Top 10 Army Black Knight Seniors to Watch in Pre-Season
West Point bills itself as the premiere leadership development institution in United States and reputation that is obviously well deserved. As such, seniors are expected to be the leaders in the Corps of Cadets in all activities, including each of the varsity teams.
In this article GoBlackKnights.com identifies the Top Ten seniors we expect to lead the team in pre-season.
In addition to contributing on the field, each of these seniors will be expected to provide leadership to underclassmen in their charge. There are only 16 seniors left on the roster going into pre-season, but they still have a lot of talent in their small numbers and the following 10 are the guys we expect to see leading the team into the fall.
1. Jeremy Timpf (Will Linebacker): Timpf begins his second year as a co-captain after being one of the few players in Army history to be elected to the job in his junior season. Timpf has played a key role in the improvement of the defense in the past two years, with 24 consecutive starts. He led the team in tackles as a sophomore and was selected for the Bednarik and the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch lists. He tied with Andrew King for the team lead in tackles last season. Timpf also grabbed 3 interceptions his sophomore year, and we expect to see him helping out in coverage again this year when he’s not plugging gaps in the line.
2. Andrew King (Mike Linebacker): King shares official team leadership duties with his fellow inside linebacker, Jeremy Timpf, this season as he begins his third year as the starter at MLB. King tied with Timpf for the lead in total tackles last season while leading the team in tackles for loss and sacks in 2015. His 16.5 tackles for loss tied him for 21st in the FBS last season. King is the emotional leader of the defense and has been named to the watch list for the Bronco Nagurski Award given to the best defensive player in the FBS as well as to the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list.
3. Edgar Poe (Wide Receiver): Poe caught a lot of passes for an Army wide receiver last year, and caught the attention of the national media on two occasions, with spectacular catch and run efforts against Fordham and Rutgers. In each case, he took the ball out of the hands of a defender and ran it for a touchdown, showing exceptional balance to stay in bounds on the run versus Rutgers. Poe led the team with 16 receptions for 441 yards and 6 touchdowns last year, and was voted Most Valuable Player by his teammates. Poe has a lot of Army fans believing that in the passing game again and, if nothing else, he’ll keep defensive coordinators more honest this coming season.
4. Justin Gilbert (Offensive Lineman): Gilbert started all 12 games as a sophomore, but sat out his entire junior year due to an injury he suffered in the pre-season of 2014. He returned to the starting lineup last season and was granted a fifth year of eligibility this season, as he assumes the mantle at the seasoned veteran of the offensive line with 20 career games that include 18 starts. Gilbert is listed on the depth chart as the starting Right Tackle, but he has started at both guard positions in the past, and offers some versatility on the line.
5. Xavier Moss (Safety): Moss begins his second year in the defensive backfield after starting at wide receiver his first two years. Moss is probably the most gifted athlete on the team, and we watched him mature into his new role as a defensive back last season. He was always good at tracking down a loose runner in the backfield, but we saw him learn to anticipate better and he also showed improvement in his tackling the last few games. As it was, he finished third on the team in total tackles last year and contributed an interception and 6 passes defended. We would be disappointed if he did not improve on those numbers in 2016. Moss is one of Monken’s secret weapons on offense as shared time with the wide receivers this spring and was used in a couple of passing situations last year with one catch for 21 yards.
6. Jordan Smith (Defensive Lineman): Smith enters his third year as a starting defensive end in Bateman’s 3-4 defense with 20 career starts. Smith contributed 47 tackles last season, including 2.5 tackles for loss, and his two blocked kicks tied for 7th in the entire FBS in that statistic. Smith will share some of his playing time with fellow senior, Eddy Ruzga, who we didn’t include in our top 10 list, but expect to be a major contributor on the defense as well.
7. Steven Johnson (Cornerback): Johnson has had an up and down career in his three years on the team, but we expect to see him mature and hold down a starting role at CB this season, taking over a position that a lot of fans hoped that Josh Jenkins would play this year. Johnson is still somewhat of a diamond in the rough, despite the fact that he’s starting his senior year with 3 earned varsity letters, 21 career games, and 9 starts. Johnson played only one season of high school football and coaches recognized his talent early but couldn’t decide how to best exploit it as he has bounced from CB to Safety to Special Teams, contributing at each but never holding down a starting assignment for an extended time. The talent is there, and we’re hoping that ShaDon Brown will be the coach who can hone those talents into a full-time starter and major contributor.
8. Colby Enegren (Offensive Lineman): Enegren enters pre-season listed as the starter at Left Guard, and, if he remains healthy, we expect him to mature into a regular starter on the offensive line this season. Enegren started 3 games as a sophomore in 2014, but was limited to a reserve role for most of last season, in part due to injuries. Keeping an experienced offensive line together for the entire season is one of the keys to success we will be looking for this year.
9. Joe Walker (Slotback): Walker enters his third season as a slotback in the Monken offense, and we would normally expect to see him listed as the starter at the A-Back position, but he faced some stiff competition last year, and he will have to beat out Jordan Asberry for the starting spot in the depth chart. Monken likes to rotate his slotbacks regularly; so we expect to see Walker on the field quite often this fall either way. Walker carried the ball 27 times for 304 yards last season with 1 touchdown as he and Asberry finished nearly tied for 6th in rushing. He has been equally or perhaps more valuable as a receiver with 2 catches for 85 yards and 2 TDs in 2015 and 5 catches for 96 yards in 2014. He’s another one of Monken’s secret weapons as a passer with 2 completions in 3 attempts for 29 yards and a TD in the past two seasons, which would equate to a ridiculously high 257.87 efficiency rating.
10. Mitchell Howard (Place Kicker): Howard is the dark horse on our list of 10 top seniors going into pre-season, and frankly, we’re not certain that he’ll hang onto the spot he currently holds as the team’s top place kicker. What we do know is that having a good, reliable placekicker is an essential for success, and Howard is listed at the top of the depth chart in that position coming out of spring practice. He’s also the only senior on his unit of special teams, making him the de facto leader of that group.
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