BYU football: Can cornerback really be a position of strength for Cougars in 2023?
News this week that starting safety Micah Harper has been lost for the season due to a knee injury comes as a big blow to BYU’s defensive secondary, which was counting on the redshirt sophomore and his playmaking and tackling skills to ease it into the explosive Big 12.
Senior Malik Moore, sophomore Talan Alfrey and others will have to step up to fill the void left by Harper’s absence in 2023.
“He came in from Day 1 doing what he has been doing for the last four years, making plays. He’s very knowledgeable as far as college football defenses go. He has a high, high IQ for the game. And the way he carries himself off the field as far as preparation, is superb.” — BYU cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford on transfer Eddie Heckard
But at least the other half of the secondary — the two cornerback positions — appear to be well-stocked with four or more solid, experienced players.
“We’re looking pretty good there, pretty good,” cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford said Tuesday. “Knock on wood — everybody is healthy, so first and foremost that is the most important thing. And then the depth is looking good.”
Gilford hasn’t come out with a depth chart yet, but for now he says four guys are rotating with the ones in preseason training camp. They are:
• Weber State transfer Eddie Heckard, a fifth-year player who played in 49 games for the Wildcats and was an FCS All-American in 2022.
• Junior Jakob Robinson, hero of last year’s 24-23 win over SMU in the New Mexico Bowl and a transfer from Utah State who started in five games last year and made 51 tackles, five pass breakups and an interception.
• Tyler (Texas) Junior College transfer Mory Bamba, a 6-3 junior who appeared in five games last year for the Cougars.
• Weber State transfer Kamden Garrett, a 5-11, 181-pound senior from Las Vegas (same as Heckard) who appeared in 37 games for the Wildcats, making 75 career tackles.
“Guys are working hard from top to bottom, still challenging for positions,” Gilford said.
The only defensive coach who was retained by new defensive coordinator Jay Hill, Gilford has been at BYU since 2016, which was also head coach Kalani Sitake’s first year. Gilford isn’t ready to say this group is better than last year’s cornerback crew, which was led by a couple of guys currently trying to make NFL rosters, Kaleb Hayes and D’Angelo Mandell.
“Yeah, we gotta wait and see,” Gilford said. “It is kinda set in stone that they made a ton of plays because they are suited up, going on Sundays now. But I have guys who are very, very hungry, very, very capable. Now it is time for them to translate that to Saturdays and continue to make plays. The sky is the limit.”
Gilford said the pack of corners behind the aforementioned four includes Cerritos (California) College transfer Jayden Dunlap, redshirt freshman Evan Johnson, Southern Utah transfer Dylan Flowers and true freshman Marcus McKenzie, a product of St. George’s Pine View High.
The cornerbacks coach said junior Caleb Christensen and senior Jacob Boren are part of the defense’s nickel package “and are doing some good things there.”
Having played well for some of Hill’s stout defenses at the FCS level the past several years, Heckard said this group of corners assembled in Provo is as good as he’s been around.
“We have a lot of good players. Like, everywhere,” Heckard said. “Everywhere you look there is a good player, in every position, and somebody that can beat you on both sides of the ball.
“That’s what I think is great about this program and what is going to push us to be good,” Heckard continued. “A lot of these players that can compete at the highest level.”
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Heckard arrived at BYU with a lot of fanfare, and has lived up to the billing through spring and fall camps, Gilford said.
“He came in from Day 1 doing what he has been doing for the last four years, making plays,” Gilford said. “He’s very knowledgeable as far as college football defenses go. He has a high, high IQ for the game. And the way he carries himself off the field as far as preparation, is superb.”
Garrett said he didn’t purposefully follow Hill or Heckard to BYU from Weber State, but after weighing all his options out of the transfer portal, he decided Provo was the place for him, too.
“The biggest thing was already knowing the defense, and I know coach Hill, and coach Hill knows me,” Garrett said. “I just felt like it was the best decision. I only have one year left, so I want to make sure I get the most out of it.”
Gilford said he is confident that Garrett can make the jump, too.
“Kam is another guy who prepares the right way. A guy who takes every rep seriously,” Gilford said. “He wants to win, he wants to compete every single rep. And I just love that about him, because that is inspiring all of our young guys to follow in his footsteps.”
