BYU Football’s Cornerback Depth Without Trevion Greene

PROVO, Utah – Cornerback Trevion Greene entered the transfer portal last week and went to social media yesterday to announce that he is leaving BYU and is eligible to play this fall.

Gods hands now. Bagged a degree at BYU now on to the next chapter for football. pic.twitter.com/tdMjzDzthQ

— Greene T (@thutruth) June 4, 2019

Without Greene, BYU’s depth at cornerback takes a little bit of a hit, but it’s still a position that many around the program believe has a ton of potential to be very good in 2019.

Here’s a snapshot of the personnel BYU cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford will be coaching up this fall.

Projected Starters

Dayan Ghanwoloku, Senior – Ghanwoloku could play anywhere in BYU’s secondary. But right now we will tab him at cornerback as BYU looks to get the best 11 players on the field. There’s no doubt that Ghanwoloku is one of those best 11. You could put him anywhere and he will find a way to make plays for BYU.

D’Angelo Mandell, Sophomore – Mandell is the rising star right now at cornerback for BYU. Played in 13 games and had six starts a season ago. This is Mandell’s first full off-season with the program. Last year, Mandell withdrew from school and didn’t rejoin till before fall camp. Big expectations for Mandell who has an impressive combination of size and speed at 6’1”, 178 pounds.

Returning Lettermen

Chris Wilcox, Senior – Wilcox has been a player that has received a lot of criticisms in his BYU career.  That narrative should be changing however as Wilcox last year was a lockdown corner in BYU’s secondary before going down with a season-ending injury.  Wilcox missed all of the spring and his timetable to return to action is still up in the air. If healthy, he gives BYU the luxury of putting Ghanwoloku at safety.

Isaiah Herron, Redshirt-Freshman – Herron was a revelation last season for BYU. Signed with the Cougars as part of the 2018 recruiting class as an underrated two-star out of Las Vegas. Gilford was high on the prospects of Herron last year at Media Day and Herron delivered. Last season, Herron played in four games and saw significant game action in the Cougars win at No. 6 Wisconsin. Herron’s first season was cut short due to injury but he was in and out of the starting lineup during practices this past spring.

Keenan Ellis, Sophomore – A former wide receiver in high school, Ellis saw his first action as a BYU player last season.  Earned his first start in the regular season finale at Utah. He will have the challenge in fall camp of fending off the newcomers to keep his place within the two-deep.

Newcomers

Dimitri Gallow – Junior college transfer out of Mount San Jacinto College. Gallow signed with BYU in the traditional February signing period after taking an official visit the weekend before signing day.

Eric Ellison – Ellison is believed to be the newcomer with the best odds of being a two-deep player out of fall camp.  Ellison was a versatile athlete at Mount San Jacinto College. He was an athlete Ed Lamb and the defensive coaches were targeting when he was coming out of high school.

George Udo – Talented athlete out of California who has only played two years of organized football. Played a multitude of positions in high school. Could become a player that possibly moves to safety, but for now, he will begin his BYU career at cornerback.

Caleb Christensen – Out of the Cache Valley, Christensen is a speedster. Still up in the air as to whether or not he will be serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or if he will be enrolling this fall. If he enrolls this fall, Christensen could be a grey shirt candidate.

Kimball Henstrom – Preferred walk-on out of Alta High School. Henstrom is the son of former BYU cornerback Doug Henstrom.

BYU Football Media Day 2019 takes place on Tuesday, June 18th.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday’s from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.