A pair of UConn offensive linemen have been signed an undrafted rookie free agents by NFL teams. Just think about that statement for a bit while pondering the well-documented offensive line struggles at UConn in recent years.

Andreas Knappe was signed by the Atlanta Falcons shortly after the NFL draft came to an end. Today came word that after bringing in more than 50 players for tryouts, Richard Levy was one of three tryout players signed as free agents by San Francisco.

Levy was the starting left tackle as a sophomore and junior but with the emergence of redshirt freshman Matthew Peart, he moved to guard as he started all 37 games between 2014-16. I haven't heard whether Levy was playing tackle or guard for the 49ers.

I took over the day to day coverage of UConn football in 2013 and don't recall a rookie offensive lineman being on the 90-man roster of an NFL team during that time. I did some checking and it looks like the last time that happened was in 2012 when Moe Petrus was signed by Tampa Bay and Mike Ryan by Cincinnati.

By my count, 11 players on UConn's 2014 team - a roster that former coach Bob Diaco managed to squeeze one whole win against a Football Bowl Subdivision team - have taken part or will take part in NFL training camps (not including tryouts at rookie camps).

S Andrew Adams: Started 13 games and had 46 tackles as a rookie with New York Giants
DT Kenton Adeyemi: Signed as free agent in 2016 by Chicago and then Cleveland
WR Geremy Davis: Former sixth-round pick by New York Giants had two catches in 10 games in 2016, now on Los Angeles Chargers' roster
WR Deshon Foxx: Current on New York Jets roster, previously with Seattle
CB John Green: Signed as free agent by Tennessee Titans
DB Byron Jones: Starting safety for Dallas Cowboys who had 88 tackles in second NFL season
OT Andreas Knappe: Currently on Atlanta's 90-man roster
OT Richard Levy: Currently on San Francisco's 90-man roster
DL B.J. McBryde: Spent team either on the roster or practice squad with Philadelphia, Green Bay and San Franisco
S Obi Melifonwu: Second-round pick of Oakland Raiders
WR Noel Thomas: Signed as a free agent by Detroit

Also, defensive lineman Mikal Myers (Baltimore), kicker Bobby Puyol (Baltimore) and cornerback Jhavon Williams (New Orleans) got looks in rookie camp as did Reuben Frank with Detroit in 2015 while a talented group of seniors, who were freshmen on the 2014 team, figure to add to that list in 2018.

Unlike two years ago there weren't any current NFL coaches taking in the pro day event at UConn but a total of 20 teams were represented.

There was nothing earth shattering to report. Getting results from these things is no easy task especially this year when we weren't allowed in to watch the bench press, vertical or broad jumps as we have been in previous years. NFL scouts aren't in the habit of giving results out to the media at these sort of events.

The door was cracked open when I got there this morning so I did hear that Mikal Myers had 29 reps at 225 pound in the bench press followed by Matt Walsh topping him with 30.

Noel Thomas, who ran in the 4.63/4.64 range in the 40 at the NFL scouting combine believes he easily topped that mark today but I never got a time on his run or anybody else's.

"I definitely got a little bit of redemption in the 40-yard dash," Thomas said. "I have never seen a 4.6. I wanted to come out here and get that taste out of my mouth and I don't know the exact time but it definitely wasn't 4.6."

Obviously Obi Melifonwu, coming off a jaw-dropping showing at the NFL scouting combine, was the one former Husky the scouts were there to see. He stood on his efforts at the combine (why wouldn't he?) but did both shuttles and the 3-cone drill. His times in the 20 and 60-yard shuttles would rank nearly the top of the defensive back group who did those events at the combine.

Eric Edholm

@Eric_Edholm

results from UConn DB Obi Melifonwu's pro day:

4.09 short shuttle
10.69 long shuttle
7.05 L drill

NFL Draft Bible

@NFLDraftBible

obi melifonwu unofficial 10.95 unofficial sixty-yard shuttle!

