Tech’s talented true freshmen are ready to contribute in the secondary this year.
On whether he feels like a veteran now that he has a spring under his belt: “In a way, but there’s still time to grow and a lot of things I need to work on for me to be that elite cornerback that I want to be. I played corner in high school, but I didn’t have the coaches I have now to teach me all the little things. Get the little things right, and the big things will come. That’s what Coach Gray and Coach Foster are teaching me now. I’m still working on some things, but my game has gotten a lot better.”
On how much his increased weight has helped him: “Yes sir, coming in I weighed 172. Now I weight 190, 191. 18 to 19 pounds, it’s pretty good weight. And it’s good weight, it wasn’t like I was eating and it was bad weight. Lots of protein, just eating right. I think it’s helped me a lot. I’ve gotten fast, I’ve gotten a little bit bigger. Especially with me being long, I need that mass. Whether it’s press man coverage, getting in and out of breaks, the speed has helped me a lot.”
On whether it’s different playing field corner after spending the spring at boundary: “Not really. I liked boundary corner. The coaches decided to move me to field corner. Really, everything just swaps. If I’m thinking one way at boundary corner, I just swap it at field corner. I know the right things to do there. Really, it’s not any different, you’ve just got to be able to think and mentally process it on the field. It’s fast, I know that.”
On whether he’s surprised Kendall Fuller isn’t competing with him at that spot: “Me and Kendall, we’re good friends already. That’s only going to grow throughout the process. Me and him both are going to be great cornerbacks. Me, him and a couple of others are going to be our secondary in a couple of years when the veterans leave. I’m just glad they’re giving me this shot. They didn’t write me out or anything. I’m just trying to make a name for myself and do the right thing.”
On whether he’s playing any corner: “[Coach Gray] throws me out there at corner a little bit, just to make sure I’m learning stuff and preparing me for the rest of the years I’m going to be here. I think the nickel gives me a variety of things I can do, whether it’s coverage, blitzing, different things like that, so I’m learning a lot right now.”
On whether nickel fits with his strengths as a player: “I think it fits with my game. I think I’ll definitely be able to make plays there.”
On Facyson and Donaldven Manning at field corner, and how they’ll replace Antone Exum: “Coach [Gray] is going to get them prepared. They had spring to get prepared. It seems like they made a lot of plays in the spring, but just seeing them work out there now, I definitely think they’ll be ready.”
On playing Alabama in his first college game: “I definitely think it’s going to be a good introduction. You try not to think of it too much. You’re competing against some of the top players in the country. They’re doing the same thing we’re doing right now, preparing like we do. It’s just a matter of going in there and being ready.”
On working with David Wilson on his backflip: “It took me a day [to get it down]. I probably could [do it again]. [The coaches] don’t know, I don’t think so, maybe one of them.”
On whether he was surprised to find himself playing nickel: “No, Coach Gray let me know ahead of time, before I came down. I wasn’t surprised. He let me know probably a little bit before the summer.”
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Really exciting to have these two young guys in the secondary.