Has Hemphill fixed pass defense woes?
We've written plenty about the genius of Mike Elko's move to snag Lyle Hemphill, bringing him back into the fold to help run the back end of his defense. It was the secondary that was the real weak link for Texas A&M down the stretch, as Auburn and USC completely took advantage of poor communication in the defensive backfield.
Hemphill's addition is meant to remedy that, as Mike Elko fierily remarked after the bowl game that there was a complete inability by his team to run any kind of zone coverage and that man was all they could muster. Hence the addition— thus preserving continuity at the DC position as well as addressing the elephant in the room.
Just how effective will this addition be, though? Will this alone fix the issues we saw last year? It remains to be seen, in the final analysis.
Of course, the addition of Julian Humphrey at corner, Jordan Shaw at nickel, and the return of Tyreek Chappell will go a long way here as well. The Aggies need someone to emerge at safety, whether that's Dalton Brooks taking the next step, Marcus Ratcliffe emerging, or Bryce Anderson returning to form— don't count out Myles Davis, either.