Walsh was especially busy today as he did all the running and agility drills and he was among the final ones there to do run pass patterns for a couple of scouts who wanted to see him as a fullback, He made some pretty impressive catches 30-40 yards down field on some nice throws from Garrett Anderson

"Just like every other level of football, the more you can do, the more valuable you are," Walsh said. "I played a little bit of fullback here my first two years and got some linebacker stuff the last two years. I kind of mixed it up today and whatever a team needs me to be, that is what I am going to be.

"My agent is talking to everybody, he is the third party in the middle of everything so I wanted to stay out of it and all I focus on is putting up the best numbers I could, I am pretty happy with everything that happened today."

A couple years ago Reuben Frank did what Walsh did today working out on both sides of the ball during pro day. It worked out well for him as he got into NFL and CFL training camps. We'll see if Walsh is as fortunate.

Walsh said he could do 17 or 18 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press when he was at Hand High School and his max was 23 while at UConn but his work with Frank Quido at BreakOut Athletes pushed that number to 30.

"That was definitely one of my stronger events, all the events you can turn a head on are kind of the most important things," Walsh said. "That was one thing that had to stand out and get the ball rolling and start the day off with a bang."

Both Thomas and Andreas Knappe (probably generating the most buzz among the UConn products not named Obi Melifonwu) both had their days cut short due to their hamstrings tightening up when they ran the 40 which is unfortunate.

"It is the name of the game," Knappe said. "When you go all out and do whatever you can do, sometimes you get bruised and bumped a little bit so that is what happened.

"After I did my 40 so I didn't want to make it any worse so I am calling it a day."

Knappe was able to play in the NFL Collegiate Bowl which could prove beneficial moving forward.

"The NFLPA Bowl was awesome, it was nice to get to know some scouts and let them get to know you so they know what kind of guy you are," Knappe said.

Jhavon Williams is the UConn player who I think should be getting more buzz than he is in the pre-draft process and he said he was pretty happy with his performance today.

"You never know," Williams said "A lot of people told me I looked good today, I ran well but you never know. I am working hard and keeping it in God's hands."

Bobby Puyol was there to kick some long field goals and he was on target with all of them while also doing some kickoffs. He said he will be taking part in a workout run by the Miami Dolphins on April 7 and has heard from some other teams as well.

Garrett Anderson, John Green, Brian Lemelle, Richard Levy and Sean Marinan also took part in today's festivities.

Atlanta, Arizona, Baltimore, Carolina, Cleveland, Detroit, Green Bay, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Miami, New England (with multiple scouts including Brian Smith who ran the show at both pro days), New Orleans, New York Giants, New York Jets, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay were teams represented at UConn's pro day. I'm missing three teams but I saw reps from Atlanta, Arizona, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, New England, New York Giants and Philadelphia at the event in Tolland so special kudos to those teams  (and others who were there) for going the extra mile. What is interesting is that two of the teams missing today were Minnesota (who had head coach Mike Zimmer at the event two years ago to see Byron Jones) and Dallas (the team which drafted Jones).

After the UConn event was over I headed over to Tolland for a regional pro day coordinated by agent Joe Linta. With NFL teams coming to UConn in large numbers and UConn not being receptive to players from other programs taking part in the UConn event, Linta has been holding events the same day in Tolland to check out other prospects.  Yale great Tyler Varga and New Haven's Mike Flacco are among clients of Linta's who landed on NFL rosters. Today Linta set the event up to showcase New Haven's All-American offensive tackle Zach Voytek of Trumbull. Voytek measured in at 6-4 1/2 and 313 pounds, ran a 5.37 in  the 40, 4.60 in the 20-yard shuttle and 7.90 in the 3-cone drill. All of those numbers would hold up favorably after offensive linemen at the NFL scouting combine. Scouts from 10 teams were there (the Patriots and Giants had two reps each while the scout from the Colts seemed especially chummy with Voytek).

