The Football Brainiacs

Image of Kahlil Haughton via Scout.com

Fall camp officially kicks off tomorrow afternoon with team officially reporting and then the first day of practice set for Thursday. Last week I previewed the cornerback position, and now we’ll continue this preview series with the back half of the OU secondary.

For the Sooners to be successful this year, they have to get better production out of the safety position. Among other things, the big plays due to miscommunication and assignment errors have to end. Additionally, they have to get more range out of the deep safety spot.

Antoine Stephens – I’m going to begin with freshman DB Antoine Stephens, because I inadvertently left him off my cornerback list. Stephens is currently being started out at corner, though with his size don’t be surprised if he eventually transitions to a nickel or safety position. Stephens only started playing CB his senior year, so he is a little behind in terms of development. But he is a big athlete who demonstrated a lot of physicality in high school. Stephens will need some time so I expect him to redshirt, giving him that time to get stronger and continue developing his technique.

Steven Parker – I would wager that if you could ask Kerry Cooks what player at the safety position he is most excited about, he’d answer, without hesitation, Steven Parker. As a true freshman last year Parker certainly wasn’t perfect, but you could clearly see that high ceiling so many projected for him coming out of Jenks.

With that 2014 season under his belt and full offseason in the film room, I’m fully expecting a majority of those freshman mental errors to be cleaned up this coming season. Parker is a fantastic cover safety, who is also a quick trigger that can make plays in the run game. And he’s also shown an ability to blitz off the edge.

In OU’s base defense Paker should be all but a lock to be the starting strong safety. And as Stoops has mentioned several times in recent weeks, when OU shifts to a more DB heavy look, Parker will move over to the nickel back spot.

Ahmad Thomas – Last year Thomas played primarily at the free safety position with somewhat mixed results. In a Cover-3/Man-1 base scheme, which I expect OU to continue to play, you need a lot of range. You need a long, rangy deep safety who can read the play quickly and can get over the top in a hurry to help wherever he is needed. I’m reasonably confident Thomas knows what he’s supposed to do, but I just don’t see the free safety spot as a natural fit for him.

As of now it’s my understanding that in OU’s nickel package, Thomas is playing strong safety. However in their base defense, he is still playing in that free safety position. At the SS spot you can limit how much he’s put into man situations with inside WRs against 10-personnel by playing more Cover-3. But if he is going to play free safety…hopefully he’s made a big jump in terms of his ability to react quickly in order to provide the help needed.

Hatari Byrd – Byrd played some free safety last year and flashed at times, but also showed up too early at times as well. I’ve always got the impression from folks behind the scenes that Byrd has some good physical tools, but it’s his consistency within the scheme and ability to understand both safety assignments that have seemingly held him back to this point.

I’ve been told by sources that, as it stands right now, Byrd would move in to play free safety in the nickel package. However, in the base package I expect he will continue to battle with Thomas for that starting free safety spot well into fall camp.

Prentice McKinney – McKinney’s name has been mentioned by coaches a few times throughout the summer. When I’ve asked around about him, I’ve been told that he is an exceptional worker. He’s a player who, at a young age, is staying after practice/workouts and putting in extra work with the support staff.

As a player, I’m told he knows his assignments in 7-on-7 and rarely gets beat. I don’t get the sense he’s making a ton of plays necessarily, but I do get the sense he’s demonstrating consistency to his teammates and the coaches. I’m told McKinney rotates in at both safety spots in 7-on-7, so at this point I couldn’t really say which specific safety position he projects at.

But I will say this. Based on past history, players that can learn the defense usually have a good chance to see the field.

Will Sunderland – I have been told this summer that Sunderland has been rotating in primarily at the free safety position, but other than that I haven’t heard a great deal about him thus far. The two things that concerned me most about Sunderland coming out of high school, however, were (1) his ability to get in-and-out of his breaks and (2) his ability to understand the defense/diagnose the opposing offense.

That said, I get the sense from talking with folks that Sunderland is making strides in both respects. But may still need some time to really get comfortable understanding his assignment within the defense as opposed to just acting on instinct.

Kahlil Haughton – I’m saving the best for last. I know the talk we’ve heard (what little of it we’re allowed) from OU coaches thus far mostly been about McKinney — and I was a fan of his in high school and certainly also like what I’m hearing behind the scenes — but I stand by my prediction from last year regarding Haughton being the best safety prospect in this 2015 class.

And while I’ve yet to really see/hear the coaches say it publicly, I’m told that behind the scenes they’ve been very impressed with Haughton thus far. Which makes sense considering he is everything you would want in a safety. He is sharp, violent, play-maker that has better speed than almost every other DB (including the cornerbacks).

Haughton has been rotating in at both nickel and strong safety during summer workouts. My guess is the coaches will actually have him play both FS and SS in fall camp to see how he adapts to each. If I were Thomas and/or Byrd, this is the guy I’d be looking at over my shoulder.