The Big 12 Defensive Backs have been the joke of the nation as Big 12 offenses make big time play after big time play on these guys. This season should one of the stronger DB classes and also some of the top players are still relatively young.
If you did miss out on the Defensive Line and Linebacker previews, they are already up on the website, so do not forget to check those out and see how your favorite teams defense shapes up compared to everyone else in the conference.
10: West Virginia Mountaineers
Slots 8-10 are honestly a toss up. This secondary isn’t necessarily that bad, but due to the turmoil that happened over the off-season and implementing a new system under new head coach, Neal Brown, the system could get some getting used to. With the departures of Senior Jovanni Stewart and Juniors Kenny Robinson Jr. and Derrek Pitts, their are some fresh faces in the back part of the Defense.
Seniors like Keith Washington (40 tackles, 2 INT’s) and Josh Norwood (63 Tackles, 10 PD) will be guys that play consistently. West Virginia could prove me wrong and get out of the bottom when it comes to secondary play, but with some inexperience and a new coach, it’s tough to see.
9: Kansas State Wildcats
K-State’s safety spot is loaded with experience as 3 year starter Denzel Goolsby and 2nd year Junior Jahron McPherson will man those positions. AJ Parker was a nice spark for the Wildcats and forced a couple of turnovers. But there is a lack of depth behind AJ Parker. Currently, the projected starter is Redshirt Freshman Lance Robinson.
Lance was a middle of the road 3 star out of HS in New Orleans, LA. Bill Snyder could create playmakers in the secondary and always gave OC’s reasons to stay up late at night. With Chris Klieman filling in Manhattan, Robinson could be the next project. Seniors like Kevion McGee and Johnathan Durham could push him for that spot, but there needs to be a bit more consistency from the CB’s.
8: Oklahoma Sooners
This spot seems abnormally low for a team that is a heavy favorite to win the Big 12 title this year and a potential 4th straight CFP appearance. Man, was Oklahoma’s secondary awful toward the last half of the season. They gave up 501 passing yards to Oklahoma State, 539 to West Virginia, and 300+ to Texas and Alabama.
The news gets even worse as projected starting CB Tre Norwood will be out for the season. Patrick Fields and Delarrin Turner-Yell played in some games, but are going to be tested very early against a dangerous D’Eriq King and Houston offense. Oklahoma has very few flaws across their entire roster, but one glaring weakness is how the secondary is going to hold up and if they can step up to the competition that is, Big 12 offenses.
7: Oklahoma State Cowboys
Although AJ Green wasn’t quite the playmaker last year as he was in 2017 (4 picks), he still found ways to get things done as he doubled his pass deflections from 2 years ago with 11. He’s the clear anchor of this secondary. Rodarius Williams and Malcolm Rodriguez makes up the other 2 veterans. Sophomore Tanner McCalister didn’t get a ton of action as a Freshman, but is expected to be the other corner opposing Green.
Oklahoma State’s defense overall should be pretty solid this season and the ranking may seem low, but that is because of the lack of playmaking when it came to creating interceptions. The Cowboys only had 5 interceptions a season ago and gave up 400+ passing yards multiple times. For that to be fixed, Okie State needs to get better and taking advantage of opportunities presented to them.
6: Kansas Jayhawks
Outside of Pooka Williams, the biggest surprise from the Jayhawks from last season was taking away the football. They had 16 Interceptions a season ago (7th in NCAA) and 8th in total takeaways. When they weren’t giving up big plays, they were making them. They lose Dineen in the LB core, but return 2nd leading tackler Bryce Tornedon at Nickelback. They also return Hassaan Defense (43 tackles and 3 INT’s), and Mike Lee (67 Tackles, INT).
With those 3 and also adding Senior Elmore Hempstead Jr., this secondary is loaded with experience. All 3 are Seniors. What does this mean for Kansas in 2020? The future is unclear, but this group should one of the few bright spots for Kansas this season.
5: Baylor Bears
This isn’t necessarily a unit that forced a ton of turnovers last year, but showed some glimpses of solid coverage throughout the season. One key is that Baylor brings back a lot of starters from last season and only losses Derrek Thomas. Junior Raleigh Texada returns after a 32 tackle, 2 INT, 4 pass deflection 2018.
The last year Freshman Safety duo of Christian Morgan and JT Woods return as starters, as well as a veteran presence in Senior Chris Miller. There were ugly stretches, but in the final 4 games, Baylor held those teams to under 300 yards passing and 3 of them to below 250. Under Year 3 of Phil Snow, this should be Baylor’s best secondary since the Art Briles era with Xavien Howard and Orion Stewart.
4: Texas Tech Red Raiders
It is very rare you see a defensive unit from Texas Tech high on a position rankings list. With the talent they have coming back, they could shock a lot of people and finish above expectation. And that could be do to this secondary. Adrian Frye had a severely underrated Freshman season as he became Corner #1 from the get go. He stood out with 5 Interceptions and 10 Pass Deflections. Him and Vaughnte Dorsey did all the work when it came to takeaways in the secondary.
Desmond Smith returns after a decent Junior season and Quincy Addison will become the new starter at safety. Frye could turn into a premiere Corner in this league and rise to near the Top 5 by the end of the season. If he can do that, it would be a huge win for Matt Wells in Year 1 in the progression of a young, potential, stud.
3: Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State’s defense was very good last year and the pass defense was a big part of their success. They shouldn’t take much of a hit this year in the secondary. After leading the team in tackles last year, Greg Eisworth returns for his senior campaign after 87 tackles, 4 TFL’s, and a INT. In a Big 12 league, it’s rare to see a team not give up 350 yards in any game. That was the case for the Cyclones as they held 5 teams to below 200 passing yards. The most was 348 yards by Baylor.
Braxton Lewis had 3 interceptions last year to lead the way and Iowa State’s defense looks scary. All 3 levels rank near the top half of the conference and with an offense like they have, there’s no reason why It isn’t realistic to have them in the Big 12 title game against Texas/OU.
2: TCU Horned Frogs
TCU’s defense is about as reliable as any Microsoft product. That shouldn’t change with 3 outstanding returners and the best 1-2 duo at CB in the conference. UT and TCU could honestly be interchangeable and it wouldn’t be a huge difference. At CB, Senior Jeff Gladney had 12 pass deflections a season ago and Innis Gaines is a 3 year starter.
Noah Daniels also had a good freshman season and is looking build off of that. Senior Safety Vernon Scott also had 36 tackles a season ago, so a ton of guys with a ton of experience. Taking the ball can make this group the best In the conference for sure as they didn’t grab a ton of interceptions for how talented the group is (just 6 by the DB’s.)
1: Texas Longhorns
Texas has the best DB in the conference and the one that is set to have another crazy season. And that is Sophomore Caden Sterns (62 Tackles, 4 INT’s, 4 PD). Senior Brandon Jones brings a ton of experience as a 4 year starter to compliment Sterns. At Cornerback, Anthony Cook had a solid Freshman season as a backup (18 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD), and was a 5 star out of High School.
Jalen Green will be put to the test though as he hardly played all last season and will be pressed to be the #2 CB. Texas and TCU are pretty close when it comes to being the best, but the difference is who will make the most plays in the end and I feel like Texas can do that just a little bit better than TCU.
Photo Credit: https://www.hookem.com/2018/10/17/deshon-elliott-caden-sterns-better/