Former Yale running back Dale Harris ran a 4.5 in the 40 and had a vertical jump 35 1/2, Southern Connecticut State receiver Devante Jenkins had a 33-inch vertical and New Haven defensive lineman Dean Tsopanides from Orange had 31 reps in the bench press.

Current NFL players Andrew Adams and Geremy Davis were at the UConn event as were Dan Orlovsky (who thinks he could be signed by an NFL team in the next week or two) and Yawin Smallwood. The current UConn team came out for the end of the event. I spoke to Davis and Orlovsky and at some point will get around to sharing stuff from those interviews. UConn will have its second spring practice tomorrow, sorry but after driving to UConn for six straight days and looking at as many as four drives to Bridgeport and back beginning on Friday due to my women's basketball coverage responsibilities, I am taking tomorrow to be UConn free but I believe one of my colleagues will be writing a story off tomorrow's practice.

A former UConn defensive back is sending social media into overdrive thanks to some eye-opening performances at the NFL Scouting Combine. Wait, I think I've written those words before.

Two years ago Byron Jones went from an intriguing prospect who figured to be a second-day pick in the NFL draft to becoming one of the most talked about players in the 2015 draft who not only was taken in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys but recorded 100 tackles in his second NFL season.

Now it is Obi Melifonwu's turn.

Melifonwu already opened more than a few eyes with his play at practice during Senior Bowl week and he followed that up with an absolutely thunderous hit in the game as well. That merely set the stage for what is he doing today at the scouting combine.

Melifonwu topped all defensive backs with a 44-inch vertical jump and with a broad jump of 11 feet, 9 inches (which are also the top marks among all competitors at the combine). He also clocked an unofficial time of 4.40 in the 40-yard dash which is tied for fifth among the defensive backs and did all of this at 6-foot-4 and 224 pounds.

This is not a case of a player merely impressing in track and field drills either. Melifonwu led UConn with 118 tackles as a senior (24 coming against Tulane in his final game as a Husky) to go along with four interceptions. It should be noted that three of his four interceptions as a senior came against ranked teams and he averaged more than eight tackles in seven career games against ranked teams.

Also, much like Jones he's a top-notch student as well. He's a little more reserved than Jones but I would have to think he will interview well. I thought he displayed plenty of growth as a player especially this season as he went from playing next to Andrew Adams to having the other starting safeties with little or no previous game experience. Earlier in the season is appeared like Melifonwu was trying to overcompensate for the lack of experience of the other safeties on the roster by trying to play two positions at the same time. Once he settled in and just concerned himself with his responsibilities, the quality of his play improved dramatically.

For more on Melifonwu, here's the story I did on him before the start of the season.

There were some suggestions that Melifonwu could sneak into the first round at next month's NFL draft and that chatter only figures to increase after what he accomplished today.

There were no questions about who would be the starting field safety heading into preseason camp in Bob Diaco's first two seasons at the helm of the UConn football program.

However, with the graduation of Andrew Adams who could make his NFL debut tomorrow when the New York Giants play Miami, there is a major hole to be filled at one of the most important positions in the UConn defense.

Sophomore Tony Watkins, who made his one career tackle in last year's upset of Houston, was running with the first team throughout spring practice and continues to be the starter in the early part of camp.

"Him and Brice (McAllister) are in competition for the field safety position, they are both still in competition but Anthony had a great six practices," Diaco said after Wednesday's morning practice. "I'm very pleased and I can see him running the defense."

UConn knew that Adams and Junior Lee, the Huskies' top reserve safety, would be graduating but the Huskies also lost Ellis Marder and Jordan Floyd who did not return for their senior seasons. McAllister and Aaron Garland were moved from cornerback to safety while redshirt freshman Marshe' Terry was being viewed upon as another possibility to figure into rotation at safety.

