Football Preview: The Secondary
8/13/2010 1:24:00 PM | Football
Second in a series of articles looking at the 2010 Rockets by position.
Toledo's young secondary is growing up fast. An infusion of new talent, plus the return of senior cornerback Desmond Marrow (Youngstown, OH), could help speed up that process.
A year ago, the Rockets started three true freshmen in the defensive backfield. The youngsters played well, but as anyone can tell you, there is no substitute for experience.
A year later, two of those freshmen, sophomore cornerback Byron Best (Greenwood, SC) and sophomore strong safety Jermaine Robinson (Pittsburgh, PA) are back and listed as starters in the first depth chart of training camp. Joining them as leaders on the depth chart are Marrow and junior free safety Mark Singer (Cinnaminson, NJ).
Key newcomers with experience include a pair of transfers, junior Taikwon Paige (Aiken, SC/Georgia Military College) and junior Diauntae Morrow (Cleveland, OH/University of Iowa).
"Our freshmen are a year older, and I think our new guys will really help us," said head coach Tim Beckman.
Marrow could be a big key for the Rockets. A big cornerback at 6-3, 204 pounds, Marrow was a highly recruited prospect out of high school who showed tremendous promise as a true freshman for the Rockets in 2006. Since then, he has fought through a string of injuries throughout his career. He played in just one game in 2009, but has declared himself fit for duty this fall.
"Des had the best off-season on our team," said Beckman. "He worked hard to come back from his injury. If he can stay healthy, he could really help us."
Other veterans cornerbacks who could be in the mix for playing time are senior Myshan Veasley-Pettis (Toledo, OH) and junior Anthony Washington (Fairborn, OH).
Up next: The running backs.
