MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — In fall camp, covering the Middle Tennessee defense has been an exercise not so much in learning new names (though, as always, there are plenty), but in getting used to hearing names you already knew more often.
From special teams standouts that are stepping into set linebacker roles (like Drew Francis) to do-it-all defensive backs now settling into a more consistent spot (like Deidrick Stanley II), the players that have started to step up in defensive coordinator Scott Shafer's scheme are players Blue Raider fans might recognize from a season ago, even with the departure of five starters from last year's unit that led the country in takeaways.
"I'm confident in the secondary," cornerback Jalen Jackson said. "We can do what we did last year, we've got all the pieces we need. We're going to hold each other accountable."
The secondary is where the most change in underway, with three of the top four players from last year's team moving on to the NFL (Reed Blankenship) or the transfer portal (Greg Grate, Quincy Riley). The one remaining starter, Teldrick Ross, started all of his nine starts at cornerback last season, where this year he's expected to be primarily a safety.
That expectation is due to the continued development of Jackson and Decorian Patterson, who combined for 10 starts at corner in 2021. Both corners have shown marked improvement from a season ago, with Patterson hauling in an interception in the team's most recent scrimmage and good ability to handle both the Blue Raider offense's bigger wideouts as well as it's speedy guys on the outside.
"Stay physical, even when you don't want to be physical," Patterson said of his corner technique. "You've got to mix it up, you can't do the same thing every time."
Those two, alongside fellow letterman Deonte Stanley, will need to step up and stay healthy, as the cornerback room is only six players strong in fall camp. Cornerbacks coach Kenneth Gilstrap says that the small room is a benefit to his guys early on this season, as it ensures everyone gets a lot of reps in the drills each day at practice.
"They're doing a phenomenal job with it," Gilstrap said. "It'll help us later in the season from a mental standpoint. Playing the cornerback position, it's a lot of mental, gutting it out, playing a lot of tempo. (Offensive Coordinator Mitch) Stewart does a great job with tempo, so it gets us in shape.
Patterson highlighted both Jai'Brian Bouye and Chris Johnson, both redshirt freshmen, as players that have impressed him in camp with their improvement. With today's modern spread offenses, those third and fourth corners on the two-deep can play a key role, particularly late in games. For now, however, Gilstrap is excited about the work ethic by the whole room.
"They've got a swagger about themselves," Gilstrap said of his corners. "They practice very hard, we're just trying to get those guys to play smarter. I love their effort."
Behind the corners, the safeties have a little bit more continuity, thanks to Ross sliding over, as well as Tra Fluellen and Deidrick Stanley II, who return after playing key special teams and reserve roles a season ago.
Fluellen was 10th on the team in 2021 with 29 total tackles despite only making one start (at linebacker!), and returned a blocked punt for a touchdown against Southern Miss. The Gilmer, Texas native finished his freshman year at Houston Baptist with 101 tackles, and will look to help make up some of Blankenship's production in the tackle department in 2022, a role he's excited to play.
"I'm a high energy dude, I've got ADHD, ADD," Fluellen said. "All the things we're doing we're doing now, all that stuff gets me amped up to come out here."
Deidrick Stanley, an All-C-USA Freshman Team selection in 2021 after playing in nine games with one start while helping force three turnovers, has shown great ball skills in coverage when called upon, and will be a key player in slowing down the high powered C-USA air attacks this season. James Shellman IV and Marvae Myers have also impressed, showing the depth and verstaility of Shafer's safety room.
"Coach Shafer always says that if you're in that DB room, you've got to be able to play more than one position just in case we need you, so you can change and move people around," Ross said.
The other area of major change on defense is with the linebackers, where the departure of DQ Thomas and Jurriente Davis have left new linebacker coach Dustin Royston (who moved over from defensive line this offseason) with some big shoes to fill in 2022. The good news for Royston, however, is that so many of the guys competing for those spots have lots of experience, either as a linebacker or on the kickoff unit Royston runs on special teams.
At linebacker itself, Jonathan Butler, Raquon Hartley and Devyn Curtis started games last season for the Blue Raiders, while Jalen Davis, Drew Francis and Andrew Leak all lettered after being big contributors on special teams and in reserve roles.
"Those guys played for me on kickoff, so we're able to get them a little bit of a taste freshman year, and since they've been cogs and starters on every special teams," Royston said. "So, it's not going to be a whole new experience for them. They haven't started at linebacker as much, but with the reps, you're starting to see them be more comfortable."
There's plenty of new faces in Royston's position group too, led by four new transfer additions. Christian Dixon, a standout at Towson, has stood out early as a threat on the blitz, picking up multiple TFLs in the Blue Raiders' latest scrimmage. Royston has also highlighted the work Curtis and Francis have put in to get the checks right at the line, a crucial part of the Blue Raider defense's scheme.
On the flip side from the rest of the defense, there's been no turnover on the defensive line, where all four starters from last season (Jordan Ferguson, Ja'Kerrius Wyatt, Zaylin Wood, Richard Kinley) return, with a plethora of others (Jordan Branch, Marley Cook, Ralph Mency, Jorden Starling) all having plenty of game experience. In all, a projected two-deep for the offensive line could have as much as 219 games of college football experience before the start of the season.
As expected, that has resulted in the line looking dominant at times in camp against an almost entirely new Blue Raider offensive line.
"We should, I expect that," defensive line coach Tommy West said of the unit's dominance. "We're older and we're good. Now how good will be up to them. Our biggest challenge will be to not get complacent, because we have played. We've got to keep the fire burning and not rest on what we did in the past."
Helping keep that fire burning are several redshirt freshmen who have impressed, including Damonte Smith, Vincent Dinkins and Tyrece Edwards, showcasing the group's remarkable depth, as one might expect when both of the defense's captains come from this unit (Ferguson and Wyatt).
The result of that depth and experience has helped keep their technique sounds throughout camp, leading the group to look for more nuance in their team meetings to get even better. Wyatt said topics like pre-snap reads, figuring out offensive alignments, and other high football IQ concepts have become more of a focus.
"It makes playing easy," Wyatt said of his defensive line teammates. "We already know what to do, coming together just makes the game way easier than it should be."
Expect this group to be able to generate plenty of pressure in the passing game on their own, opening the door for Scott Shafer's blitzes to be even more effective than usual if everyone plays their part. Early on in the season, while the linebackers and secondary continue to gel after camp, this experienced group could prove the difference on the road in three of MT's four non-conference games.
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'They’ve got a swagger about themselves’ - Experienced defense steps into new roles in 2022 - GoBlueRaiders.com
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