Watkins is embracing his role whether it is as a starter or reserve.
"I am getting a better feeling, just seeing the game better and play faster," Watkins said. "I am just trying to help the team win. I want to me to be a positive for the team. Whatever role I have to play for us to win, that is all I want to do."

Watkins got to learn from Adams, Lee and Obi Melifonwu during his redshirt season as well as during his freshman campaign and he tried to use that time as best he could.

"I would stick around Andrew, Obi and even Junior Lee, they just took me under their win and I just stuck with them through film study," Watkins said. Coach Dex (defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter) really helped me out a lot during this  process.

"Being under the wing of Obi and Andrew, seeing how they run things, Coach has that confidence in me and I have that confidence in myself."

If there was a point of emphasis for Watkins to focus on to move into a key role for the Huskies it was to become a more physical player.

"We all have (things) we want to get better at so (during) the spring it was (Watkins bringing) more physicality so it was really an emphasis for me in the spring."

Fans can check out Watkins and the rest of the Huskies when UConn hosts an open practice on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Rentschler Field.

We already knew they were would be least one different starter in Saturday's Army game as defensive lineman Folorunso Fatukasi has been suspended for the first half after being ejected for fighting late in the season-opening win over Villanova. As expected, Mikal Myers worked with the starters for most of Tuesday's and Wednesday's practices.

However, there are a couple of other positions where we could see a change as Dan Oak was in there at center with the first team for the second half of Tuesday's practice and all of Wednesday's practice and Matt Walsh saw the majority of the first-team snaps at the weak-side linebacker spot ahead of two-time captain and last year's leading tackler Marquise Vann at yesterday's practice after seeing lots of time ahead of Vann on Tuesday as well. That was pretty much the reason why I headed up to practice yesterday because I didn't want to overreact from what I saw on Tuesday. But with Oak and Walsh also working as starters on Wednesday, I'd have to think there is a decent chance that is how it will shake out on Saturday.

The situations are different as starting center Brendan Vechery did not practice. Vann was out there and I thought it was interesting that when linebackers coach Vincent Brown summoned the MIKE or middle linebackers, Vann came over along with starter Junior Joseph and Jon Hicks, listed as the second-string MLB on the depth chart. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but if Vann were going to start at WLB, I don't know why he'd be getting time as a reserve middle linebacker unless he was being prepared to serve as an option at the MLB and WLB positions. Vann saw the majority of the snaps at WLB against Villanova but Walsh was usually in there for a snap or two every series. It is obviously a situation which bears watching but not one coming out of nowhere. When UConn coach Bob Diaco was asked about UConn's most competitive positional battles at American Athletic Conference media day, he dropped a bombshell that Walsh is pushing Vann for the starting WLB spot.

"It is going to be great competition for the WILL linebacker between Marquise Vann and Matt Walsh," Diaco said at the time. "Matt Walsh has been a guy to be in the conversation. The best guys are going to play for as long as they can be the best guy, if we are at the same position and the game is 75 plays and you only better than me for 45 of them the art form is identifying that as a coach and bringing you in on the 46th play."

I would have liked to ask head coach Bob Diaco about these developments but I was told he was unavailable. However, Wednesday's practice is the one where the assistant coaches are available so I did speak to offensive coordinator Frank Verducci and defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter.

When I spoke with Poindexter, I addressed the challenge of defending Army's triple-option offense, the advantage of having most of the players back from last year's Army game and what he expects to see out of Myers and the other defensive linemen who will fill in for Fatukasi. Then came time for the question about Walsh. The wording was "Is Walsh the starter now?" just so there would be no room for interpretation. This is not Poindexter's first rodeo and he deftly sidestepped the question.

"We are taking him in and out, Matt is doing a nice job but we have a lot of starters, 14/15 guys that we think we can play in knowing we can only play with 11 but we plug different guys in at different times," Poindexter said.

