A couple of months ago, former Kansas University cornerbacks JaCorey Shepherd and Dexter McDonald were drafted into the NFL just one round apart.
Their departure hammered home the difficult task now facing KU coach David Beaty and co-defensive coordinator Kenny Perry, who also is in charge of developing KU’s cornerbacks.
With only a couple of cornerbacks with game experience returning to the roster — Matthew Boateng and Ronnie Davis played reserve roles in 2014 — the Kansas defense will be counting on at least a couple of newcomers to fill out the depth chart at the one position that routinely faces the most stress from offenses in the Big 12 Conference.
The options are plentiful. KU signed seven defensive backs in the 2015 recruiting class, and five of those project as cornerbacks. But even with those pieces in place, predicting which guys will be able to contribute sooner rather than later can be difficult. That’s why Beaty and company went after a specific style of cornerback on the recruiting trail.
If they land the type of player they believe fits best into their system, the rest becomes about identifying which guys develop the quickest and can handle the transition to college football.
“All of these corners that are coming in here, they have arms that are extremely long,” Beaty said last winter. “We want them to be able to touch the walls as they stand in this room. We want them to be hard to get around in man coverage.”
Shepherd and McDonald both had good size for the position. But their ball skills, footwork and experience helped them get drafted.
KU has a few guys with the right size. Brandon Stewart, 6-foot, 171 pounds, has been on campus since last winter. Davis, whom previous coaches praised for his footwork, stands 6-foot, 192 pounds. And newcomers Tyrone Miller, Shaquille Richmond, Shola Ayinde and Marnez Ogletree all are in that near-6-foot, 180-200-pound range as well.
Of that group, Miller, a mature and gifted athlete from Saline High in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Ogletree, a Fullerton College transfer, may be the most ready to play right away.
“We’re going to man up and put some pressure on the quarterback at times,” Beaty said this offseason. “Some of these guys already have that skill when they come into us. (It’s) just a matter of fitting them into our scheme.”
Short to Kansas City
Former KU cornerback Kevin Short, who missed the 2013 season after being declared academically ineligible just days before the season opener and then left the program before the start of the 2014 season, recently signed a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Short, a highly touted junior college transfer who had Day One starter written all over him, was eligible for Thursday’s NFL Supplemental Draft but was not selected. The Chiefs snatched him up shortly after the draft, however, and now the former Fort Scott CC standout can begin the long process of trying to earn a roster spot.
