Four Intriguing Position Groups Heading Into UC Football Fall Camp

There are plenty of spots to choose from but four stand out ahead of practice starting on Aug. 3.

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CINCINNATI — UC football opens up fall camp at Nippert Stadium this week before heading west to the Higher Ground facility. With nine NFL Draft picks and other veterans on the way out, there are plenty of position battles that will shape this team's fate in 2022.

Let's take a look at two that stick out on each side of the ball.

Quarterback

Experience V. Potential. Experience V. Potential.

The Bearcats head into the final phase of the preseason with a deadlock in the QB room between Ben Bryant and Evan Prater.

"There is definitely a quarterback battle," Luke Fickell said at AAC Media Day. "As much of a battle as it can possibly be. You know you can't go live. You can't put quarterbacks live. It's just not something you do now, but knowing we have five returning starters on the offensive line and a defensive line that's kinda going to be the anchors of what we do will give us an opportunity to really challenge the rest.

"Challenge the quarterbacks. Challenge the backend of our defense because of a lot of new guys. So it's not that it's going to be different, but I think we can try to script it and put some of those guys in positions where hopefully we can do a better job to truly evaluate them."

How these two get challenged in the crucial first two weeks of camp will likely end up deciding the choice earlier on in the process. The first game following this battle has some similarities to the trip to UCLA in 2018, but on a much higher level in terms of difficulty. 

Hayden Moore and Desmond Ridder split snaps in that contest before Ridder ultimately secured the job for four years.

Arkansas should be ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 when that drops in the coming weeks. The crowd will be rabid in Fayetteville, Ark. This is not a half-empty Rose Bowl UC is headed to play in. All that would lean towards the experience of Ben Bryant, with Prater maybe taking over later in the non-conference schedule. But that scenario feels like a disappointment.

This is Prater's time—this is his job to own. What better experience is there to start your career than seeing what you can do against a top-tier SEC opponent? The highest-rated offensive signee in program history will have every chance to control this offense. Now he needs to go take it.

Running Back

Offensive Coordinator Gino Guidugli has a stable of horses to choose from in the running back room and a lot of factors that make the lead role a mystery. There is so much talent that former running back Ethan Wright switched positions to safety.

"I definitely think going into camp it's definitely different," Fickell said about the different position battles this year. "Not that you're not battling every year and there's competitions and all different things, but this is a year where there's definitely a little bit more of an edge, there's definitely some unique battles, and it's not just at the quarterback position.

"But there's also some positions that maybe guys have been kind of thrust into through spring, but you really want to see what the maturity and what they've done over that time from spring. The end of spring, into summer, and into this fall camp."

The lead back spot is a four-man race between Ryan Montgomery, Charles McClelland, Myles Montgomery, and LSU transfer Corey Kiner. The final member of that group should get every opportunity to show why Cincinnati recruited him so hard in 2020. Kiner brings as much talent as any of the previous transfer RBs in recent years, but translating the playbook is the big question.

How much has Kiner mastered Guidugli's system? That is the one hang-up for him from being the main man from Week One. I expect that to get hammered out quickly in camp. Kiner didn't arrive until after spring practice, but he enters a rushing attack spearheaded by five returning starters on the offensive line.

Expect a platoon early on—with Kiner slowly but surely taking a bigger role. Regardless, UC has plenty of talent to spread out carries and keep their top transfer fresh throughout the season.

Safety

One of these spots is already on lockdown when looking at veteran Ja'von Hicks. The grad student is using his final year of eligibility after starting all 14 games in 2021. He posted 55 tackles (31 solo) with two TFLs, two interceptions, and two fumble recoveries after backing up the field safety spot.

Who his boundary running mate will be is the top question for this group, and there are two names up to the task: Bryon Threats and Jacob Dingle.

Threats played in 12 games last year, totaling eight tackles and one pass breakup on the season. Now he gets a chance to show why he was a consensus top-20 Ohio recruit in 2021. The sophomore flashed plenty of potential over the spring practice period and has that youth ready to combat the veteran experience of Dingle.

The senior is a top-notch special teamer who now gets his shot at the premier safety role. Dingle posted 16 tackles across 13 games last season. We'll soon find out if his veteran savvy can outlast the potential of Threats.

Linebacker

The middle of the Bearcats' defense is an obvious strength on this team. I'm less worried about who will start and more intrigued by how Mike Tressel juggles all of this talent. One could argue five names could start at the three spots: Jaheim Thomas, Deshawn Pace, Wil Huber, Ivan Pace Jr., and Ty Van Fossen.

Right now, Deshawn and Huber look like locks to control roles at sniper and middle linebacker, with Ivan and Thomas vying for that weakside position. Although, it might not matter who gets the "starter" designation. I'd expect all five of these players to see at least 25-30 snaps a game with possible scenarios where all five are on the field at the same time.

They have that kind of athleticism and field coverage ability to stick with tight ends and slower slot receivers in coverage. It's hard to pick favorites among a collection that should be the strongest position group on the team. Ivan made it onto multiple preseason watchlists and isn't even a lock to start—they are that deep at linebacker.

In a year where cornerback brings up more definitive questions, the team could use a smashmouth, big-body mentality on that side of the ball.

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