When Walsh was getting so much time with the starters on Tuesday I thought it might be a case of the converted fullback needing more time against the triple-option offense (run by UConn's "look" team) than a veteran like Vann. Here's what Poindexter had to say about that.

"Obviously this is going to be different being on this side of the ball but he did a great job this week preparing so we have to see what he is going to get done," Poindexter said. "He has done everything we have asked for and probably exceeded our expectations. We had heard he was a great high school linebacker and I think that is his natural position and he is doing a great job."

Poindexter is not the only one impressed by Walsh's rapid development.

"He is getting better week," UConn senior safety Andrew Adams said. "You can tell he is becoming more football savvy and more football intelligent so I just look forward to see him make plays this year. There is no drop off when Matt comes into the game and everybody knows that."

Vechery was in full pads but Oak saw the time not only with the first team but also the second team at yesterday's practice. While Verducci wasn't going to blurt out the reason why Vechery (who drew rave reviews for his play against Villanova from Diaco at Tuesday's press conference) was on the sidelines for the last practice and a half, he did address the issue as much as he could.

"You are going to have guys get a bug or the flu or whatever or bust a chin strap and the philosophy here is literally next man up," Verducci said. "For Danny to come in, it isn't really surprising, it is a credit to him but I am not surprised that he did as well as he did. You would really never have noticed that was the next-man center unless somebody had told you. We functioned very well, we had one bad snap and that was it.

"He is a career center but he hasn't really played here yet at this level. I would be excited for him, if he got a chance to play I would be very happy for him. His strengths are more intangible than tangible. He loves football, he understands the position extremely well, he is completely invested in the program so guys like that, you hope to see him have some success."

I tweeted yesterday that I thought the offense looked as sharp as I have seen it since the record-breaking showing in the 2013 season finale against Memphis, Of course, I saw no practices during the 2014 season, one full practice during spring practice and then this was my sixth practice/scrimmage I attended since the start of preseason camp. With all of that being said, the offense was really clicking. It is not a shocking revelation to report that junior receiver Noel Thomas was in the middle of much of it. He had one catch down the sideline where he thought he got one foot in while the defensive back signaled that he was out of bounds. He asked me if it was a good catch but I was looking at the work being done on the other field at the time. Then he had the play of the day. Bryant Shirreffs groaned when he threw a pass to the left corner of the end zone figuring he overthrew it but Thomas reached up, grabbed the ball and looked like he got both feet in bounds despite very tight coverage. Freshmen receivers Tyraiq Beals and Aaron McLean had strong practices with McLean getting praise from coaches for a block he threw which is rare for any true freshman receiver to block well enough this early in the season to get called out for that in a positive manner.

I thought the offense looked significantly better than it did on Tuesday and I am not alone.

"If you had come yesterday, you wouldn't have felt that way," Verducci said with a laugh, "but today they responded and that was encouraging."

Verducci also had an interesting comment when I mentioned how calm Shirreffs looks in the pocket since that was not what I saw in what little amount of spring practice I was able to see.

"That is part of his growth process," Verducci said. "If you remember back to the spring game, he was super excitable in the spring game. I saw him have two cups of coffee (Thursday) morning and I said 'hey, that's the last thing you need.' But he had control of himself, he was poised and it was great progress on his part."

As for the defense, the first drill I saw was a wrap-up tackling drill which is understandable considering how many tackles UConn missed against Villanova. These days you can't just come in and level your teammates in practice so this was a time for the players to get reminded of the proper form and it seemed to go pretty well. It was fascinating seeing how much more comfortable the defensive players seem when UConn's "look" team did its best to run Army's offense. There was tremendous progress even since Tuesday. There were plenty of tackles behind the line of scrimmage and safety Obi Melifonwu had an interception. Andrew Adams seemingly was everywhere during the practice and I liked what I saw from defensive ends Luke Carrezola, Kenton Adeymi and Cole Ormsby. It looked to me like this was one rather productive practice.

