Interesting move.
Tommie Campbell worked with the second-team defense Tuesday after being switched from safety to weak-side linebacker. Coach Dave Wannstedt made the move after Campbell turned in a solid effort in Saturday’s scrimmage.
Campbell’s position change is an indication that Wannstedt is more comfortable with converted safeties Shane Murray (a former quarterback) and Irvan Brown (a former cornerback).
With Mike Phillips coming back as well, there is also going to be some depth at Safety. Tommie Campbell is supposed to be quick, and given the need for speed on defense and lack of depth at linebacker this could work out very well.
Darrelle Revis is expected to be (yet another) leader in the secondary.
Revis’ leadership is important because the Panthers’ secondary is so young and inexperienced, particularly because veterans like safety Mike Phillips are sitting out drills with injuries.
Even though there are some experienced corners returning, the corner opposite Revis might ultimately be manned by either Jovani Chappel or Aaron Berry — both true freshmen. And the safety spots are wide open right now and almost every candidate would be a first-year starter. That includes Central Catholic graduate Shane Murray, who redshirted last year as a quarterback, then made the offseason switch to safety.
Revis said the secondary is a work in progress, but it is coming together at the right time. He also believes that the inexperience in the secondary won’t necessarily translate into teams throwing away from him because the Panthers have many good players.
“They might pick on the corner on the other side, but they might pick on me to see where my game is,” Revis said. “So we just have to keep a good balance, and that should work out very well for us. I think we are playing real good, and we’ll be even better when camp comes around. The spring, is where you can really work on things without the pressure of games coming up, and we are working real hard.”
I don’t think he’s going to see many balls come to his side for the first few games.
The same article also notes that Cedric McGee has been outplaying Oderick Turner at the WR position. Both are redshirt freshmen, but Turner is the more physically gifted and expected to be the favorite.
Turner came into spring practice ahead of McGee and was given several opportunities to move up to the first team.
But McGee has outperformed Turner most of the spring and passed him on the depth chart. In the scrimmage Saturday, McGee was excellent, but Turner struggled with consistency.
“Let me make it clear — it isn’t like we are lining up to play Virginia tomorrow, so there is a long way to go,” Wannstedt said. “And we are still taking a look at a lot of people.
“But, by the same token, there has to be a way to hold players accountable on a day-to-day basis, and now Cedric has earned a shot to run with the [first team] more. It is an opportunity for him. If a guy deserves to play with the first team, he’ll get that shot and right now Cedric is playing very well.”
Both don’t exactly come from bad blood lines. As previously mentioned, Turner’s father, Odessa played WR in the NFL for several years. McGee is the nephew of some guy named Michael Irvin. Apparently he was decent WR in the NFL for a while.
