Tulsa Football Position Preview: Cornerback
Usually, most teams have a huge hole to fill when losing a 4th round Dallas Cowboys NFL draft pick like Reggie Robinson.
But amazingly, Tulsa has two talented, experienced players coming back at cornerback in Allie Green IV and Akayleb Evans who figure to man the position extremely well.
Green and Evans are so talented that they kept Robinson out of the starting lineup in two of the first three games before Robinson came on to have an incredible senior season where he intercepted four passes, broke up 13 passes, had 38 tackles, and blocked a kick.
Evans started the first three games before getting injured, and wound up with two passes broken up and six tackles. Green started 11 of 12 games and had 45 tackles, four passes broken up, and a fumble recovery. Both played extensively as true freshmen.
"Losing Reggie is obviously tough, but the good part is you feel like you have two starting corners coming back," said Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery. "Allie's got great cover skills, he's strong, he's long, he's very physical.
"And Allie just does a great job of beating guys up at the line of scrimmage and taking advantage of that. From a height standpoint, he's extremely tall (6-3), he's 220 pounds. He can out-physical a lot of guys that they throw out there. So, having him back is tremendous.
Green is a senior from LBJ High School in Austin and has started 17 of 34 career games, compiling 88 tackles and 10 pass breakups.
Evans is a 6-2, 188-pound redshirt junior who has 14 starts in 21 career games, including starting his first six games as a true freshman out of McKinney, Texas. Evans has 53 tackles and has broken up eight passes in his career.
"Akayleb looks great right now," Montgomery said. "He's battled some injuries in his career. He's got to stay healthy. Physically, he looks as good as I've ever seen him. He's at another level right now. So, I'm excited about those two guys coming back."
Evans is ready to step up and continue Robinson's excellence from 2019. All of the TU corners have benefited greatly from the tutelage of sixth-year cornerbacks coach Aaron Fletcher
"My coach wants us to be dominant," Evans said of Fletcher. "Once you get that confidence level and know you belong, that stuff becomes easy. It's going to make me turn up and bring energy to the game. When I get out on the field, I feel I belong because I've put in a lot of work and I have a lot of experience playing football."
Because of Robinson, the young players are more willing to listen to veterans like Green and Evans who played alongside Robinson.
"When I'm teaching them something or telling them something, they are all ears because Reggie just went to the league," Evans said. "So, they now really want to listen."
Evans' injury last season cost the Golden Hurricane depth but could pay off this season.
"Because of Akayleb's injury, some other guys got some experience last year," Montgomery said. "Tyon Davis (6-foot, 185, Jr, Putnam City West/NEO A&M, 11 games, 9 tackles, 2 BU) got a lot of good experience last year. I think he looks great right now. A guy who has worked tremendously hard. I feel like he has continued to improve and continued to get better.
You must be a member to read the full article. Subscribe now for instant access to all premium content.
-
Members-only forums
-
Predict prospect commits with FanFutureCast
-
Exclusive highlights and interviews
-
Exclusive coverage of Rivals Camp Series
-
Breaking recruiting news