1965 TEAM TO BE HONORED
UConn announced that the 1965 team will be recognized at Saturday's game. It is the first UConn team to beat Yale (the Huskies were 0-16 against the Bulldogs before a season-opening 13-6 win.

UConn finished 3-6 during that season, The players and coaches who make it back will be on field during the first media timeout of the game. Head coach Rick Forzano and assistant coach Dan Sekanovich are among those expected to be in attendance.

There's plenty of question marks as UConn players report for preseason camp tomorrow. However, the safety position is not among them.

UConn returns Andrew Adams, who has started 19 games over the last three seasons, and Obi Melifonwu, who has started 23 games in the last two seasons. Adams was ranked second and Melifonwu fourth in total tackles a season ago. Reserve safety and special teams dynamo Junior Lee is also back.

UConn football coach Bob Diaco did not pull any punches when I asked him about starting safety tandem at American Athletic Conference media day.

"Tell me who is better tandem of safeties in the conference, tell me a better one?" Diaco said. "They played 800/900 plays so they are veterans, those two guys go into every single game expecting to dominate their individual matchups and be in disbelief when they have bad moments, it is good to have that kind of swagger, that kind of energy."

Perhaps the only things standing in the way of Adams and Melifonwu being touted as an elite safety tandem is improved play in pass coverage by Melifonwu. He is an intriguing prospect with size (listed at 6-foot-3, 216 pounds on UConn's roster), speed and intelligence. With two seasons as a starter under his belt, there's no reason he can't make strides defending the passing game.

Adams loves the potential of the secondary which includes the stating quartet from the latter stages of the season.
"I am very excited to see what our secondary can do," Adams said. "We worked hard in the offseason and in the spring on our pass defense. Jhavon is becoming a great player, he is becoming a great leader. Jamar Summers has some games under his belt last year so I am excited to see what he is going to do and Obi plays right next to me, I am excited to see what he is going to do. He is a freak athletically, he can run out of the gym, he is so fast and I have taken some extra time in the film room to study with him. I am just excited to see what we are all going to do as a group.

"We definitely know each other very well now, he knows what I am going to do before I do it and I am pretty sure he know what I am going to do before I do it. That definitely helps us, we have each other's back on the field.

"We are excited that we can improve. We have a lot of returning starters, we have grown as a defense, the chemistry has grown in the spring and over the summer we have worked on our defense. "

If there is any uncertainty surrounding the secondary it would center around who will be the No. 3 and 4 cornerbacks. It was a role filled by Summers last season before Byron Jones' season-ending injury.

"Brice McAllister got some snaps last year, he is a good player, he is coming along really well, we have Javon Hadley, I like Hadley, he is small but he is feisty. he will stick his nose in on the run and he is not afraid of anybody so I like where we are at (with) the corner position."

McAllister, Hadley and converted John Green got a bit of a baptism of fire a season ago and the game experience they were able to get a season ago could start paying dividends this season.

On Monday's conference call with the media UConn football coach Bob Diaco said that starting safety Obi Melifonwu, who appeared to injure his shoulder with 4:34 left in the second quarter of the loss to Temple when he dove at the legs of Temple running back Jamie Gilmore, is considered day to day and he is hopeful that Melifonwu will be able to play against Tulane on Oct. 11.

Diaco said Melifowu, who is third on the team with 20 solo tackles, was having his best game of the season before he was injured.

The news is not as promising on starting right tackle Dalton Gifford and backup safety Ellis Marder who Diaco said with both "be out a while" with lower-leg injuries suffered against Temple. I didn't see when Gifford was injured but he barely played at tackle following the opening series. When he did come back, he was clearly hobbled on the play resulting in Temple's second defensive touchdown while Marder, who had two tackles and a fumble recovery on special teams, needed help getting to the sidelines after going down on Saturday. After Melifonwu went down Marder was the player summoned off the bench to replace him and saw the majority of snaps at the position before he was injured.

