Name: Damani Dent
Height: 5'11″
Weight: 196 lbs.
High school: Jacksonville (FL) Terry Parker
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #9
Last year: I ranked Dent #90 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 82
Dent was a member of the 2022 class who did not play at all in 2022. In fact, he left the team for a while due to some personal issues, and he was not on the roster for much of the season. So this is quite a precipitous drop, perhaps the biggest in the countdown's history. Ranked even below many walk-ons, my concern here is that Dent spent a year away from football. That hurt his football conditioning so much, he even shrunk by an inch after being listed at 6'0" last year!
I do still have high hopes for Dent, but losing out on a year of development when other talented classmates and position mates like Zeke Berry and Keon Sabb probably does not help him in the race to get on the field.
Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer
Harsh imo. Dent missed the season but so did others like mcburrows. He's around and participating in team activities so definitely didn't spend a year away from football. Obviously a setback for the young man but he has a leg up relative to true freshman
ReplyDeleteDent has not played football since the fall of 2021. He was away from the team. So he was away from football for a year. (Not saying he wasn't running routes or throwing a ball around or doing drills; there's no way for me to know that, but he wasn't with the team.)
DeleteI don't have any inside detail but his social media pots makes it look like he was around the team in the Summer and Fall of 22. I would guess he was training at least and learning the defense.
DeleteI'd give him a leg up over an equivalent incoming '23 freshman because that rust will fall off quickly, assuming he's recovered from whatever injury he had.
...and...he's in the transfer portal.
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