Cougs Daily

BYU is Still on the Lookout for 2022 Defensive Backs

The Cougars are set to host two talented defensive backs for official visits this weekend

Casey Lundquist

In February, BYU signed four high school defensive backs on signing day. The Cougars also signed defensive back Marcus McKenzie during the early signing period bringing the total to five defensive backs signed as part of the 2022 class. 

Even with five defensive backs on board, BYU isn't done recruiting defensive backs in the 2022 class. The Cougars are set to host two defensive back prospects for official visits this weekend: Vanderbilt transfer Gabe Jeudy-Lally and junior college transfer Roman Rashada.

Roman Rashada

Rashada attends Diablo Valley College (California) where he played various positions in the defensive backfield last season. After a January in-home visit with Ilaiasa Tuiaki, Rashada receieved a scholarship to play for BYU.

Rashada was weighing competing offers from Washington and Colorado State on signing day, but he declined to sign in February. Rashada has been high on the Cougars since they offered a few months ago, and an official visit gives BYU's staff an opportunity to lock down a commitment if a scholarship is available.

Rashada has admired BYU's program from afar for years. In fact, once some schools started recruiting him out of Diablo Valley College, Rashada reached out to BYU. Eventually Rashada got in touch with BYU's staff. "It's just something about BYU I've always gravitated towards since I was young and since I started playing football," Rashada said in an earlier interview with Cougs Daily. "I don't know what it was, there's something about that "Y"...I've always had a love for BYU.'

Should he choose BYU, Rashada could play various positions for the Cougars like he has done in the JUCO ranks. Rashada is an excellent open field tackler and he can line up at multiple positions in coverage.

When he played safety, Diablo Valley used Rashada in a similar way that BYU used safety Chaz Ah You last season before he moved to linebacker. Like Ah You, Rashada occasionally lined up around the box where he helped in run support and blitzed off the edge while still showing the ability to drop back in coverage. There's a lot to like about the versatility and depth that Rashada could bring to BYU's defensive backfield.

Roman has three years to play two, meaning he has two years of eligibility and one redshirt year remaining.

Gabe Jeudy-Lally

Gabe Jeudy-Lally

Gabe Jeudy-Lally is a graduate transfer that spent the first three years of his collegiate career at Vanderbilt. Thanks to a redshirt season in 2019 and a free year in 2020 due to COVID-19, Jeudy-Lally still has three years of eligibility remaining. He racked up 50 total tackles for Vanderbilt last season and he also had an interception.

After entering the transfer portal in late November, he received offers from Illinois, Iowa State, Purdue, and Colorado among others.

Even though BYU returns experience on defense, Jeudy-Lally would have the opportunity to compete for immediate playing time should he commit to BYU. He played 545 snaps for Vanderbilt last season and he went up against some of the best receivers in college football.

Given Jeudy-Lally's official visit this weekend, BYU should be viewed as the leader to land his services at this stage of the game. That could change if he schedules more visits, but BYU fans should like where the Cougars stands at this point.

Adding either Jeudy-Lally or Rashada would be a great way to wrap up BYU's 2022 defensive class, and it would bolster the defensive backfield in 2022 and beyond.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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