Although Gifford started, Andreas Knappe played almost the entire game on Saturday. Redshirt freshman Tommy Hopkins will be Knappe's primary backup while Gifford is sidelined.

"He is a freshman trying to get better," Diaco said. "He will do a fine job, tough guy hard worker and wants to be good."

Diaco also didn't make a big deal out of former Hand High star Matt Walsh making his first career start at fullback against Temple saying that he likes both Walsh and Jazzmar Clax, who started three games this season (UConn went with two tight ends and no fullback to open up against Boise State. Diaco said Clax had a good week but also likes the progress he has seen from Walsh.

"I like them both," Diaco said. "I want to be sure we are honoring the preparation, creating accountability. The only way to do to do what we say and what we make important is important. Jazz has some great skills and ability and Matt is coming on too."

The bye week will not only give Melifonwu time to get healthy but should help backup quarterback Tim Boyle heal from his lower-leg pain. Diaco said if Boyle is health enough his plan is to play him every game and he is open to utilizing receiver Deshon Foxx at quarterback in future games. 

In our dealing with UConn football coach Bob Diaco he's been pretty positive when discussing individual players. If he is less than thrilled with what he's been seeing on the practice field those thoughts are usually not conveyed to the media. However, that was not the case when he recently discussed the play of the starting safeties.

Diaco couldn't say enough good things about Obi Melifonwu but when it came time to discuss the progress of Andrew Adams, Diaco said "he started in a very nondescript way." In Diaco's discussion of players to outsiders, that's about as damning as it gets.

Diaco did say that the safety and outside linebackers are the most complex in the defense they will be running at UConn. I've seen countless stories about this year's Notre Dame saying how the new regime is so much more open to playing younger players because the defensive scheme isn't quite so challenging to pick up.

Diaco admitted that some veteran players "have kind of been turned into freshmen."

Adams is a key member of the UConn defense. He has starting experience in each of the last two seasons and Diaco has been encouraged by what he has seen from him recently in practice.

Adams admitted that there have been some growing pains but he believes he is heading in the right direction.

"I am getting back into the swing of things," Adams said. "It is a process and it takes time so I keep working to get better every day on the field and eventually I will be there."

Adams finished seventh on the 2013 UConn squad with 42 tackles despite missing four games due to a shoulder injury suffered during preseason camp. Among returning players only fellow secondary stalwarts Byron Jones and Obi Melifonwu had more solo tackles than the 28 Adams recorded, He also had two of the team's 13 interceptions so he is being counted on for big things this season.

"We are going into the second week and everything is starting to get better," Adams said. "I am starting to see improvement. I just have to communicate into the right defense, try to be a leader on the defense, be vocal and safety is one of the cornerstone positions on the defense so I am trying to get everybody set and calm."

Diaco expressed concern about finding players to back up Adams and Melifonwu. Wilbert Lee is the most experienced of the reserve safeties. He had 10 solo tackles a season ago and along with Jordan Floyd, they are the ones who have gotten their feet wet. True freshman Anthony Watkins is listed as a cornerback but in the last practice the media was able to watch, he was working with the safeties but most of the other players I saw out there were walk-ons so that is something to keep in mind if something were to keep Adams or Melifonwu off the field.

"(There's a) collection of guys who are going to be able to do the jobs, it's almost like a Frankenstein. We have pieces, we have some tangibly gifted players who aren't necessarily the best football intelligent players at this point in their career or we have a player who has a high level of football intelligence and not have the tangible traits that the other guy has so it is like Frankenstein and we will sum it all up together and get the production we need."

Sean McQuillan, who had 25 catches as a sophomore, was only player
from UConn named to the All-AAC first team by Athlon magazine.

In the take it for what it is worth department, Athlon has been making predictions of not only order of finish but also the preseason all-conference teams.

