We continue our position preview today by turning our attention to the safeties, the group spearheaded by new assistant coach Corey Batoon.
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Corners
In defensive coordinator Scott Symons’ system, the Flames basically utilize three safeties, even though sometimes that third safety is referred to as a nickel.
The Flames lose the services of Elijah Benton, Ceneca Espinoza, and Rion Davis from last year’s squad. During his career, Benton quickly rose from a seldom thought of walk-on to one of the leaders of the defense. He finished 2019 second on the team with 85 tackles and led the team with 7 pass breakups.
Espinoza elected to leave the program with one season of eligibility remaining. He played in 12 games last season and finished with 44 tackles and 2 interceptions. Davis played in 11 games and recorded 17 tackles.
Returning
Appomattox product Javon Scruggs moved from corner to safety prior to the 2019 season and he has quickly become a leader of the secondary. He started in 11 games in 2019 and has played in 24 total games during his first two seasons with the Flames.
Redshirt-senior Benjamin Alexander will look to take Benton’s role as a walk-on turned valuable member of the safety unit. He’s played in 34 games, making one start, and had 19 tackles last season. He will compete for a starting spot in the fall.
Tayvion Land is Liberty’s first only 4-star rated commit as he joined the Flames in the Class of 2019. He saw playing time in 11 games, recording 23 tackles, as a true freshman this past season. He began his career at corner, but switched to the safety position during the season. In 2020, Land will fight for a starting spot again in the secondary.
Isaac Steele fought through an injury plagued 2019 to play in 10 games. He’s played in 22 games in his two seasons with the Flames after transferring from Mesa Community College. He enters his redshirt-senior season where he should be expected to bring additional depth and fight for a starting spot once again.
Tim Kidd-Glass is a redshirt-senior who was a late addition to the program last year after transferring from NC State. He sat out the 2019 season due to NCAA transfer requirements, and he will be looking to make an impact this fall in his only season on the field for Liberty.
Micah Glaize played in all 12 games as a true freshman for Liberty last season. The local product out of Brookville High School recorded 11 tackles, and he will continue to bolster an increasingly deep secondary.
Hunter Goetz and Marcellous Harris also return to the safety unit.
Newcomers
Juawan Treadwell was an early enrolled this spring from Independence Community College. The younger brother of NFL wide receiver Laquon Treadwell, Juawan will push for a starting spot at safety. He has the athletic ability, he just has to put everything together to make a big impact this season.
Jerome Jolly Jr is a true freshman who was able to enroll for the spring semester. In the first few practices with the team, he was making a huge impact and will be hard to keep off the field this fall.
We mentioned Marcus Haskins in our preview of the corners last week, but he could also see time at safety. He is 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.
Louis Taylor III, Tim Coutras, and Aaron Lovins all join the safety unit as true freshmen this season as well.
Outlook
The safety unit has quickly become one of the deepest on the team. Liberty could go with as many as 3-deep at all three positions and not lose much productivity. This is what an FBS roster looks like, and in time the entire Liberty roster should be this deep.
Still, there are some young and relatively inexperienced guys who will be counted on to make big contributions in the fall.
