Caring Is Creepy 2012: Have A Seat, Anthony Morgan

(Highlights are a little old, but I couldn't find more recent stuff.)

Days after landing a verbal commitment from cornerback prospect Kevin Buford, Iowa landed a verbal from another defensive back*, Texas safety Anthony Morgan. Morgan's a consensus 3* recruit with a solid list of offers: he chose Iowa over Stanford and Arizona, but also had offers from Iowa State, Northwestern, Indiana, Vanderbilt, Virginia, and a host of mid-majors. Morgan has good size (6'2", 190) and draws praise from ESPN for his instincts and ability in run support (valuable assets, especially for an Iowa safety). He gets dinged for lacking a bit of fluidity and struggling in man coverage, though that should be less of a problem at safety than it would be at cornerback.

* Damn, those are some wacky uniforms.

Morgan becomes the fourth defensive back to commit to Iowa this year (joining fellow safety Ruben Lile and cornerbacks Buford and Maurice Fleming), which seems a little surprising after Iowa grabbed three defensive backs last year (Nico Law, Jordan Lomax, and Torrey Campbell). Then again, it's not so surprising when you look at the roster and realize that Iowa has four senior defensive backs next year (Micah Hyde, Greg Castillo, Jack Swanson, and Collin Sleeper) and just two juniors (Tanner Miller and B.J. Lowery). Like the other levels of defense, the secondary has not been immune to the rash of attrition that's afflicted the Iowa defense over the past few seasons. More than anything, Iowa needs bodies in the secondary -- to be future starters, to be depth, and just to be on special teams.

Of course, Morgan doesn't seem like "just another body" by any means, but rather a potential legitimate contributor. Even if we assume Miller and Law assume the starting safety roles next year (a decent bet, given the paucity of upperclassmen options), if Morgan redshirts (a less certain propostion, given the staff's tendency to send freshmen defensive backs out on special teams), he could potentially still have three years to start and replace Miller. (You know, assuming the fact that he's not a former in-state walk-on isn't held against him...) In any event, welcome aboard, Mr. Morgan.