1. Last time I checked it's usually best to have more than 1 good player at a position.
2. Asante has three years eligibility left, so does Ricky. No real "he needs to contribute NOW because of eligibility issues" problem.
3. Ricky has been running with the 1's, Asante with the 2's AFAIK. So if opening day was tomorrow, yes, he'd have to beat Ricky.
I'd still would rather have Ricky thenarse playing free safety. Both Asante and Thenarse are too good to be sitting on the bench while the other plays.