Jamari Sharpe and James Monds Standout as Spring Practice Brings Focus on the Cornerbacks

Written by Zach Greene: (@zachegreene)

As spring camp rolls on, the cornerback position is one of a lot of talent, different body frames and experience. However, the competition is wide open. There are two players that head coach Tom Allen mentioned during yesterday’s presser. Redshirt freshmen Jamari Sharpe and James Monds III. 

“I believe we are,” said Allen on development at the cornerback position. “We have two more weeks here, but Jamari Sharpe sticks out to me. He’s a guy that’s been here. We redshirted him. He’s a talented young man with a lot of length and speed. I’m excited about his development.” 

Sharpe redshirted last season but appeared in three games for the Hoosiers including the week one against the Illini. He’s got a lengthy frame standing at 6’1 roughly 190 pounds. At Northwestern High School in Miami Sharpe was s a track star along with playing defensive back and wide receiver. He lettered in both sports. 

“James Monds is another guy that I’m excited about,” said Allen. “Also, the new guys have all stepped in here. Kobee (Minor) and Jamier (Johnson). They’re talented players and have length. They got different body types than the ones we’ve had. There 6 foot plus guys and we’ve going to take advantage of that. I’m excited about those guys.”

Monds is a slightly undersized corner but has tremendous speed and press ability. At Vero Beach High School in South Florida, Mond lettered in football and soccer. He appeared in two games last season.

Kobee Minor is one of the two cornerback transfers along with Jamier Johnson. Minor attended Texas Tech last year and was counted on as a leader. You can read more about the young man here. Johnson on the other hand attended Texas last season and played in seven games with one start. Read more about Johnson here

Yesterday was the Hoosier 10th spring practice. Along with the practices the Hoosiers held two scrimmages took place the past two weekends. Allen was impressed with the level of intensity and game like situations.

“Well, I’ll tell you what. The one we just had was probably the best one I’ve been a part of regarding the competition back and forth.” Allen said. “Everything came down to the final snap which was awesome, and we created a lot of game like situations. Both sides were making plays. Those are the things that stick out to me.”

Allen acknowledged that the more reps and practices to be held. He along with his fellow coaches will get a better understand of what players will fit with what the Hoosiers will try to do to win ball games. Lastly, expect a lot of mixes of both zone and man coverages this season.

“We are still trying to figure things out as we create game type situations. We did a lot of emphasis on third downs today outside of the two minutes.” Allen explained. “We have had a big emphasis on our coverages. Both man and zone. We’ve got a lot of guys that have played a lot of ball these past couple years. I’m excited to see these guys step up and make plays.”

The Hoosiers wrap up spring practice on April 15th with their Spring Football Saturday from 11am-1pm in Bloomington.