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GoBlackKnights.com continues our comparison of Navy defensive units with those of Army West Point with the final unit of the defense, the secondary.

Army and Navy both use a 3-4-4 as their base defense, which means that both teams feature the standard 4 defensive backs in their base defense. This isn’t always the case for the Black Knights as defensive coordinator frequently inserts a 5th defensive back in passing situations. The fifth DB is referred to as the nickel back. One would expect that Bateman will not go to his nickel package as often against a Navy offense that runs the ball about 12% of the time, but it has provided Army West Point with some additional experience in the secondary and adds additional speed to the defense.

At one point in the season, we were quite concerned about the lack of depth in the secondary, and we discussed our concerns in “Thinning of the Secondary.” Since then, two of the players who were out with injuries have returned to full duty, and another who had been sitting out due to academic concerns returned as well, returning the secondary to full strength with some additional experience to draw on.

SS: Rhyan England is playing his fourth and final season as a starter at safety after breaking into the starting lineup for the last 5 games of 2014. He finished his plebe season with 29 tackles including 1 TFL, and he played and started in 11 games in 2015, finishing 4th in Total Tackles with 64 with 3.0 TFLs, 4 passes defended, and a fumble recovery. He finished 4th in Tackles again in 2016, with 4.0 TFLs and 2 interceptions to round out his record. England was injured in the Ohio State game this year and missed the next 5 games, returning just in time to help the Black Knights shut out SA rival Air Force in Colorado Springs. As a result of his shortened season, England’s defensive statistics for 2017 do not adequately portray his importance in the secondary. He has recorded just 29 total tackles and 3 passes defended along with a fumble recovery. His most important contribution is his leadership, where his football savvy and situational awareness enhances the capabilities of all the defenders.

BC: Elijah Riley was one of the two plebes thrown into the starting lineup in 2016. Riley handled the transition very well, after he took Brandon Jackson’s place in the starting lineup against UTEP and held onto the job for the remainder of the season. Riley finished the 2016 season ranked 6th in Total Tackles with 47 and led the team in interceptions with 3. Riley was sidelined with an undisclosed academic problem for the first 8 games of the 2017 season, and his absence was felt. He surprised a lot of Army fans by returning just in time for the Air Force game. In only 3 games this season, Riley has recorded 15 tackles, including 1.5 Sacks and is credited with 3 passes defended.

BS: James “Gibby” Gibson was initially expected to return to the nickel spot he played last season, but he replaced Jaylon McClinton as the starter at boundary safety after McClinton was injured in the Ohio State game, and has occupied that position since. Gibson registered 19 tackles, with 0.5 Sacks as a nickel back in 2016. This season he ranks fifth on the team in total tackles with 34, including an assisted TFL and leads the team in Pass Breakups with 5.

FC: Mike Reynolds appeared in 11 games in 2016 and had an interception in his debut against Temple. Reynolds was credited with 6 tackles. He replaced Jalen Sharp at Field CB after Sharp was injured in the Buffalo game, and he has appeared in all 11 games with 9 starts this season. He has recorded 22 tackles and 7 Passes Defended. Reynolds is hard worker who has overcome a lack of natural talent with improved situational awareness gained from his experience.

Max Regan has been a fixture on special teams in 2015 and 2016 with appearances in 10 games with 3.0 tackles as a plebe and in 13 games with 8 tackles in 2016. He filled in at safety in the 5 games that England was injured, giving him some additional valuable experience. He is currently 7th on the team in tackles with 30 including an assisted TFL, and he leads the team in interceptions with 2.

Cameron Jones appeared in 9 games, mostly on special teams as a plebe and registered 2 Total Tackles and had a kick return for 8 yards. Jones was expected to be a safety in spring training, but he was moved to CG where he has made 5 starts this year, mostly during the time that McClinton was sidelined. Jones has made 29 tackles, including 1 TFL and is credited with 1 Pass Breakup this season.

Jaylon McClinton is a wild card in Bateman’s defensive scheme. He started out his plebe year as a member of special teams, but like Riley, was thrown in to fill the vacancy at CB left when Marcus Hyatt was injured in the Wake Forest game. McClinton went on to start the remaining games of the season at CB. Despite the late start, he finished 8th on the team with 30 Total Tackles including 1.5 TFLs, and he added one interception. Although we thought that McClinton performed admirably at CB, Jay Bateman felt that he was a better safety and moved him to that position this past spring. McClinton started the first 3 games at safety this year and then saw limited action against Tulane and UTEP before coming back to start at CB against Rice, EMU, and Temple. He has missed the last three games, and his current status is uncertain, but he’s likely to see significant playing time if not start against Navy if he’s available and healthy. Despite missing significant playing time McClinton ranks 4th on the team in total tackles with 37, including 1.5 TFLs and a Sack. He also has an interception and 2 Forced Fumbles.

