Position Preview: Williams and Green Return to Lead OSU’s Cornerbacks

We finally made it to the end.

Oklahoma State takes on Oregon State at 9:30 p.m. Friday, but not before we finish our position preview series with the Cowboys’ corners.

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The CB Room

Rodarius Williams and A.J. Green enter the 2019 among the most experienced players on OSU’s squad, and they play the same position. However, the group has other bright spots as well heading into 2019.

A.J. Green (Sr.): The only nonfreshman without a redshirt, A.J. Green has been a staple in the OSU defense for the past few seasons. Green has started every game in the past two seasons for the Pokes. He has 98 tackles, five interceptions and 16 pass breakups in his career.

Kemah Siverand (R-Sr.): Kemah Siverand transferred from Texas A&M before last season. Siverand started his collegiate career at receiver before transitioning to corner as an Aggie sophomore. He played in every game last season bagging 10 tackles and a pass breakup.

JayVeon Cardwell (R-Fr.): JayVeon Cardwell played in the Cowboys’ season-opener against Missouri State last season before redshirting. He was the 52nd-ranked corner in the 2018 class and chose OSU over offers from Ole Miss, Duke, Colorado and others.

Rodarius Williams (R-Jr.): Another mainstay in the Cowboys’ secondary the past few years, Rodarius Williams has also started every game the past two seasons. He got his first two career interceptions in 2018. He has 93 tackles and 18 pass breakups to this point in his career.

Thomas Harper (Fr.): One of the major talking points this offseason, Thomas Harper has been identified as a guy who is unlikely to redshirt in 2019. Despite having showed out in spring and fall camp, Harper was heavily under recruited, having offers from Navy, FCS programs and OSU.

Lamarcus Morton (R-So.): On recruiting websites, Lamarcus Morton was listed as a wide receiver. Morton hasn’t played in his first two seasons on campus. He chose OSU over offers from Texas Tech, Indiana, Houston and others.

Bryce Balous (R-Sr.): Bryce Balous brings 28 games of experience into the 2019 season. Balous has nine career tackles to go with a pass breakup.

Demarco Jones (Fr.): An early commit in the Cowboys’ 2019 class, Demarco Jones is the latest player to come to Stillwater from the Booker T. Washington pipeline. Jones was ranked the 12th-best Oklahoman in last year’s class.

Xavier Player (Fr.): Xavier Player was a three-star prospect out of Cibolo-Steele. He chose OSU over offers from Army, North Texas, Rice, South Alabama and others.

Gabe Lemons (R-Fr.): Gabe Lemons got some special teams action in the Liberty Bowl last season while retaining his redshirt. A three-star athlete, Lemons came to Stillwater over offers from Illinois, Indiana, Rice and others.

2019 Expectations

It was no surprise to see A.J. Green and Rodarius Williams on top of OSU’s depth chart at corner because the tandem has been there for the past two seasons.

The duo has combined for seven interceptions and 34 pass breakups in their careers. Both are on their way to cracking the Top 10 in OSU history in pass breakups. Williams has 18 and Green has 16. Tre Flowers and Gregg Johnson are tied at ninth in program history with 25.

There are three names behind Green and Williams on the depth chart: Kemah Siverand, Bryce Balous and Thomas Harper.

Not too much has been said of Siverand and Balous this fall, but Harper’s ascendance hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“We can’t ever let up on developing corners,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said. “We just can’t do it in this game and in this conference. We need to be constantly looking at guys to come up in the system. Thomas Harper came in here in the spring when he should’ve been going to his senior prom, and I thought he was fantastic. That’s just one young guy who I know made an impression this spring as someone who’s gonna be developing into a great corner.”

Position Strengths

The group’s strength is in its returning starters.

In a passing league like the Big 12, having Green and Williams tailing the conference’s receivers is a huge advantage. The group also seems to be developing depth. The Cowboys have Balous and Siverand, who each bring some experience off the bench, and Harper has the chance to gain experience under all those upperclassmen.

Position Weaknesses

There isn’t a whole lot seen as a weakness for this group.

If the Cowboys were to lose Williams or Green to a targeting call or an injury, it would put them in a tough spot, but you could say that about any position. The group has depth, but it would be interesting to see how that depth could handle an extended workload.