We were planning on doing a position by position breakdown of the Liberty football team following spring practice when we’ve had a chance to meet with all the position coaches. But COVID-19.
We will still move forward with that plan, because what else are we going to talk about, but we won’t have the fortune of having watched practice and the spring game and getting thoughts from the coaching staff following 15 spring practices.
We begin today with a look at the Corners.
The Flames lose just one key contributor from 2019 in Bejour Wilson who played in 22 games and started 17 during his two years at Liberty.
Returning
Jimmy Faulks enters his redshirt-senior season having played 34 games with 19 starts including all 13 a season ago. He is by far the most experienced corner on Liberty’s roster and will be counted on to help lead the position. After redshirting during the 2018 season, Faulks quickly rose to the top of the depth chart under the new coaching staff last season. He finished the 2019 campaign with 17 tackles and one interception.
Kei’Trel Clark was a pleasant surprise as a true freshman last season, playing in all 13 games and starting 6. Opposite Faulks, Clark split the starts at the opposite corner position with Wilson. He was a late addition to Liberty’s 2019 signing class, as the new coaching staff found him late in the process out of Richmond and were able to secure his commitment. As soon as he arrived on campus he began making an impact, quickly rising up the depth chart.
Isaiah Avery joined the program last January as a mid-year enrollee after transferring from City College of San Francisco. He saw playing time in 10 games while making 10 tackles and recording 1 pass breakup. The junior will provide valuable depth at the position.
Chris Megginson saw playing time in all 13 games as a true freshman out of Lynchburg’s Heritage High School. He has gone back and forth between safety and corner since arriving at Liberty, but he looks to be settling in at corner moving forward. He had 14 tackles and 2 pass breakups in 2019.
Emanuel Dabney enters his senior campaign after joining Liberty for the spring of 2019 as he transferred from Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi. He played in 9 games last season, recording 11 tackles and 2 pass breakups.
Kimani Donaldson has seen his playing time decrease in each of his first three seasons at Liberty, playing in 7 games as a true freshman, 3 games in 2018, and not seeing the field last year. Now, as a redshirt-junior, Donaldson will look to break into the rotation.
Frank Boyd has spent much of his time under the new coaching staff going back forth between running back and corner. In the limited spring action we were able to see, Boyd was working with the running backs.
Newcomers
Deon Biggins is a 3-star corner out of Horn Lake, Mississippi who signed with the Flames in December. The coaching staff is very high on him and think he could be a lockdown corner in time. Will he be like Clark and be too good to keep off the field? We will have to wait until the fall to see, but Freeze and his coaching staff have more depth this go around than they did a season ago.
Marcus Haskins joins the program as a JUCO transfer from Iowa Western Community College where he earned All-American honors. He spent his freshman season at Division II Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota where he was also named an All-American. Haskins could play either safety or at corner, but it is expected that he will get some playing time in 2020.
Quinton Reese was the only scholarship player who signed with Liberty on February’s Signing Day. He’s a 3- star prospect out of Blessed Trinity Catholic in Alpharetta, Georgia.
Outlook
Liberty returns both of its starters at corner from the end of the 2019 season, as Faulks and Clark look to man those spots again this fall. The biggest question mark for this group is depth. There is some talent there, but a couple names need to emerge to solidify the rotation for CB coach Rickey Hunley.
