Eric Morris Breaks Down His Defensive Back Group, Predicts One Will Become a ‘Household Name’

STILLWATER — On Wednesday, following the first practice of fall camp, Eric Morris mentioned that the starting cornerback jobs remain up in the air.

​On Saturday, he detailed who is competing at the position, what their strengths are, and then described the other guys competing for time throughout the secondary while he was at it.

The head coach started with the two most would pencil in as the favorites to start, Mo Horn and LaDainian Fields.

“Mo Horn, he’s a really savvy, veteran guy from right down the street in Tulsa,” Morris said. “Played a ton two years ago at Texas Tech. Had an injury or two here or there, but we like where Mo is. He’s kind of the old veteran of the group.”

Horn played a career-high 806 snaps for Texas Tech in 2024, then played only 108 last season. He started the first game in a position battle, but injury sidelined him for multiple weeks, effectively taking him out of the mix.

“LaDainian Fields, obviously he played good at the end of the season last year,” Morris said. “When he came back, he has the skillset to be great. Now he’s gotta be able to finish and go make some plays. But he’s a guy that has a skillset that hopefully we can eliminate a side of the field and allow him to play a lot of bump-and-run and man coverage out there.”

This was one of the most complimentary things Morris said about a defensive player on Saturday, but in the moment, this also felt like a challenge from the Cowboys’ head coach.

Fields played 254 snaps across the final eight games last season and worked his way firmly into a starting spot. His season-long Pro Football Focus grade of 77.2 was second-highest among all the defensive backs Morris discussed on Saturday.

Both Fields and Horn were at corner with the first-string defense when they faced off with the offense in front of media members during Saturday’s practice.

It would seem the two favorites to unseat them, or at least work into the rotation on the field, would include North Texas transfer Kollin Lewis and Vanderbilt transfer Trudell Berry.

Lewis has familiarity with the coaching staff, having played 437 snaps at North Texas last season. PFF graded him out at 75.9 overall, which makes him the third-best DB mentioned by Morris on Saturday.

Berry, on the other hand, is a bit of an unknown, having last played 176 snaps in 2024 and 326 in 2023.

“Lewis is a guy coming over that had a good season for us last year at North Texas, continues to develop,” Morris said. “Trudell Berry we got in late this summer from Vandy. Same thing, he’s played a lot of football, continues to get better each and every day.”

Sophomore returner Kobi Foreman is one of the rare young Cowboys that the coaching staff chose to retain, and he seems to be working his way into the conversation at least as a dark horse option.

Foreman only played 23 total snaps on defense last season, but did flash some skills on special teams late.

“Kobi Foreman is a guy that is a little bit smaller, but his tenacity is unmatched out there,” Morris said. “A guy that really loves to compete. So yeah, those battles over these next couple weeks will kind of tell what type of playing time and what kind of rotations we’re about to put out there.”

The Oklahoma State head coach seemed more confident about his starting safeties, mentioning four guys, though one, Christian Bodnar, was described as a nickel on Saturday, which lines up with where he played in the spring and at Liberty. He was also at that spot with the first-string defense on Saturday.

“I think he’s a guy that is gonna be really, really a household name by the end of this thing,” Morris said. “With just how well he can play man coverage in the slot. He’s a great blitzer off the edge. We can be aggressive with him. He tackles well in open space.”

Safety Evan Jackson has played 1,393 snaps of college ball, all under Morris at North Texas across the last three seasons.

“A guy that needs to take the next step this year,” Morris said. “Evan’s kind of one of those guys we’ve had meetings about. There’s been times he’s flashed, he’s shown he’s got the ability to be great, but he hasn’t put it together consistently for a whole season. He needs to take that next step.”

However, it was another UNT transfer that played with the first-string defense in Saturday’s limited viewing period.

Quinton Hammonds played 1,027 snaps for Morris at UNT in the last two seasons, but missed time in the spring due to injury. He also earned a mention from his head coach on Saturday.

“We moved Quinton, he played nickel for us last year,” Morris said. “We think he fits a little bit better as a strong safety for us. He’s such a great tackler. And that guy’s put in those positions a lot of different times. Really changed his body. He had one of the best transformations, in my opinion. He looks as good as he’s looked.”

The other safety seen with the first string on Saturday was Markeith Williams, who last played 192 snaps for Miami in 2024. He left the team last September and was a late addition to the Cowboys’ class this offseason.

He wasn’t included in Morris’ breakdown of the secondary, but was mentioned when asked about recent additions to the roster.

“A guy that’s kind of shown he can make some plays for us,” Morris said. “Played quite a bit at Miami. When he got here, a little bit undersized. Didn’t know if he was gonna play, so he needed to put on some weight. He was a little skinny. He’s done a nice job. I think he’s gained 12 or 13 pounds right now. He’s gotta gain five or six more pounds just so his body can hold up.”

Williams is listed at 6-2 and 175 pounds as of Saturday.

The last guy Morris mentioned when discussing safeties was Missouri transfer Mose Phillips. He finished with a PFF grade of 77.3, which tops this list, last season after playing 149 snaps across eight games. He also played 1,000-plus at Virginia Tech across 2023 and 2024.

“Physically has all the tools, played in the SEC, smart kid,” Morris said. “He’s on the front row of meetings. He’s taking notes. He’s got a veteran mentality about himself.”