Wharton Wildcats Summer Preview: Defensive Backs.

If the Wildcats have uncertainties up front on defense, they are solid in their secondary.

“That’s looks to be the strength of the team so far, especially the corner play,” said head coach David Mitchell.

You cannot mention the Wildcat secondary without mentioning rising junior Vernon Hargreaves. Vernon still has two full years of high school football in front of him and he already has offers from the big Florida schools: UF, FSU, Miami, and USF. Vernon is a supreme talent at cornerback and a gifted athlete. He could play most any position on the field. He’s one of the fastest and one of the strongest kids on the team.

Vernon should lock down one side of the field, allowing defensive coordinator Mark Kantor to shift coverages and do a variety of other things.

“We think people aren’t gonna try and test Vernon,” said Mitchell.

That will swing the responsibility to the safeties and other corner position.

The Wildcats are pretty well covered there, too.

Rising senior John Tyler returns after making 56 total tackles from his corner spot last season. “He’s a hard-nosed kid,” said Kantor. “He’s definitely not afraid to tackle.”

Rising sophomore Everett Madsen will back up either corner position and also move up to the rover position.

“We don’t lose much when he’s in there,” said Kantor.

Everett has prevailed himself both in 7 on 7 and in the weight room this summer and will see his fair share of playing time.

Sharing the secondary with this group is rising senior Jordan Saab. Saab was originally pegged to play free safety but is much more of a run stuffer by nature.

“We tried him at free and he kept coming up, wanting to stick his nose in there,” said Kantor. “Finally, we said, ‘just put him at strong.'”

Jordan has played very well in 7 on 7s this summer and hopes to really turn it up when they put pads on in mid-August.

Playing free safety will most likely be rising sophomore Antonio Joseph. Antonio still has not filled out his 6-foot, 4-inch frame but he’s very suited to free safety. The height and length add to his ranginess and make him a threat to get his hand or hands on passes.

Teams will no doubt try to put pressure on Antonio. Jordan Saab will no doubt be needed to help out stopping the run and Antonio will be the only deep safety in a lot of sets. However, with at least one corner locked down by Vernon Hargreaves, it should let a little bit of the pressure off.

Stay tuned next week when we look at the front seven of the defense.