One of the biggest questions this fall is who is going to play opposite Eric Berry at the other safety position. After two days of practice, Prentiss Waggner's received the most reps, so it's looking like he has the early lead. Don't count out junior Dennis Rogan or freshman Janzen Jackson, though, as they've both also received looks. Darren Myles, Jr., too, could work himself into the mix.
A bunch of freshman and Berry is really not out of the question, according to Berry himself, who said both guys are more ready to play than Berry was his first year. You know, the year Berry had five interceptions for 222 yards? Yeah. "They are great athletes right now," Berry said. "They just need to learn the playbook. I mean they are going to be great competitors at this school. I feel like they are going to be incredible. People look at me as 'this guy' but they come in with more natural ability in how they get to the ball and the plays they make. I am just saying. Look at those guys. Look at their size."
Rogan extends the praise to additional newcomers Eric Gordon, Mike Edwards, and Nyshier Oliver. "Man, they all looked real good out there, especially with it being the first day and not getting to go over a lot of the plays with the coaches," Rogan said. "They looked REAL good."
So it's little wonder that Kiffin considers the secondary is the deepest, most-talented unit on the team. "I think what you're seeing is you're seeing a unique depth in our secondary," Kiffin said. "Probably easily our deepest position, so what happens is that a lot of times the twos go in and there's someone you can pick on, someone you can go after. But when our twos go in, shoot on our twos right now Brent Vinson and (Dennis) Rogan are on our twos. So that's pretty tough guys to go against."
We have no idea what the secondary's going to look like, apart from Berry. But however it shakes out, it sounds like it's going to be strong.