Fall Camp Position Battles - Safeties

[Mavric]

Starters: Senior Nate Gerry and sophomore Aaron Williams. … Gerry provides NU with "stability," Riley said. … Williams, who missed spring ball with a shoulder injury, seems to be the favorite for the other safety spot. "(He's) a real good football player," Riley said. "Loves to play, plays with a lot of intensity, smart for a young guy."

 

Backups: Riley noted that sophomore Antonio Reed gained some valuable experience in the Foster Farms Bowl. … Junior Kieron Williams and redshirt freshman Avery Anderson will be there as well.

 

OWH

[Mavric]

[Mavric]

Not gonna lie, Reed looks like a BAMF in this shot:

 

[Mavric]

Nate Gerry is entrenched as one safety starter while Aaron Williams and Kieron Williams battle for the spot next to Gerry, Banker said. Antonio Reed is backing up Gerry. Avery Anderson is behind both of the Williams, while Reid Karel is behind Gerry and Reed. Banker likes true freshmen Tony Butler and JoJo Domann quite a bit.

 

OWH

[Mavric]

[Red Five]

From Sam:

 

At safety, Gerry has an all-conference look — he’s dialed in. Opposite Gerry, Kieron Williams and Aaron Williams are battling for the starting job with Kieron staying at safety when Aaron moves to the nickel. Both should play quite a bit early in the season. Neither is as big as Antonio Reed — still coming back from offseason surgery, and the upside on Avery Anderson could be higher than all of them. Freshmen Tony Butler and JoJo Domann seemed well-suited to the college game, and Domann has a sneaky nasty streak. He knows how to get an extra shot in right after a pass has cleared the head of a receiver.

 

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/football/mckewon-husker-defensive-coordinator-mark-banker-wants-to-be-aggressive/article_847c666a-af93-5a09-a7b1-7144707fca82.html

[HuskermanMike]

Is it just me or did Nate Gerry look bad against the run last year. I saw a few times he was in position to make a great tackle, also he was the last one to beat, and then he whiffed on the play and din't make the tackle. I like Nate Gerry in the pass but he needs to improve tackling in the open field. Gerry is great at pass D, lets just hope he doesn't get ejected for staring down receivers and get hit with targeting. I think the new year gives him new life and he improves on run tackling, also I think with the new year he doesn't feel like he has a target on his back after all those targeting calls on him last year.

[Mavric]

It’s looking more and more like Kieron Williams could start at safety opposite Nate Gerry, which might raise a question of how much the junior from Shreveport, Louisiana, stays on special teams.

Williams will just wait to hear what his duties might be.

“I think that’s the coaches’ decision,” he said. “Whatever they want me to do is what I’ll do. So if they want me to do kickoff, punt return, whatever, that’s what I’ll do.”

The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder has been one of the Huskers’ busiest special teams players the last two seasons. His freshman year included three blocked punts.

 

OWH

[Mavric]

Who can help: Gerry has the athletic and playmaking potential to be an All-Big Ten player. This season, his comfort in the scheme should reveal itself pretty quickly. At cornerback, Chris Jones and Joshua Kalu have clearly distinguished themselves as the team’s two best cover guys; Kalu is a good tackler and has a nose for the ball, while Jones is aggressive and physical against receivers. Also in the mix to play: safeties Kieron Williams, Aaron Williams, Avery Anderson and Antonio Reed and corners Eric Lee, Lamar Jackson and Boaz Joseph.

 

OWH