Safeties

David Tafuna seems to be getting better with each game. I was dissappointed with his run support against Northern Iowa and I didn't think he was a lot better against Washington. He was very good against UCLA and Wyoming. I think Tafuna has the ability to lay some big hits but needs to temper the urge for the big hit against the need for making good solid tackles in the run game. I thought he did this very well against both UCLA and Wyoming. Tafuna isn't the greatest in coverage but has improved a lot from past years when he was a huge liability. From my perspective, Tafuna should be utilized in short zones in coverage more than the deep zones as he tends to not get the depth and/or angles that he needs to stop the big plays.

Kellen Fowler is what he is. The brains of the secondary and a competent player, Fowler lacks the athleticism to make a lot of big plays but it is a very rare thing to see him blow an assignment. Fowler is a good tackler and seems to know that he will never be the knockout hitter so he doesn't try to be. Fowler is much better in deep coverage than Tafuna and is utilized that way because of it. On occasions, he may get beat deep because someone is a lot faster than him, but Fowler will always make sure that the QB has to make an accurate throw to make that play. I am convinced that some of the younger safeties will become much bigger playmakers than Fowler but they won't be doing it this year as long as Fowler is healthy. Fowler is much too smart and I believe he is also the glue that holds the secondary together.

Andrew Rich makes me salivate when watching him. He reminds me of a bigger and faster Quinn Gooch. Obviously, Rich hasn't played a lot of minutes yet but he sure looks good. He has great presence in the run game and arrives with an attitude. He appears to have good fundamentals when tackling and I think he may be the DB that lays a receiver out ala Aaron Francisco sometime this year. The thing that puts him over the top when watching him for me is the coverage ability. He moves around in his zones much better than any of the other safeties right now. I expect that he will lead the team in interceptions in both 2009 and 2010 because he will pick off any poor passes over the middle. Since Rich is only a sophmore, I have no problem with him being behind the 2 senior starters but I feel that Rich will see more and more time as the season goes on and will be an all-conference safety and an NFL draft pick during his career.

Jordan Pendleton could become a bigger version of Andrew Rich. He is less experienced than Rich and it shows right now. Pendleton looks indecisive at times and it makes him play slower than he really is. Pendleton appears to have the tools to become the best run stopping safety at BYU since Kyle Morrell. Hopefully, he will continue to get some mop-up time thru the year and will continue to master his postion. The Rich Pendleton duo could become the best safety duo in school history over the next few years.

Shiloah Te'o has also seen some brief playing time at safety so far. He is a true freshman and it shows. He seems to have bright eyes right now and that is understandable. As a safety, he wasn't impressive against UCLA as he appeared to be out of position and hesitant. That said, I have been impressed with his play on special teams. He seems to have confidence on those plays and shows great potential and athleticism. I expect that he will be a standout when he gets back from his mission and could be a great replacement for Jordan Pendleton in 2012 as a RS sophmore.