“I came back to be a better leader most importantly, and after the Georgia game (2021 Peach Bowl) we had unfinished business. I’m just trying to grasp the younger guys to follow behind me because I’m trying to be a better leader myself,” Bryant said ahead of the 2021 season.
These two will go down ultimately as the best secondary in all of Bearcats history, but they proved to be one of the top if not the top secondary in all of college football in 2021 and have left an everlasting impact on this Bearcats football program. These two were special over the last 3-5 seasons, but let’s now take a look at guys who can step into their roles for the 2022 season.
Justin Harris- Harris, a 6-foot-tall senior from the Dayton area just up north of Cincinnati. Harris saw a lot of action on special teams during his first two seasons as a Bearcat before looking to make in impact in 2021 after a great offseason camp, Harris was looking to see some time in the slot potentially before suffering a season ending injury early in the season on a scary collision with Taj Ward on special teams. Harris, who was ranked one of the Top 30 prospects in 2018 before joining the Bearcats in 2019, has great speed and has been around guys like Bryant and Gardner for the last four years and has got to learn a lot from those guys as he looks to bounce back for a huge senior season.
Current potential starters: Arquon Bush, Taj Ward and Todd Bumphis
Bush has moved outside, Ward has taken over the slot so far and Bumphis is playing outside. Bush has the most experience, but during Ward’s sophomore season he saw more snaps with injuries in the secondar, and Bumphis is a true sophomore.
Arquon Bush- Bush now a senior, saw most of the action last season for the Bearcats in the slot as the Nickel back, and played a huge role for the Bearcats during the historic 2021 season seeing a lot of action as teams avoided Gardner and Bryant frequently. Bush finished the season with 39 tackles, three interceptions, one of those was a game saving interception versus Navy where the Shipmen Triple option was wearing the Bearcats defense down and Bush came up with a huge interception late in the game to seal the deal for the Bearcats.
JQ Hardaway- Hardaway a true freshman for the Bearcats is looking to make an immediate impact, a four-star recruit that held offers from Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon, USC, and many more decided to come be the next star defensive back and will join new Bearcat, and former Ohio State defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs as he looks to fill the shoes of guys like Coby Bryant and Sauce Gardner. Hardaway is someone a lot of people around campus are excited to see as he was the Bearcats number one target in the class of 2022 and they landed him and after seeing what Sauce and Coby did last year, I am very excited to see what Hardaway will be able to do with a coach like Coombs come the start of the 2022 season.
Besides these three cornerbacks, keep an eye on junior Sammy Anderson, I really feel he had a strong Spring last year, but just got buried by the depth, he has a frame similar to Bryant. Jaquan Sheppard is 6-foot-2 which some similar traits as Gardner. As well as redshirt freshman(s) Malik Rainey, Iesa Jarmon and true freshman(s) Ken Willis and Kalen Carroll.
The Bearcats kicked off their spring practices last Saturday so we will be able to keep an eye on the cornerback room as well as the team as a whole, coming off their historic season where they fell just short to perennial powerhouse Alabama in the Cotton Bowl.