Tight end Sean McQuillan was the only UConn player named to the first team while receiver Geremy Davis was the only other offensive player selected as he was a second-team pick.

On defense, tackle Julian Campenni and cornerback Byron Jones were named to the second team while safety Obi Melifonwu was a third-team selection.

In the team prediction side of things, Athlon had UConn finishing 5-7 and 3-5 in conference play which would put the Huskies tied with Memphis and Southern Methodist for sixth place. The magazine had Cincinnati and East Carolina finishing at the top of the conference with 7-1 records.

Few positions on the 2013 UConn squad drew more criticism this season than the offensive line and the secondary. Since I was among those pointing out their shortcomings, I figured it was only equitable that I give credit where credit is due.

Quarterback Casey Cochram receivers Geremy Davis and Deshon Foxx and linebacker Yawin Smallwood garnered most of the post-game accolades following the 45-10 win over Memphis and it was well deserved. However, the play of the offensive line and safeties should not be ignored.

It was not a great start for the line as the first seven of the first 10 plays resulted in no gain or negative yardage.

Once the decision was made o rely on high-percentage passes, UConn took the game over.

UConn quarterbacks attempted 55 passes and not only did Memphis not record a sack, but there was only one time I remember when a Memphis defender even got a hand on Cochran.

"What they’ve gone through the season, the criticism they’ve had and everything we’ve been through for the last four or five games to go out and protect like they did for 55 passes was impressive," UConn interim coach T.J. Weist said. "They really came together well, they really gave Casey the ability to make those decisions, make those throws and proud of their mentality. Early in the first quarter we were frustrated, we couldn’t run and we were getting beat up front. We shifted gears a little bit and they came together."

While three of the offensive linemen who started were seniors, the way the unit came together late in the season is a good sign moving forward.

"The offensive line was doing great," Foxx said.. "They’ve been doing great, the whole team had their struggles at the beginning of the season and it wasn’t just the offensive line but everybody."

Safeties Andrew Adams and Obi Melifonwu came into the game have combined for four turnovers (three interceptions and a fumble recovery). All they did was combine for 16 tackles, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and interception. While there were times when the cornerbacks struggled against Memphis, the safeties were rock solid in pass coverage while providing run support,

"We got on each other in practice about making turnovers," Adams said. "We were doing our assignment because we know we have a big role in our defense these past few weeks in practice we got on each other and it paid off in the game."

Like so many others UConn safety Ty-Meer Brown was captivated by the events transpiring in last week's Louisville/Central Florida game.

The Huskies' second-leading tackler watched the majority of the game and saw redshirt junior quarterback Blake Bortles bring UCF from 21 points down to stun previously undefeated Louisville with 31 points in the final 18:02.

"I didn’t catch the whole game as we were in meetings but I caught the majority of it," Brown said. "It was a big-time game with two great teams that came down to the wire, it was exciting."

Aside from the pure entertainment value, Brown came away impressed with what he saw from the offensive playmakers on the Central Florida team.

One running back (Storm Johnson) ran for more than 100 yards and had 79 more yards on four receptions while another (true freshman William Stanback) ran for 65 yards and two TDs. The Knights also had six different receivers with multiple receptions.

Coming off a nightmarish defensive effort in a loss to Cincinnati, Brown knows the Huskies need to be better this week.

"It is going to be a challenge for our defense as a whole, our line getting to him and making him a little unsettled and the defensive backs being able to cover longer," Brown said.

"We have to make sure we cover well on the back end so we give the defensive line to get to the quarterback."

Redshirt freshmen Jhavon Williams and Obi Melifonwu struggled against Cincinnati as it looked as if the Bearcats targeted the two least experienced members of the secondary.

"They are still in there, they are still young and they are still learning," Brown said. "We have faith in them because if we didn’t they wouldn’t be in the game and they are going to continue to grow. Experience is the game is going to give these guys confidence and allow them to play better.