Following the end of spring practice, GSEagles.com sat down with defensive coordinator and safeties coach Scot Sloan to get his thoughts on the defense and get his post-spring depth chart. Here's the conversation we had with him, along with that depth chart.

Q: You said going into the spring, safety was a point of emphasis. How do you feel that group did this spring?
SS: We made some progress. Donald Rutledge Jr. helped us and I'm pleased with him. Darrell Baker Jr. stayed healthy and I'm pleased with him. That's been a little bit of his nemesis, but he had a really solid spring. Kenderick Duncan Jr. continued to make improvements after being that third safety for us last fall. Even a guy like Tra Cofield, who's played mostly special teams in past, gave us some solid reps and made us feel good about him. And the really bright surprise was true freshman Treun Pace. For him to come in mid-year and pick up the defense, he came out of spring practice as a two-deep guy who will be hard to redshirt. So with the guys who were already in the program and the addition of some new pieces to the puzzle in Donald and Treun, I feel good about that spot.

Q: What areas were you most pleased with?
SS: The defensive line continues to play well. They have a nice stable of guys there and Vic is able to rotate quality bodies in and out at all three positions. You're only as good as you are up front, so having them helps. Jay Bowdry and Randy Wade Jr. had solid springs at the outside linebacker spots, but we knew going in that they would have good springs based on what they did last year. Zyon McGee is another young guy who had a really good spring. He maximized his reps with Lane Ecton being held out due to his shoulder surgery. At inside backer, we have a group of guys who have a lot of snaps under their belts in Chris Harris Jr. and Rashad Byrd, but Reynard Ellis is a guy who finished spring as a starter. Coming off his redshirt year due to transfer, he continued to make plays and was extremely productive with minimal missed assignments or poor technique, which are two things we grade them on. Our corners are veterans and we have some depth there, and as I said earlier, I feel better about our safeties.

Q: What are your top area of emphasis when preseason camp rolls around?
SS: The biggest thing we want to do is continue to get better in drop-back pass situations. The nature of what we do on offense, tends to help us be really good at stopping the run because that's what we see every day in practice. Last season, we stopped the run well but weren't as effective as I'd like us to be in passing situations. People in this conference who drop back and throw the football 40 times a game and are good at it, we don't see as much so we want to be able to close that gap and get better in that area. Another point of emphasis is to be better on first down so we can get ahead of the chains and win more series. We will continue to make the guys conscious about 1st and 10 and winning it, which is holding them to 3 yards or less. And then of course when it's third down, we want to continue to find a way to get off the field. We also want to improve our football IQ, going from being assignment driven like we were last year when we were learning the defense to being concept driven and big-picture driven to make us a better defense.

Q: Who were a couple of under-the-radar or new guys who surprised you this spring?
SS: The guys I mentioned earlier were the big ones. Treun really benefited from the offseason workouts, the 15 spring practices and will now get a full cycle of strength training, giving him a seven-month head start on anyone who comes in this summer. He's going to be in the two-deep and he's going to be on a lot of special teams and is going to play because of being able to come in mid-year. He's been able to capitalize on the situation with two seniors graduating. He maximized his reps and really picked up things from the mental side. And we already knew he had the skill set to be successful when we recruited him. He's been a very pleasant surprise in terms of how quickly he was able to come in and contribute. Zyon made the most of his reps and by the end of spring ball, I think people saw what kind of Spring Game he had. He continued to make steady progress, so that was a bright spot. Reynard made a lot of plays as well. It's one thing to make a lot of tackles and assists and quarterback hurries, but then make just as many mistakes that cost us big plays. Reynard was very minimal in those mistakes and poor technique and we're excited about his potential. And I need to also mention AJ Watkins. He is another true freshman who came in mid-year and capitalized on being an early enrollee. He showed some explosiveness, made some productive plays and is going to be a guy who has a chance to play this year. He made some plays this spring that you wouldn't expect for a college freshman going through his first college practices.

Q: Were there any position changes of interest?
SS: Nothing major from a position change standpoint. We're working to have our outside linebackers be a little more interchangeable. There were times we put Zyon at the weak-side boundary outside backer spot just to teach him and cross-train him a little bit. It helps build depth when these guys can learn both positions. Sometimes you have to create a two-deep with three guys and making guys versatile helps with that.

Q: Who were the leaders to step up?
SS: Up front, Ty Phillips and Raymond Johnson III are leaders our players look to. Jay Bowdry is always a leader, both vocally and the way he plays on the field. A guy who really caught our attention was Monquavion Brinson. He's always been an under-the-radar, low-key guy. He's never been one to get up and talk in front of the group or address the defense, but we saw more and more of that. We lost guys like Logan Hunt and Joshua Moon leaving so it was nice to see him realize that it's his time. It may not be 100 percent natural or comfortable for him, but he did a nice job this spring of stepping up and being a leader for us.

DEFENSE (3-4)
DE: 92, Raymond Johnson III (6-3, 240, Jr.)
97, Justin Ellis (6-2, 245, r-So.)

NT: 96, Ty Phillips  (6-3, 290, Sr.)
94, C.J. Wright (6-0, 290, So.)

DE: 49, Traver Vliem (6-4, 255, r-Jr.) -or- 52, Quan Griffin (6-3, 270, Jr.)
98, Dillon Springer (6-1, 245, r-So.)
    
Anchor: 5, Jay Bowdry (6-0, 200, r-Sr.)
37, Lane Ecton (5-11, 210, r-Sr.) -or- 21, Zyon McGee (6-1, 200, r-Fr.)

MLB: 50, Reynard Ellis (6-1, 220, r-So.)
32, Chris Harris Jr. (6-1, 245, Jr.)

WLB: 45, Rashad Byrd (6-0, 230, r-Jr.)
34, Jon Ferguson (6-1, 215, r-Fr.)

Dog: 47, Randy Wade Jr. (6-2, 250, r-Jr.)
42, Alvin Ward Jr. (6-4, 230, r-Jr.) -or- 53, Quin Williams (6-3, 250, r-Fr.)

CB: 4, Monquavion Brinson (5-11, 180, Sr.)
18, Justin Birdsong (5-11, 170, So.)

FS: 27, Kenderick Duncan Jr. (6-3, 205, r-So.)
24, Donald Rutledge Jr. (6-1, 205, Gr.) -or- 35, Tra Cofield (5-11, 185, r-Jr.)

SS: 31, Darrell Baker Jr. (6-1, 190, r-Jr.)
24, Donald Rutledge Jr. (6-1, 205, Gr.) -or- 22, Treun Pace (6-0, 180, Fr.)

CB: 20, Kindle Vildor (5-11, 180, Jr.)
15, Jessie Liptrot (6-0, 190, r-Sr.)