Fresno State Athletics
2022 Position Spotlight: Defensive Backs
8/24/2022 6:31:00 PM | Football
DEFENSIVE BACKS OUTLOOK
The Dogs' secondary, similar to the wide receivers room, is loaded with talent and experience.Â
Fresno State loses a significant contributor in DaRon Bland, who was selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. But the Bulldogs have 11 players returning including three starters and have added three transfers and three freshmen to the group.
The defensive backs are the only position group to retain its coach from the previous staff - J.D. Williams. Williams returned to his alma mater in 2017 for his third coaching stint at Fresno State. He once served as a graduate assistant (2008) and an assistant coach (2000-01) under Pat Hill. He has shifted back to coaching both the cornerbacks and safeties this season, along with defensive pass game coordinator duties.
Who's back: The defensive backs are led by safety Evan Williams, who was one of two defensive players to start all 13 games last season. He finished the season with a team-high 93 tackles (60 solo), 4.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions, six broken up passes, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. Notably, Williams recorded five 10-tackle games, the most by a Bulldogs' defensive back in a season since 2016 when safety Stratton Brown had seven. The veteran Bulldog has done a little bit of everything in his career, totaling 160 tackles (112 solo), four interceptions, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and 10 broken up passes in 29 career games played.Â
The Campbell native was selected to the preseason All-Mountain West team as well as watch lists for the Jim Thorpe, Bronko Nagurski and Chuck Bednarik awardsÂ
The 'Dogs return six other defensive backs who played 10 or more games last season, and safety Elijah Gates and cornerback Brayln Lux also were starters a season ago.Â
Gates, a transfer from UCLA, played in 10 games with nine starts in his first season with the Bulldogs. He racked up the second-most tackles in the group with 38 (29 solo), had 3.0 tackles for loss, six pass breakups, one interception and one recovered fumble.Â
Lux saw action in all 13 games and logged eight starts. He finished the season with 24 tackles 24 tackles (18 solo).
Cornerback Cale Sanders, Jr., is another returning letterwinner for the 'Dogs. He had a breakout freshman season, working his way into the starting lineup late in the year.Â
Safety L.J. Early is a returning letterwinner that was a significant contributor in the secondary playing in all 13 games with three starts. He was in on 33 tackles (28 solo) including 2.0 tackles for loss, one interception and six pass breakups.Â
Safeties Kosi Agina and Steven Comstock round out the returning letterwinners. Both played in all 13 games as prominent members of the second team unit.Â
Additional Returners: Chrishawn Gordon, Alzillion Hamilton, Julian Neal, Jalen Williams.Â
Who's new: Jomarion Briggs, Jayden Davis, Cameron Lockridge, Carlton Johnson, Michael Whaley, Ryan Wilson.
The group added even more experience with Hawaii transfer Cam Lockridge, who participated in spring ball and is competing for a starting spot.Â
Lockridge spent two seasons at Hawai'i, where he lined up as both a cornerback and a safety for the Rainbow Warriors. During his two seasons at Hawai'i, he totaled 61 tackles (49 solo), 4.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions with one returned for a touchdown. He also had 10 passes defended and a fumble recovery.Â
The position group is also bolstered by two junior college transfers in Wilson (Long Beach City College) and Johnson (Riverside City College).Â
The Bulldogs have seven upperclassmen in the room, but have continued to stockpile young talent, a process that started a year ago with the additions of Sanders, Hamilton and Williams at cornerback and Neal at safety.
Fresno State added three talented freshmen to the group in Jomarion Briggs, Jayden Davis and Michael Whaley.Â
Briggs is a three-star recruit out of Stockton. He was ranked the No. 68 cornerback recruit in the nation. Â
Davis, a Bullard High product, stayed in Fresno to play for his hometown team. He also was rated a three star prospect by recruiting services.
Whaley joins the 'Dogs from Hercules. He was named the West Coast Prep Defensive Player of the Year, a finalist for the Bay Area Football Athlete of the Year and was an All-State selection.Â
What to watch: The Bulldogs struggled early last season at the corner positions, but Bland and Sanders solidified those sports after entering the starting lineup.Â
Fresno State allowed its final five opponents to complete just 45.2% of its passes and had five interceptions, after picking off six passes in the first eight games.
With a lot of talent and experience and talent in the secondary for Fresno State, it'll be a battle to make the two-deep. Williams and Gates are set at the safety spots, but there are battles at both backup spots and at the cornerback positions.
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Players Mentioned
