Trey Morrison
Photo by: Davonte Anthony
GoHeels Exclusive: Morrison Ready For Round Two
March 13, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
When Trey Morrison arrived in Chapel Hill nine months ago, he didn't anticipate having as prominent of a role as he did during his first season on the North Carolina football team.
A three-star recruit from Norcross, Ga., he didn't have the advantage of enrolling early. But fellow freshman defensive back Bryson Richardson did. Morrison was also joining a secondary comprised of veterans such as Corey Bell Jr., J.K. Britt, Myles Dorn, Patrice Rene and K.J. Sails.
"I'm not going to lie, I didn't really know at all," said Morrison after UNC's third spring practice last Thursday. "But I just kept working hard and everything fell in place."
With his determination and playmaking ability, Morrison became the starting nickelback during training camp. He then posted three tackles and played almost every snap in his first career game against California. Although he said he was "a little rattled" that day, he never appeared to be, not then nor at any other point during his impressive freshman campaign.
Morrison ultimately played in all 11 of the Tar Heels' games and started 10. He recorded 46 tackles, two sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss and four pass breakups en route to finishing fifth in the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
Of his 46 tackles, 40 were solo. Those were the third most on the team. They were also the most by a Carolina freshman since 2007, when redshirt freshmen Kendric Burney and Deunta Williams and true freshman Charles Brown had 40, 40 and 43, respectively.
Tackles can be a misleading statistic since there are instances when a defender makes a tackle despite doing more things poorly than well on a play. But that was rarely the case with Morrison.
Pro Football Focus defines a stop as a "win" for the defense or conversely a "loss" for the offense. PFF describes a stop further as an offensive gain on first down that is kept to less than 40 percent of the line to gain, less than 50 percent of the line to gain on second down and any third- or fourth-down play kept without a first down or touchdown.
According to PFF, 13 of Morrison's tackles in coverage were considered stops. Those were tied for the third most among ACC cornerbacks, and reflect his ability to anticipate where the ball is going and make tackles in space. He also demonstrated the latter when defending the run.
"He's the best open-field tackler I've seen," Tomon Fox said. "Like, you cannot make him miss. That's what really rubbed off on me. I like that we can count on him to go make a tackle when we need it, and he's not going to get shook or anything like that."
Because of that and the other skills he displayed last season, Morrison figures to assume an even larger role entering his sophomore season this fall.
New defensive coordinator Jay Bateman is expected to employ an aggressive scheme. He's developed a track record for creating a variety of personnel packages and reads based on the opposing offense. That places a premium on versatility. And Morrison's shown plenty of that.
"The new scheme is real different," Morrison said. "Playing nickel, I'm really everywhere on the field, in coverage, and I blitz way more. It's different. I like it a lot."
The new coaching staff also seems to be pleased with Morrison, whose first week of spring practice was highlighted by two interceptions on the first day.
"Trey has got really good instincts," Mack Brown said. "He loves to play. He's got a lot of spirit. He's tough. He's got very good hands. He dropped an interception (Thursday), which is unlike him. But I think he's one of those guys who is just a really good football player because he can play in space."
That, as well as Morrison's athleticism, could lend itself to him seeing time at strong safety next season following the loss of Britt to graduation. He could also play at the outside cornerback spot opposite of Rene or continue seeing time at nickelback.
Regardless of what position he's in, Morrison knows one thing he wants to be.
"My second year, I feel like I need to be a bit more of a leader of my team," he said, "and just helping everybody get together."
The 2019 season doesn't kick off until August. But Morrison anticipates his role, already more significant than he expected, will expand.
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When Trey Morrison arrived in Chapel Hill nine months ago, he didn't anticipate having as prominent of a role as he did during his first season on the North Carolina football team.
A three-star recruit from Norcross, Ga., he didn't have the advantage of enrolling early. But fellow freshman defensive back Bryson Richardson did. Morrison was also joining a secondary comprised of veterans such as Corey Bell Jr., J.K. Britt, Myles Dorn, Patrice Rene and K.J. Sails.
"I'm not going to lie, I didn't really know at all," said Morrison after UNC's third spring practice last Thursday. "But I just kept working hard and everything fell in place."
With his determination and playmaking ability, Morrison became the starting nickelback during training camp. He then posted three tackles and played almost every snap in his first career game against California. Although he said he was "a little rattled" that day, he never appeared to be, not then nor at any other point during his impressive freshman campaign.
Morrison ultimately played in all 11 of the Tar Heels' games and started 10. He recorded 46 tackles, two sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss and four pass breakups en route to finishing fifth in the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
Of his 46 tackles, 40 were solo. Those were the third most on the team. They were also the most by a Carolina freshman since 2007, when redshirt freshmen Kendric Burney and Deunta Williams and true freshman Charles Brown had 40, 40 and 43, respectively.
Tackles can be a misleading statistic since there are instances when a defender makes a tackle despite doing more things poorly than well on a play. But that was rarely the case with Morrison.
Pro Football Focus defines a stop as a "win" for the defense or conversely a "loss" for the offense. PFF describes a stop further as an offensive gain on first down that is kept to less than 40 percent of the line to gain, less than 50 percent of the line to gain on second down and any third- or fourth-down play kept without a first down or touchdown.
According to PFF, 13 of Morrison's tackles in coverage were considered stops. Those were tied for the third most among ACC cornerbacks, and reflect his ability to anticipate where the ball is going and make tackles in space. He also demonstrated the latter when defending the run.
"He's the best open-field tackler I've seen," Tomon Fox said. "Like, you cannot make him miss. That's what really rubbed off on me. I like that we can count on him to go make a tackle when we need it, and he's not going to get shook or anything like that."
Because of that and the other skills he displayed last season, Morrison figures to assume an even larger role entering his sophomore season this fall.
New defensive coordinator Jay Bateman is expected to employ an aggressive scheme. He's developed a track record for creating a variety of personnel packages and reads based on the opposing offense. That places a premium on versatility. And Morrison's shown plenty of that.
"The new scheme is real different," Morrison said. "Playing nickel, I'm really everywhere on the field, in coverage, and I blitz way more. It's different. I like it a lot."
The new coaching staff also seems to be pleased with Morrison, whose first week of spring practice was highlighted by two interceptions on the first day.
"Trey has got really good instincts," Mack Brown said. "He loves to play. He's got a lot of spirit. He's tough. He's got very good hands. He dropped an interception (Thursday), which is unlike him. But I think he's one of those guys who is just a really good football player because he can play in space."
That, as well as Morrison's athleticism, could lend itself to him seeing time at strong safety next season following the loss of Britt to graduation. He could also play at the outside cornerback spot opposite of Rene or continue seeing time at nickelback.
Regardless of what position he's in, Morrison knows one thing he wants to be.
"My second year, I feel like I need to be a bit more of a leader of my team," he said, "and just helping everybody get together."
The 2019 season doesn't kick off until August. But Morrison anticipates his role, already more significant than he expected, will expand.
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Players Mentioned
Cornerback
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Safety
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Safety
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Cornerback
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Cornerback
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