STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State cornerbacks coach Jason Jones visited with okstate.com Thursday to talk about the Cowboy corners. The highlights of what Jones said:
Regarding Andrew McGee:
"We have great leadership from Andrew McGee. He's the only senior that I have. He's done a great job of bringing the younger guys along. He'll have those guys come up and watch tape with him. Out there on the practice field, he does a great job of encouraging them if they make a mistake and he's just doing a great job being a leader for a young group."
Regarding Brodrick Brown:
"Brodrick is just a sophomore and he got thrown into it last year at the Cotton Bowl. He's a competitor. He's about 5-9, but he goes out every day and works his tail off, competes on every snap and is a physical kid."
Regarding Andrae May:
"Andrae May is a sophomore and because of injuries last year, we had to play him some. We didn't get a chance to redshirt him, but he's going to be a guy this year that we're expecting more out of in special teams and he'll also play a little bit on defense."
Regarding the group of freshmen cornerbacks:
"Justin Gilbert, Devin Hedgepeth and Larry Stephens are three really good players at the corner spot. They've come in and worked hard and all three of them will be able to help us this year on special teams. Justin and Devin will play more defense this year than Larry, but Larry is physical enough to be involved in special teams. All of those guys are going to have to contribute this year to help us win."
Regarding what puts Justin Gilbert in position to contribute immediately:
"He has size. He is a big corner and he's going to have to line up and play against 6-3 wideouts. He's a six-foot corner and he can run. He's a 4.4-guy and he'll be able to run with anybody in this league. I think most importantly, he's a competitor. If you challenge him and tell him that he can't cover this guy or he can't do this, then he's going to try to prove you wrong. He wants to show you that he can. He has the hips, he has the feet and he has the speed. Of course you have to have all those things, but having it in you where you want to compete on every snap, he has that. When we go one-on-one with the wide receivers and they catch a ball on him, he's upset. You have to have guys like that. He came from a good program. He's 190 pounds and he bench-presses 280 pounds as a true freshman. He has the size and the strength to get out there and compete."
Regarding Devin Hedgepeth's character:
"Devin is a 4.0 student. If you tell him to be somewhere at 2:00, he's going to show up at 1:50. He's smart. One of the things about Devin is that when I am teaching him, I'd better make sure I get it right the first time because when I put it up on that board the first time, he's going to get it in his head and he has it. He's so smart. He studies, he learns and he picks up on things really easily. He's a great character kid. A lot like Andrew McGee in that he's involved with FCA and he goes out in the community and speaks to the schools. He did that in high school when he was at Derby, too. He is very impressive."
