The news out of spring practice today didn’t change much besides the Tony Dixon injury, which is being evaluated to see what the extent of the sprain is. That being said, let’s take the time to breakdown another position this spring–defensive backs.

The stars of the secondary are junior corner Trevard Lindley and senior free safety Marcus McClinton.

McClinton is a big hitter who also finds ways to grab interceptions if a quarterback underthrows a pass. Last year, McClinton fought injuries for most of the season, limiting his playing time. Barring a similiar experience, McClinton is ready to patrol the defensive backfield for the Cats’ defense this fall. McClinton did have one interception during last Saturday’s scrimmage.

The other star is shutdown corner Trevard Lindley. Lindley broke out his freshman year, emerging as the number two corner and grabbing key interceptions in upsets of Georgia and Clemson that year. Last year, Lindley was thrown at less, a tribute to his new shutdown corner status in the SEC. This fall, offense coordinators will try to break Lindley (if so, expect a lot of pick-sixes) or will avoid him again, leading to the team’s No. 1 reciever either being shutdown or switching spots (like Louisville did last year with both of their receviers).

The other safety spot will be filled by either Calvin Harrison or Ashton Cobb. Cobb is a monster like McClinton, a hard-hitter. Both players would be a compliment to McClinton and will likely split time at the position.

On the opposite side of Lindley should be Paul Warford. Warford was picked on early on in the season, as his coverage is less than ideal. But Warford can tackle, with probably sustains his playing time. If Warford can improve on his coverage like he did at the end of the season, this secondary will be one of the scariest in the SEC.

And if you pay attention to the last two SEC and national champions, both relied on great ball-hawking safeties with good corners. If the chips fall just right, UK will have the same secondary mold.