In addition to the above, the injuries provided an opportunity for a couple of plebes to get more playing time than they might have otherwise. Jahvari Bordeau and Justin Thomas are both regulars on special teams but have also seen some quality playing time on defense this season.

Navy has managed to keep its secondary fairly intact this season, gaining some additional experience in what was already a reasonably mature secondary.

CB: Senior Tyris Wooten (6-1 180 lbs) appeared in 3 games as a wide receiver in 2015 before moving to CB last season. Wooten started all 14 games for Navy in 2016 and recorded 51 Total Tackles including 1 TFL and had 2 Interceptions. He has started 10 games this season, having missed the game against Temple. He ranks 8th on the team in tackles with 29 and is their leading pass defender with 11 Breakups along with 1 Forced Fumble.

CB: Senior Elijah Merchant (5-10 196 lbs) moved up from special teams into the starting job at CB in 2016 and started 6 of the 8 games in which he played before he was sidelined with an injury. Merchant finished the season with 19 tackles including 1.5 TFLs and led the team with 3 Forced Fumbles. Merchant has started all 11 games this season, and is the second leading tackler among Navy’s DBs with 39 total tackles including an assisted TFL. He also has 4 Pass Breakups this season.

SS: Junior Sean Williams 6-1 190 lbs) is another DB who was elevated from special teams, to become a starter in 2016. He appeared in all 14 games last season with 12 starts at free safety and finished third on the team in Total Tackles with 74. He had one interception and led the team in Fumble Recoveries with 3. Williams has started 10 of the 11 games he played in this season with a reserve appearance against Notre Dame. Williams is the leading tackler among the DBs and second on the team with 67 total tackles, including 2.5 TFLs. He also has one fumble recovery.

FS: Junior Jarid Ryan (5-11, 198 lbs) appeared in all 14 games with starts in the last 5 games in 2016. He finished the season with 27 Total Tackles and was credited with 2 Forced Fumbles. Ryan has played in all 11 games this season, but he’s shared the starting role at FS with Juan Hailey (see below), either of whom could be tabbed to start against Army West Point. Ryan ranks 6th in total tackles for Navy with 37, including one assisted TFL. He also has 3 Pass Breakups.

Junior Juan Hailey (6-1 199 lbs) saw action in seven games with 3 tackles in 2016. He has started 6 games this season, five at FS and the other at SS. Hailey has 24 tackles and a Pass Breakup this season.

Freshman Micah Farrar has seen limited action at CB in 10 games, but has 13 tackles and an interception.

Junior Khaylan Williams is the only other Navy DB with much experience. He Appeared in 14 games on special teams with 1 start at CB in 2016 and recorded 10 Total Tackles. He has played in 9 games this year with 9 total tackles.

In mid season, we would have rated this a tossup, but the Black Knight secondary has shown considerable improvement since the return of Rhyan England and Elijah Riley. In the meantime several Army DBs have gained valuable experience and are available to fill in if needed.

Navy’s weakest area has been against the passing attack that it has faced from AAC opponents, and they won’t have as much to worry about in that area against Army. Even Air Force turned to their passing game when playing catchup with Navy in the second half of their contest, and that’s something we would not want to see in the upcoming game. Air Force did manage to gain 340 yards on the ground against Navy but the 281 yards they gained through the air was what nearly bailed them out in the second half. The big question in our minds is whether the Navy secondary can do better if it doesn’t have to be overly concerned about the passing game and can focus on stopping Army’s rushing attack.

On the flip side of that equation is the ever present threat of Navy’s limited but effective passing game. Navy has punished teams that ignored the pass and stacked the box too much, and the Army defensive backfield will have to guard against the quick strike capability that Navy flashes now and then. It’s no anomaly that Navy leads the country in yards per completion. Carmona, Perry, Colon and Bonner all average more than 25 yards per completion. If Niumatalolo goes with Perry at quarterback, that threat is reduced somewhat, but the Black Knight secondary still needs to guard against the big play.

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