Rice cornerbacks

[ALEX LIFESON]

2008 Position Battles: Cornerback


Senior CB JaCorey Shepherd By David Mooney
Publisher, OwlDigest.com
Posted Jul 30, 2008


Seems like Rice has been on a perpetual search for depth at Cornerback for years, and the 2007 season was no exception. 2008 could be the year that changes though...

Seems like Rice has been on a perpetual search for depth at Cornerback for years, and the 2007 season was no exception. This year that’s seemingly changed as several players have worked harder than ever this summer to earn starting positions for the 2008 campaign and a pair of talented freshmen have landed on campus with some ideas of their own. We’ll break down the group vying to become starters at the Cornerback spots in this week’s edition of 2008 Season Preview – Position Battles.
Last year heading into the start of August drills Cornerback didn’t seem to be as big a concern as other areas of the team. Brandon King and JaCorey Shepherd were coming off of solid seasons in 2006. Most expected things to only get better at the Cornerback positions. They didn’t, like so many other positions on the 2007 Owl team’ injuries and inconsistent play left Rice coaches scrambling to find players they could win with. Junior incumbent Shepherd ran into injury and confidence problems and gave way to Owl Senior Gary Anderson. The Little Rock native answered the call, giving the Owls the best season of his life. On the opposite side Brandon King was steady, leading the league in Pass Break-ups and grabbing 3 interceptions. Sophomore Chris Douglas saw limited action and also had injury problems. Often guys had to play hurt though – there simply weren’t other options available. Heck, even Owl Cornerbacks Coach Jason Washington was hobbled while recovering from knee surgery. Add to their struggles injuries on the Defensive Line and a constantly changing rotation at the Safety positions and the year was one best left behind.

This past spring however, driven by Coach Washington’s insistent call for better performance from his charges, play at the position seemed to take on a much more confident, and consistent pattern. Christopher Douglas seemed to take a big step forward in his development. Ja’Corey Shepherd learned to address issues that derailed his path in 2007. Walk-on Martin Uwah joined the fray and made some flashy plays. The only negative was that highly ranked freshman Joseph Leary’s much anticipated move to Corner was dampened by neck and hamstring injuries.

With this competitive group already making strides as Spring Practice wound to a close, things got even better for the Rice secondary just weeks later when the Owls’ two talented 2008 Cornerback signees – Jarrett Ben and Chris Jammer – enrolled in early June. The pair has worked diligently all summer in voluntary workouts and drills and word on campus is they look ready to compete.

Let’s look at what each brings to August drills as we anticipate a stiff competition.

The Rock: Brandon King

King has been a picture of consistency the past 3 seasons. Though not the biggest or fastest guy at the position he’s rarely out of position. Known to teammates as “BKâ€

[kent dorfman]

I check out a few of them on rivals and as recruits most were only 2 star guys so based on that alone they do not scare me one bit but then again what do I know?