The Fullest Room In The Kenan Football Center Is?

North Carolina defensive back Trey Morrison’s sophomore campaign saw him fighting off the injury bug alongside a handful of his teammates in the secondary.

A cornerback in high school, Morrison moved back to the position last season after having a breakout true freshman campaign at nickelback. He played in 10 of the 13 games but only started nine, missing a majority of the South Carolina and Georgia Tech games due to injury as well as the entirety of the Virginia Tech, Duke and Pittsburgh games.

Morrison finished the season having played 461 snaps, tallying 31 tackles, four pass breakups and one interception after playing 686 snaps at nickel during his freshman year.

The Norcross, GA, native wasn’t the only player in UNC’s secondary to miss game time due to injury as it was the team’s most depleted unit. The other starting cornerback in Patrice Rene suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the week two win over Miami while starting safety Myles Wolfolk appeared in five games and started in just four before suffering a season-ending injury against Virginia.

Freshman safety Cam’Ron Kelly was another player in Carolina’s secondary to suffer a season-ending injury after tearing his ACL in his first career start in the loss to Clemson.

For first-year defensive coordinator Jay Bateman, his secondary’s injury struggles were especially disappointing as it limited how much he could move guys around, particularly the versatile Morrison who he would have liked to see a lot more at nickel.

“We thought, going into the season last year, we could play Trey there as a third-down guy, second and long and certain personnel groups and it just didn’t happen because of injuries,” Bateman said during a virtual press conference on April 13.

One positive that did come out of the injuries was increased playing time for younger players. Freshman Storm Duck played the most snaps of any cornerback with 530 while freshman safety Don Chapman played 302 snaps, the third-most of any safety on the team.

Heading into 2020, however, Bateman’s secondary will go from one of his thinnest position groups to arguably his deepest.

The Heels only lose one starter in Myles Dorn and gain transfers Kyler McMichael and Bryce Watts. McMichael tallied 101 snaps for Clemson as a true freshman in 2018 while Watts played in 25 games in two seasons for Virginia Tech. Both had to sit out in 2019 due to NCAA transfer regulations.

D.J. Ford and DeAndre Hollins also return after playing a combined 837 snaps last season. Throw in a handful of other returning players, including Bryson Richardson, and the three incoming freshmen defensive backs in Ja’Qurious Conley, Jayden Chalmers and Cameron Roseman-Sinclair, and the Tar Heels’ secondary is loaded.

In having a much deeper group, Bateman will have more freedom to move players around. This includes playing Morrison at nickel, a position he shined at during his freshman campaign. Whether he will see a significant amount of snaps there remains to be seen as Bateman rates Morrison as one of his best cornerbacks.

“I’m not ready to say Trey Morrison is the nickel and that’s it,” Bateman said. “I think he’s still one of our better corners and you want to be able to have different guys at both spots. I think it just depends on who we’re playing and as the rest of that group grows up a little more, too.”

The only issue with Morrison playing primarily at nickel is his lack of size. At 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, he doesn’t exactly have the ideal body type to play a position Bateman considers a part of the linebacker corps.

“The problem is you move a guy like Trey into the nickel – the run game that the nickel has got to be involved with, he’s a 195-pound kid, how many snaps are you going to ask him to go be a linebacker, right, because it’s a nickel linebacker,” Bateman said.

Despite his size, giving Morrison the opportunity to prove himself again at his old position is in Bateman’s plans.

“I think for sure that will be a part of our attack moving forward,” Bateman said.

The secondary as a whole dealt with recurring injury issues last season, severely limiting what Bateman could do with his group. Lack of depth will no longer be a problem in 2020, though, and that will allow versatile players like Morrison to contribute in more positions than one.