The Unofficial Furman Football Page

https://furmanpaladins.com/news/2019/8/ ... eties.aspx

interesting looks like our staters are Okeh (figured) and Clay - I wasn't sure about the backups.. " Bryan O (FS) and D Clay (SS) will be our two guys back there." backups - Backing up Okeh and Clay at free and strong safety, respectively, will be a pair of highly regarded newcomers, Hugh Ryan (6-1, 190, Fr.) and Austin Jones (5-11, 188, Fr.).

Good job by both Jones and Ryan to make the depth chart !

gofurman wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 23, 2019 11:07 pm

https://furmanpaladins.com/news/2019/8/ ... eties.aspx

interesting looks like our staters are Okeh (figured) and Clay - I wasn't sure about the backups.. " Bryan O (FS) and D Clay (SS) will be our two guys back there." backups - Backing up Okeh and Clay at free and strong safety, respectively, will be a pair of highly regarded newcomers, Hugh Ryan (6-1, 190, Fr.) and Austin Jones (5-11, 188, Fr.).

Good job by both Jones and Ryan to make the depth chart !

We've got as much depth at corner than I can remember.
Based on my totally uneducated eye - I believe Ryan and Jones are going to see a good bit of PT this season.

Definitely like our depth at the CB position. Aside from Okeh at FS, we seem a little small at the other safety spot. SS Clay comes in at 5-9, 170...I remember when John Keith played for us at SS and he was 6-0, 207. Would have loved to see a little more depth behind each starting safety - bit surprised we could utilize two true freshman as backups. Would have been nice to redshirt at least one of them.

Paladin91 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 24, 2019 1:50 pm

Definitely like our depth at the CB position. Aside from Okeh at FS, we seem a little small at the other safety spot. SS Clay comes in at 5-9, 170...I remember when John Keith played for us at SS and he was 6-0, 207. Would have loved to see a little more depth behind each starting safety - bit surprised we could utilize two true freshman as backups. Would have been nice to redshirt at least one of them.

He’s essentially the same size as Aaquil Annoor , was listed at 5’10 178 and was a very good player for us.

I prefer a strong safety have a little more size and be a bit rangier to match up against larger receivers and tight ends. Comparatively against other SOCOn teams at SS, I imagine we are on the smaller side.

Paladin91 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:02 pm

I prefer a strong safety have a little more size and be a bit rangier to match up against larger receivers and tight ends. Comparatively against other SOCOn teams at SS, I imagine we are on the smaller side.

I mean, ideally we'd have a team full of cyborgs.

Personally, I don't think we need to get too wrapped up in terminology. Last season, our SS (Annoor) had more pass breakups and fewer tackles than our FS (Okeh). While Annoor and Clay are smaller, Okeh isn't (6'4 216).

Remember too that we have a SPUR position that plays on the strong side. That position is an OLB/SS hybrid who will likely have responsibility for covering TEs. Most of those guys (Willis, Wilkins, Miller) are 6' 200+

The Jackal wrote:

Paladin91 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:02 pm

I prefer a strong safety have a little more size and be a bit rangier to match up against larger receivers and tight ends. Comparatively against other SOCOn teams at SS, I imagine we are on the smaller side.

I mean, ideally we'd have a team full of cyborgs.

Personally, I don't think we need to get too wrapped up in terminology. Last season, our SS (Annoor) had more pass breakups and fewer tackles than our FS (Okeh). While Annoor and Clay are smaller, Okeh isn't (6'4 216).

Remember too that we have a SPUR position that plays on the strong side. That position is an OLB/SS hybrid who will likely have responsibility for covering TEs. Most of those guys (Willis, Wilkins, Miller) are 6' 200+

Not asking for Cyborgs, but the reality is that Clay is relatively inexperienced at the position and undersized. Let's hope he plays bigger than his size. Note Anoor was an inch taller and 8 lbs heavier. Ryan is more of the prototypical SS size at 6'1 190 - another 10-15 lbs would be ideal. There is a pretty strong correlation between size of DB's and success at the D! football level. The avg safety at the FCS level is ~5'11, 195...giving up 25 lbs can be significant when tackling bigger players.
https://www.footballstudyhall.com/2018/ ... -mass-beef

Paladin91 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 24, 2019 11:25 pm

The Jackal wrote:

Paladin91 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:02 pm

I prefer a strong safety have a little more size and be a bit rangier to match up against larger receivers and tight ends. Comparatively against other SOCOn teams at SS, I imagine we are on the smaller side.

I mean, ideally we'd have a team full of cyborgs.

Personally, I don't think we need to get too wrapped up in terminology. Last season, our SS (Annoor) had more pass breakups and fewer tackles than our FS (Okeh). While Annoor and Clay are smaller, Okeh isn't (6'4 216).

Remember too that we have a SPUR position that plays on the strong side. That position is an OLB/SS hybrid who will likely have responsibility for covering TEs. Most of those guys (Willis, Wilkins, Miller) are 6' 200+

Not asking for Cyborgs, but the reality is that Clay is relatively inexperienced at the position and undersized. Let's hope he plays bigger than his size. Note Anoor was an inch taller and 8 lbs heavier. Ryan is more of the prototypical SS size at 6'1 190 - another 10-15 lbs would be ideal. There is a pretty strong correlation between size of DB's and success at the D! football level. The avg safety at the FCS level is ~5'11, 195...giving up 25 lbs can be significant when tackling bigger players.
https://www.footballstudyhall.com/2018/ ... -mass-beef

91, that's a good article. I'm a numbers guy... though I will say in FCS you sometimes have to find inefficiencies - I am sure we all would have wanted McKnight (5'8") from Samford on our team as a WR.

But yeah, at Safety I would agree ... it's like article says "bigger is better though other things will matter too". The good thing is you can see CH recruited Ryan who is the size you seem to be looking for and just is young.. By the time he has a year or two he will be that size !

I do like that article. FCS we probably have to go after the guy with the frame to put on the weight.. like I THINK McKinney was on OL at 6'7" and now has changed his body a lot.

The safeties look to be the last group to get a makeover by the current coaching staff, who inherited Okeh and Annoor. Those two bought the staff some time in 2017 & ‘18. Porter was signed as a safety but was moved up to Spur and bandit. There looks to be a class gap at the position that hopefully can we get over this year.