{"id":73632,"date":"2025-04-24T15:00:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T19:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=73632"},"modified":"2025-09-16T21:38:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:38:53","slug":"washington-john-richardson-reinforces-physicality-at-cornerback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/04\/24\/washington-john-richardson-reinforces-physicality-at-cornerback\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington’s John Richardson Reinforces Physicality At Cornerback"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe message is trying to create more turnovers,\u201d Washington secondary coach John Richardson said about his cornerbacks after practice this week. \u201cWe\u2019re getting our hands on a lot of footballs, PBU\u2019s, interceptions, and things like that. That\u2019s going to be the goal and the focus going into it. We gotta find the football and make plays.\u201d That message is playing out on the field, as the Husky defense has excelled at finding the football this Spring. The group has unofficially tallied 17 pass breakups and 16 interceptions during team periods this month. But there’s another aspect to this position group that’s beginning to take hold under the new defensive coordinator.<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington’s Physicality at Cornerback<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The “Position-less” Defensive Back<\/h3>\n

Physicality and versatility are staples in Ryan Walters\u2019 defense here at Washington<\/a>, and players aren’t considered ‘cornerbacks.’ Rather, they view themselves as ‘defensive backs.’ \u201cThe thing is, being DBU here it\u2019s DBU. Not position,\u201d Richardson said after practice this week. \u201cOne thing that we\u2019re looking for in recruiting is making sure we get DB\u2019s that can play multiple spots,\u201d Richardson added. \u201cWhen you see guys bounce around in different positions, that\u2019s by design.\u201d Playing multiple spots in coverage not only requires coverage skills, but also tackling and decision-making skills. The coaching staff is intentional about it at all levels of the defensive back room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cornerback Tacario Davis<\/a> gave his perspective on it earlier this Spring, \u201cWe don\u2019t really have a ‘corner’, if you come [to Washington], you\u2019re a defensive back. You gotta play it all, you gotta be physical, be able to cover, and be able to compete.\u201d A few weeks ago, Walters alluded to this as well, \u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as a cover corner anymore\u2026 Physicality is a must and a premium, especially in this defense.\u201d And after practice this week, Richardson gave his point of view. \u201cThe top DB\u2019s that perform not only cover, they can also tackle. That\u2018s the challenge that we’re taking as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the secondary, you can consider the athletes \u2018physical, positionless, defensive backs.\u2019 These traits are sentiments that are repeatedly echoed when we hear from the players and coaches. The Big Ten Conference is littered with punishing running backs, physical pass catchers, and mobile quarterbacks. It\u2019s imperative for the secondary to be able to make plays on all types of players at all levels. This is something Walters is preaching on Montlake, and something the rest of the defensive coaching staff and players are fully buying into.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rahshawn Clark<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Cornerback Rahshawn Clark<\/a> unofficially leads the defense with six interceptions during team periods this Spring. He\u2019s finding the football at all levels, getting his hands on passes in coverage over the middle and down the field. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing different than what we all had seen in high school,\u201d Richardson said. \u201c[Clark] made plays on the ball in high school and he\u2019s doing it now.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clark’s game is exemplary of the versatility that Walters, Richardson, and staff are looking for in their defensive backs. For much of April, Clark had been lining up at nickelback, primarily with the first team. He’s a hard-hitting and instinctive defensive back<\/a>, which allows him to thrive in the nickel as he plays closer to the formation. But at the team’s most recent practice, the redshirt freshman began taking starting reps out wide at cornerback. In doing so, Clark pulled down an interception on a deep pass along the sideline.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cornerback Rotations<\/strong><\/h3>\n

With Davis and Ephesians Prysock<\/a> limited at practice, it\u2019s been an opportunity for Leroy Bryant<\/a> to step into the starting role at cornerback. \u201cHe\u2019s always had a good acceleration, and being able to accelerate out of his breaks,\u201d Richardson said of Bryant this week. \u201cOne thing that he\u2019s doing this Spring is finding the football a lot more.\u201d The redshirt sophomore has unofficially logged an interception and a fumble recovery in team periods this Spring. \u201cHe\u2019s a brilliant kid, a smart kid, and he loves to compete,\u201d Richardson added. \u201cHe don\u2019t rock that [number] 0 for nothin\u2019, he wants to play ball.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bryant\u2019s primary reps have been taken out wide at cornerback, opposite of Caleb Presley<\/a>. But Presley entered the transfer portal this week, and Richardson expanded on that decision.\u201cHe made a decision that was best for him\u2026I wish him nothing but the best\u2026 He needs to go be great, and I believe that\u2019s what he\u2019ll do.\u201d Richardson took to social media to wish Presley well in his next move, and after practice this week, he made sure to note that the two remain on great terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Presley in the portal and Clark’s shift outside to cornerback, this has allowed Dyson McCutcheon<\/a> to step into the starting nickelback slot. \u201cDyson is showing his veteran leadership, being able to execute in clutch situations,\u201d Richardson said of the senior defensive back. It’s a group with quality depth behind Davis and Prysock, who are expected to be the starting duo this Fall. But this Spring has been an excellent opportunity for the depth to stack valuable offseason reps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo from Nick Lemkau<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe message is trying to create more turnovers,\u201d Washington secondary coach John Richardson said about his cornerbacks after practice this week. \u201cWe\u2019re getting our hands on a lot of footballs, PBU\u2019s, interceptions, and things like that. That\u2019s going to be the goal and the focus going into it. We gotta find the football and make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3944,"featured_media":73643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,35612],"tags":[33177,33457,35044,33197,10272,33144,509,33385],"class_list":["post-73632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-bigten","category-washington-huskies","tag-ephesians-prysock","tag-john-richardson","tag-leroy-bryant","tag-rahshawn-clark","tag-ryan-walters","tag-tacario-davis","tag-washington-huskies","tag-washington-spring-practice"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73632"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73644,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73632\/revisions\/73644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}