2010 Safety Outlook

At first glance it looks very scary that the hoosiers will be losing 3 out of their 4 starters in the secondary. However, with some guys coming in and a position switch or two it won’t be as bad as people originally thought. Let’s first take a look at the safeties.

We lose both starters in Nick Polk and AustinThomas. We also lose some backups in Collin Taylor and Matt Kurz. So who are going to replace these guys? Well it will definitely be open to competition but lets look at a few names.

Chris Adkins

– made the switch to safety from corner this past season. I really like this move. He started at corner as a red shirt freshman and had a tough time. I always felt like his skills would be better utilized as a safety. So look for him to most likely have one of the starting spots at safety next season.

Jerimy Finch– every since transferring from Florida he has yet to really see significant playing time. His role has been mostly on special teams. Nobody seems to know what is going on with him. There are always rumors about him having a poor relationship with the position coaches and that he can be a problem sometimes. He was the top rated safety coming out of high school but when he played at Florida they moved him to outside linebacker so, he has yet to really play the safety position at the college level. Although he has been a mystery while he’s been at IU, he has a lot of potential if he can get his head on straight. He is a big physical player who can come up and make a big hit. He will have the opportunity to compete for the starting job as well.

Shane Covington- he is a guy that got moved to the defensive side of the ball when he came here. The only time I got to see him play the position was in the spring game. He flied to the ball pretty well and showed he can be physical as well. He was also recruited by Illinois and Kansas State coming out of high school so you know that there was good interest in him.

Nick Zachery-

He red shirted this past season for the hoosiers. In high school he

seemed to do everything for his Sheridan high school team. I believe he won 3 state championships during his high school career. A red shirt season will allow him to get more comfortable with the defensive schemes and a chance to bulk up a bit. Coach Lynch has said good things about him and believes he has a bright future at the safety spot. He will be in competition with all the other guys for a starting spot.

Mitch Evans- Mitch will most likely move to safety this off season. He has played safety before and we seem to have a very deep core at receiver. He is athletic, versatile, and has done a variety of things for the hoosier program. Since we lose so many players in the secondary it would make sense for him to make the position switch to possibly start or provide depth.

Jarrell Drane– had a wrist injury that kept him out most of the year. Hasn’t gotten much playing time so it’s difficult to assess his skill set as of now. He does has good size and will continue to get better.

When looking at the long list of potential replacements at the safety position, I think Chris Adkins is the only one that has a spot locked up. Everybody else will have a chance to compete for the starting job and playing time in general. Hopefully everyone will make great strides this off season because of the competition that will be taking place. Although I don’t see any true freshman starting at safety next year, I should note that our class is filled with a lot of safeties or athletes that could play safety. I can’t wait to see the position battle start, it should be fun.