Dissecting the Depth Chart - Safety

Any story written about the safeties in the 2017 season will have to include the fact that they had zero interceptions. It’s more than just a talking point. It’s the easiest way to explain that the safeties didn’t make many impact plays.

There were not many noticeable coverage busts or missed tackles like in previous years. That was a step in the right direction. But much more is and should be expected from the position group in 2018.

There were three players who played most of the snaps at safety last season. All three are back, but they only combined for five pass breakups and one tackle for loss.

That’s not going to cut it this time around if they want to continue to be the three that play the most snaps. This could be the most competitive position in camp with as many as six players having the potential to become starters.

Who's Back

If there was one player last season that should have had a greater impact, it was Jalen Elliott. He was usually in the right position to make a play, but either failed to get his hands on the football or make the tackle when a big opportunity presented itself.

The good news is that he looked like that might change based on how he performed in the spring. He checks every box in terms of physical traits that would make him a terrific strong safety. That has to carry over to camp and to Saturdays this fall or he’s not going to be on the field with the other options on the roster.

It was a positive year for Nick Coleman as he made the transition from corner to free safety. Steady is probably the best way to describe him, but aside from one tackle for loss against Georgia, spectacular wouldn’t fit.

He had a quiet spring. Quieter than he had last year when he first made the move. That could have been by design because there is more film on him to evaluate than the other newcomers who were fighting for reps.

He is firmly in the mix to start at free safety, but it’s not a given he will start.

Devin Studstill is the other safety that played quite a bit last year and he had his best spring since when he first arrived as an early enrollee in 2016. It looked like he was a step slow last season, but was quicker to diagnose plays and was around the football much more than we’d seen from him.

He did receive reps with the ones in the practices we watched and is going to contribute in some way.

Senior Nicco Fertitta is the longest shot to play a significant amount out of the safeties returning. He’ll need a lights out fall camp in order to beat out some of the newcomers.

New Faces (Kind of)

Technically Alohi Gilman is not new. This will just be the first season he is eligible after transferring from Navy a year ago. He would have probably started last year and no one made more of a splash with his play than him.

You couldn’t miss him flying to the football in the spring game and he’s the only one who have a proven track record of making plays in games (albeit with Navy). Whether it’s at strong or free, he is the best bet to start out of all the safeties in my opinion.

It wouldn’t shock me if early enrollee Houston Griffith played started beside Gilman at some point during the season. He did not look like a freshman during the spring and that was not surprising given how good of a prospect I and others felt he was as a recruit.

It might be a tall task for him to leap over the veterans to start the Michigan game, but he may be so good in camp that Terry Joseph doesn’t have a choice.

Out of the other freshman who arrived in June, Derrik Allen might be the most talented. Can he pick up the defense quick enough to compete at strong safety? That’s going to be the big question because physically he is ready to roll at the college level.

His long term future may be at Rover depending on how big he gets, but this August he can shut down some of the linebacker talk if he shows out.

No one is really talking about Paul Moala. He was a recruit who earned his offer after a stellar camp performance backed up what he did on film. The depth chart may be too crowded for him not to redshirt this fall, but we’ll see what he can do against strong competition in camp.