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| Blake Countess |
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 174 lbs.
High school: Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, MD
Position: Cornerback
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #18
Last year: Countess was a high school senior (commitment post here)
TTB Rating: 84
In case you can't tell from the commitment post, I really like Countess. He played for a good high school program, seems like a high-character individual, and can do lots of different things - stop the run, defend the pass, and help out in the return game if needed. There's nothing that he seems to lack, although there's nothing that screams future superstar, either. He's just a good, solid player.
I believe Countess has the ability to come in and make an immediate impact at the college level, but his pathway to the field is blocked by three cornerbacks with starting experience - fifth year senior Troy Woolfolk, redshirt junior J.T. Floyd, and sophomore Courtney Avery. That might allow Countess to redshirt, but I also think Countess might end up #3 on the depth chart by the end of the year. I doubt he'll be a starter at any point this year, but all bets are off when he's a sophomore.
Prediction: Backup cornerback
Is there a chance that Countess could move into corner while Woolfolk moves back to FS? Woolfolk is the only guy who makes me comfortable at FS and our corner depth is a lot better than our FS depth. Do we even have a true FS on the entire roster?
ReplyDeleteIf I were a betting man, id say blake definitely can move to the number 3 spot. Passing floyd won't be a difficult task in my opinion. I expect blake to be much more valuable to the team than #59
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous 11:25 a.m.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Countess can start at corner as a freshman. He's pretty small, and having a starting duo of Countess/Avery at cornerback is begging to be taken advantage of. Both of them are 5'10"-ish and wispy.
Also, if you move Woolfolk to FS, you're taking etiher Kovacs or Johnson off the field and putting a tiny freshman out there. I was all for Woolfolk playing safety last year, but I think he's better off at corner in 2011.
No, we don't really have a true FS on the roster...which is why I'm hoping Jarrod Wilson commits to Michigan on Friday.
@ Anonymous 11:53 a.m.
ReplyDeleteYou might be right, but the depth at cornerback pushes Countess down the chart, in my opinion. He's not extremely valuable to the team right now because he's probably not significantly better than Floyd at this moment. There's a lot of depth at cornerback now, which lowers the value of almost all of the backups.
Word on Wilson is that he will be committing to Michigan on the 8th.
ReplyDeleteI have no inside info, but I wonder if Floyd will be 100% by camp. He supposedly was not really running yet in the spring. Floyd seemed to lose his confidence as the 2010 season progressed, too. My money would be on Brown or Countess winning the 3rd spot.
ReplyDelete