to linebacker then you've got serious issues.

Depth Chart: Keep in mind that any depth chart does include current commitments and there may be additional commitments that could change everything. In other words, we're all just guessing.

This was, by far, the toughest set of positions to try and project.

Year Starter Backup Backup
2008 Jamar Wall (CB), Jr. LaRon Moore (CB), So. De'Shon Sanders (CB), Jr.
Marcus Bunton (CB), Sr. Pete Richardson (CB), Jr. Brent Nickerson (CB), Jr.
Darcel McBath (S), Sr. Anthony Hines (S), Sr. Jordy Rowland (S), Sr.
Lance Fuller (S), Sr. Daniel Charbonnet (S), Sr. Steven Harris (S), So.
2009 Jamar Wall (CB), Sr. LaRon Moore (CB), Jr. De'Shon Sanders (CB), Sr.
Pete Richardson (CB), Sr. Brent Nickerson (CB), Sr. Taylor Charbonnet (CB), So.
Franklin Mitchem (S), Jr. LaShawn Vation (S), Sr. Cody Davis (S), RS Fr.
Steven Harris (S), Jr. Trent Nickerson (S), So. Brett Dewhurst (S), So.
2010 LaRon Moore (CB), Sr. Jarell Routt (CB), Sr. Michael Rayos (CB), Sr.
Taylor Charbonnet (CB), Jr. Nathan Stone (CB), Sr.
Franklin Mitchem (S), Sr. Cody Davis (S), So.
Steven Harris (S), Sr. Trent Nickerson (S), Jr. Brett Dewhurst (S), Jr.

Prior Positional Reviews and Previews:

More From Viva The Matadors