MISSOULA — The secondary for the Montana Grizzlies this season has some question marks, especially with the implementation of a new defensive scheme.
There's some familiar faces back, but like other units on this team there are zero returning starters, leaving plenty of openings and opportunities for the guys in those rooms to leave an impact.
Between the cornerbacks and safeties, the latter position returns the most experience with guys like Kade Boyd and Kade Cutler having played significant reps as rotational assets last year.
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"I think we can improve everywhere," Cutler said. "I think we've grown a lot in communication, getting a lot better in coverage, learning new techniques and everything that goes with that. Run fits. I mean, new defense, we have so much to learn and I think that we've grown everywhere."
Along with them, veteran Tanner Huff and young up-and-comer Brock Beaner also saw time and figure into the mix.
The unit also has been boosted by some talented transfers too, including Carroll College product Braeden Orlandi who has fit in well, along with San Diego State transfer Hunter Haines, Arizona State transfer Adama Fall and South Dakota addition Ashton Paine.
"I'm just trying to keep it the same way like how I came in (and) how the culture was already set up beforehand, and just keep passing that on along down the line to the future Griz warriors," Huff said.
At corner, it's almost all new.
Second-year player Brady Beaner was thrown in as a freshman last year, and fourth-year product Elijah Brady also returns, with those two the most experienced of the group.
"Just trying to be a leader in the room," Beaner said. "A lot of these guys, I feel like we're all kind of at the same level. No one's trying to be better than someone else, but not like an aspect of being too cocky or anything, but everyone's got each other's back."
On down the line, returner Jeilani Davis has been firmly in the mix too, and when he returns from an injury he sustained last year, second-year player DeAnte Gentry will be a boost as well.
Also in the mix are transfers like North Texas product Gabe Stroud, Arizona State addition Chris Johnson II, Arizona transfer Devin Dunn and other young talents like sophomore Sage Salopek and freshman Nohi Casco.
"We definitely make each other better. We push each other," Brady said. "We're not afraid to tell each other when we mess up or could do something a little better in a play or a rep or, you know, individual drills or whatnot."
"They're getting experience every day, right? And, practice, might not be total game reps, but guys are gaining good experience in practice," UM head coach Bobby Kennedy added. "And that's why I'm on them all the time about whether it be individual drills, whether it be skelly, whether it be team drills, those reps are valuable."
Throw in that this unit is going against Montana's elite offensive players, they've had their work cut out for them each day in camp.
But they'll tell you iron sharpens iron, so that process will continue to sort itself out.
"It's great for us. You're getting realistic speed," UM cornerbacks coach Kim McCloud said. "I don't know if we'll see a receiver faster than our guys. And I think our quarterback might be, if not one of the best in the league, for sure one of the best in the country. So it's good for us. I wouldn't want it any other way right now. Hopefully game day is easier than what we see in practice.
"We have some speed. There's some guys in there that can flat out run, Brady being one of them. We have some length. We're not a short group. So we should have a chance to put our hands on people and fight and get off blocks of weaknesses and experience. But I don't know if that's a weakness. If you go out and perform, who cares?"
Griz 2026 cornerbacks
No. 0, Gabe Stroud, JR, 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, Tyler, TX
No. 3, Jeilani Davis, JR, 6-foot, 201 pounds, Inglewood, CA
No. 6, Chris Johnson II, JR, 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, Fort Worth, TX
No. 11, Jayden Nicholas, FR, 6-foot, 168 pounds, Concord, CA
No. 12, Elijah Brady, SR, 6-foot-1, 176 pounds, Seattle, WA
No. 14, DeAnte Gentry, SO, 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, Fort Worth, TX
No. 18, Devin Dunn, 5th, 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, Chandler, AZ
No. 19, Rodney Weatherspoon, FR, 6-foot, 170 pounds, Fort Worth, TX
No. 20, Sage Salopek, SO, 6-foot, 171 pounds, Seattle, WA
No. 25, Brady Beaner, SO, 6-foot, 191 pounds, Anacortes, WA
No. 27, Nohi Casco, FR, 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, Lahaina, HI
No. 36, Garrett Speer, JR, 6-foot, 195 pounds, Sherwood, OR
Griz 2026 safeties
No. 2, Hunter Haines, JR, 6-foot-2, 212 pounds, West Linn, OR
No. 4, Dane Parker, JR, 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, Puyallup, WA
No. 5, Hudson Schrader, FR, 6-foot-2, 194 pounds, Los Gatos, CA
No. 7, Kash Goicoechea, JR, 6-foot-1, 199 pounds, Kalispell, MT
No. 8, Adama Fall, GR, 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, Dakar, Senegal
No. 9, Kougar Kappel, FR, 6-foot, 178 pounds, Red Lodge, MT
No. 13, Brock Beaner, SO, 6-foot, 202 pounds, Anacortes, WA
No. 16, Braeden Orlandi, SR, 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Valley Springs, CA
No. 17, Kade Boyd, SR, 6-foot, 198 pounds, Billings, MT
No. 21, Ashton Paine, SR, 6-foot-1, 193 pounds, Tumwater, WA
No. 23, Dane Kellner, FR, 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, Honolulu, HI
No. 29, Tanner Huff, GR, 6-foot, 208 pounds, Butte, MT
No. 30, Kade Cutler, 5th, 6-foot, 207 pounds, Philipsburg, MT
