Position Battles To Watch #3: Dailey v. Hodges v. Sukay

Topic: Who SHOULD win and who WILL win this position battle?

3. Dailey v. Hodges v. Sukay for the starting strong safety position?

Pete's Take--Boy I would love to say true Freshman Gerald Hodges. I think by the time he is done at Penn State he will be the best safety in the country, but I don't think his time starts yet. After being torched by USC in the Rose Bowl you would think we would need to get a big time hitting safety onto the field. And if we had the two cornerbacks we did last year I would agree, but with the secondary being a big question mark, I don't think we put a freshman as the last line of defense. That leaves Sophomores Andrew Dailey and Nick Sukay. I think Dailey has the best shot because in his two years he has been healthy and learned the system. However, he learned the linebacker position, so how quickly can he adapt to the secondary? That will be the million dollar question and I think he would work out fine there. Instead, I will go with an upset and pick Nick Sukay. Yes, he has yet to stay healthy and we have no idea what we are going to get out of him, but no one could deny his potential when he came in as a freshman. Like Timmons this may be his last chance at a starting position and I expect him to rise to the occasion and take it.

Greg's Response--There's just no way that Sukay gets the starting nod, at least not for the Akron game. Dailey will start the year at strong safety based on experience alone, much like how Mark Rubin did last year. But God help us if Dailey isn't better than Rubin—he better be. Sure Dailey will be the best of the three at helping with run-support, but that's NOT this team's weakness. Strong safety can not continue to be an extra linebacker on the field. If you wanted to do that, just go with a 4-4 and put Gbadyu, Stupar, Yancich, etc. on the field and match up. I think, in the end, if Sukay stays healthy and he realizes the potential that he has, maybe you're right that he'll win the job in September, but Dailey is going to start on day-one. Hodges is really, as you said, the answer to all of our safety issues. He has the speed, agility, athleticism, and cover skills to play both run-support AND pass coverage. My hope is that his early enrollment will put him in a position to push for starting time, but if neither Sukay or Hodges "take the position" from Dailey, we're looking at Mark Rubin version 2.0—and that's potentially a big problem.

Pete's Final Word—I hear what you are saying, but still have a feeling that it will be Sukay. He is not like Rubin, which is a good thing. Maybe on the first depth chart, Joe will put Dailey there, but we both know how little that means in reality. I think Joe even put me as a first string at one time. (tic) I do think Hodges will get a chance to show what he can do in the non-conference games. His best bet is to play so well that the coaches have no choice but to play him.