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| Ross Taylor-Douglas (#29) |
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 186 lbs.
High school: Avon (OH) Avon
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #29
Last year: I ranked Douglas #69 and said he would be a backup running back. He played in ten games but did not record any statistics.
Taylor-Douglas - who changed his name from just Ross Douglas this past year - has bounced around during his first couple years on campus. Recruited as a cornerback, he moved to running back in the spring of 2014 to provide a little competition at a position he had played very well in high school. But with the running back rotation pretty set by the season, he moved to slot receiver. He played in ten games but was not utilized at all.
This spring he returned to cornerback officially, but that hasn't stopped the coaches from using him elsewhere. When injuries slowed down a couple running backs, the staff threw him out there at tailback in the spring game for a couple carries. If nothing else, he's a good option for the scout team to have in the offensive backfield. The path to playing on defense is blocked by a few guys, but the numbers at the cornerback position are limited. There's nothing to suggest that anyone beyond Jourdan Lewis, Wayne Lyons, and Channing Stribling is ready to play. Taylor-Douglas should get a shot to play on special teams and probably a little on defense this season, but he will not be relied on heavily unless injuries become a serious issue.
Prediction: Backup cornerback, special teamer
Get the ranking, since he seems like a sure-fire special teams contributor, but there's also very little chance he plays a meaningful role outside of that. To me, guys like Johnson and Higdon - who probably won't start or anything but could feasibly be major contributors rotating into the 2-deep - are more valuable to the team.
ReplyDeleteTo put it another way - if RTD goes down with an injury another guy takes his place on special teams and we don't miss a beat. If Shelton Johnson goes down that's not going to kill the team either, but one of the 'lottery tickets' we hold in hoping that there's a better edge rusher on this team than Ojemudia. Thinking in terms of probability - if we have 4 such guys (Jones, Marshall, Johnson, Charlton) and each one has a 25% chance of being - that scenario would make it 25% less likely we get that edge guy.