{"id":2564,"date":"2014-08-17T13:39:23","date_gmt":"2014-08-17T18:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gridironstuds.com\/blog\/?p=2564"},"modified":"2014-08-17T13:39:23","modified_gmt":"2014-08-17T18:39:23","slug":"six-college-cornerbacks-you-may-not-know-but-need-to-in-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/six-college-cornerbacks-you-may-not-know-but-need-to-in-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Six College Cornerbacks You May Not Know but Need to in 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By: Chad Wilson &#8211; Editor Gridironstuds.com<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>College Football is a big game full of a lot of players. \u00a0Many of them are very good. \u00a0With the advent of the spread offense and wide open passing games, \u00a0college football secondaries have a spotlight on them. \u00a0Many players shined in 2014 and quite a few were underclassmen who will return in 2014. \u00a0You know the major names at the major programs like\u00a0Ifo Ekpre-Olomu at Oregon, Vernon Hargreaves at Florida and Quandre Diggs from Texas but I have found six cornerbacks sliding under the radar that were major playmakers for their teams in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>#6 Steven Nelson &#8211; Oregon St. &#8211; 5&#8217;10 192 lbs. &#8211; Senior<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With all eyes on Oregon St. senior cornerback Rashaard Reynolds in 2013, \u00a0opposing teams thought it best to try the new name on the other side of the field. \u00a0It didn&#8217;t take long for them to find out that there were better strategies out there. \u00a0Not only did Nelson lock down opposing receivers with stingyness of a certified public accountant but he made plays that mattered too. \u00a0Nelson tied with Reynolds for the team lead in interceptions with six and ran one back for a touchdown. \u00a0In addition, he added 62 tackles and led the team in pass breakups with eight. \u00a0His highlight video is one to watch as you will be inspired by his high energy play. Teams may shy away from him in 2014 but when they forget, \u00a0something tells me Nelson will be eager to remind them why they didn&#8217;t throw there in the first place.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LLZGPu5dUYo\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>#5 Greg Henderson &#8211; Colorado &#8211; 5&#8217;11&#8221; 185 lbs. &#8211; Senior\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After laying low for the first two years of his Buffalo career, \u00a0Henderson jumped to the forefront in 2013. \u00a0Playing for a Colorado team that didn&#8217;t do much winning or playing defense, \u00a0Henderson was a gem in the Colorado secondary. \u00a0His exclusion from the 2014 Jim Thorpe watch list can be classified as a snub directly related to Colorado&#8217;s present low stature in major college football. Henderson led the Buffs with four interceptions last season returning one of those picks for six. \u00a0He also added 58 tackles along with defending a team high 10 passes. \u00a0Henderson even addd a forced fumble making him one of the more productive defensive backs in hte entire Pac-12. The hopes is that Colorado will improve in 2014 but if Henderson can turn in a 2014 like 2013, \u00a0he will become an intruiging NFL prospect.<\/p>\n<p><strong>#4 Jordan Lucas &#8211; Penn St. 6&#8217;0&#8243; 193 lbs. &#8211; Penn St. &#8211; Junior\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Penn St. is no longer the major player in the Big 10 like they used to be but it doesn&#8217;t mean they don&#8217;t still play good football. \u00a0Leading the charge on that on defense is cornerback Jordan Lucas. \u00a0The 2014 Jim Thorpe Watch List member snagged three interceptions in 2013 while providing tight coverage on the top wide receivers Penn St. faced. \u00a0On top of the interceptions, Lucas had 65 tackles and 10 PBUs. \u00a0He also added a pair of forced fumbles to help Penn St. stay above .500 in 2013. \u00a0He will be a much watched player in Happy Valley this season.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jj1qOfPX9Og\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>#3 Kendall Fuller &#8211; Virginia Tech &#8211; 5&#8217;11&#8221; 193 &#8211; Sophomore<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are many who will line up to tell you just how hard the transition from high school to college football is but Kendall Fuller laughs at that suggestion. \u00a0This true freshman who played along side his newly NFL drafted brother at Virginia Tech in 2013, bursted on the scene in grand fashion. \u00a0Fuller was what many keen analysts thought he would be as a college football player only he did it sooner. \u00a0Making plays was Fuller&#8217;s forte as he hauled down six interceptions to lead the Hokies secondary. \u00a0He also lead the team in passes defended with 11 and was one of seven Hokies to force a fumble last season. \u00a0Fuller will be lurking around the Virginia Tech secondary in 2014 ready to add to this already impressive resume of big plays in his college football career.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W2KJiWt2_N0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>#2 Lorenzo Doss &#8211; Tulane &#8211; 5&#8217;11&#8221; 175 lbs. &#8211; Junior<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Tulane Green Waves secondary is one of the best kept secrets in college football. \u00a0The unit is made up of quartet of playmakes of which Doss is the biggest creator. \u00a0Doss was the man in 2013 for the Green Wave pulling in seven interceptions for 185 return yards and taking two back to the house. \u00a0Doss was added nine pass breakups which amazingly was third on the team. \u00a0Doss has 11 career INTs for Tulane and will no doubt add to that number this upcoming season. \u00a0Enjoy watching these highlights of the Tulane secondary includes Doss wearing #6<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/I6fa7_Q2CZQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>#1 Djoun Smith &#8211; Florida Atlantic &#8211; 5&#8217;11&#8221; 175 &#8211; Senior<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Florida Atlantic didn&#8217;t do a whole lot right in 2013 but Djoun Smith did. \u00a0The sophomore cornerback was a regular Johnny on the spot when it came to big plays and provided Owl fans with a quite a bit of excitement in an otherwise dull season. \u00a0Smith had a team high six interceptions which he returned for 112 yards. \u00a0Included in those six interceptions was one that he took back for a touchdown. \u00a0Smith was also the team leader, \u00a0by a wide margin, in pass breakups with 13 and added 34 tackles. \u00a0The junior cornerback also forced a fumble to help the Owls&#8217; defense. \u00a0It will be interesting to see how much opposing team go after Smith after the kind of 2013 season he was able to put together.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mQBt4dX5wA0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Chad Wilson &#8211; Editor Gridironstuds.com College Football is a big game full of a lot of players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}