We recently learned that true sophomore cornerback KJ Trujillo had been splitting time between his normal position and also at safety. Today, position coach Demetrice Martin confirmed that the "cross training" has he put it is not exclusive to only Trujillo.
Senior Derrion Rakestraw has been moving around in addition to JUCO transfer sophomore Jaylen Striker.
The way Martin put it, doing this comes with the blessing of Karl Dorrell and with collaboration between he, Tyson Summers and Brett Maxie.
Colorado's defensive coaches see this as an opportunity to create depth and also transform the Buffs' DBs into more versatile assets.
“One thing that’s really awesome is coach Dorrell, coach Summers, coach Maxie — they’ve given me the opportunity to cross train guys," Martin said. "We try to teach everybody everything. You’ve got to have guys who can be true DBs, not just cornerbacks.”
While Martin and Co. shake things up with their defensive backs, it appears to be fair to say that here and now, 13 days removed from their Nov. 7 season opener at home vs. UCLA, the Buffs have yet to nail down who will start at cornerback.
Trujillo and junior Mekhi Blackmon were listed atop the team's pencil depth chart heading into fall camp, but whether those two will indeed start against the Bruins remains to be seen.
On Monday, Martin didn't confirm or decline whether the Buffs will look to go have established starters by Nov. 7 or whether hashing that out may bleed into the season proper.But developing viable depth is the endgame desire at the very minimum.
“As it lands right now, every day is an open competition," Martin said. "Those guys have all battled and of course we have some guys that have had some past experience, which is always good."
If there is one defensive back that has been singled out by name most often thus far during camp for performing well, it probably would be Miami transfer Nigel Bethel.
Dorrell has noted that the 6-foot-0, 170-pound sophomore has recorded a few interceptions throughout camp while Martin is pleased with his development in general.
“There’s been very steady growth," Martin said of Bethel. "That kid is just getting more and more confident. He was a guy who was still new to the schemes and a lot of the terminology kind of froze him as far as him thinking about what to do before he’d do it. Now he’s getting to a point where he’s just reacting and that’s letting his athleticism show."
"He is a kid that can run really well, he has pretty good contact courage and he has some football intelligence where he understands coverage schemes and stuff like that.”
Bethel undoubtedly is seeing his stock rise in what will be his first action with the Buffs and it certainly wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to envision him winning a starting position.
Interestingly, junior ILB Quinn Perry, who also joined reporters for a few minutes following Monday's practice. shed some light on what he's seen from the DBs.
He provided something of an Easter egg with respect to a Buffs' newcomer who very well may be playing a serious role for Colorado as a freshman.
“I’d say coming in, straight off the bat, Gonzo — Christian Gonzalez — has been a big factor in our defense," Perry said. "He’s been doing really well at corner as well as KJ (Trujillo) who the coaches have moved around a little bit but is adapting really well to the positions. Chris Miller has taken a big step and he is the pedestal of the defense now at the STAR position.
That, of course, compliments nicely what Maxie had to say about Gonzalez recently.
"Christian is probably our longest and biggest corner that we have," Maxie said. "He’s a really good matchup for those long receivers that we’re going to play in the Pac-12 outside. He has no fear for challenging, he’s very prideful in terms of how he goes about his craft and he’s one of those guys that has really deceptive speed. He might be 6-foot-2 at the line of scrimmage, but when he gets downfield, he becomes a 6-foot-5 corner because of his length and his arms. We’ve been really, really pleased with him.”
Regardless of who ends up starting for the Buffs on Nov. 7, Martin believes he has a good group of guys to work with — guys that all are hungry for a chance to shine.
“Those guys are in there chomping at the bit," he said "They know they are all one play way from being that guy that’s out there. That’s one thing I really like about this room — they have a natural high competitive level.”
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