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SPORTS
Chuck Landon: Something's missing from Marshall's training camp
I love position battles.
There's nothing better than a good, ol' depth chart donnybrook during preseason football camp.
Mano y mano. Helmeto y helmeto. May the best hombre win a starting job.
It's what training camp is all about.
Well, usually.
That's one reason Marshall's 2008 camp hasn't been very entertaining. Much like hitting, the position battles have been few and far between.
Quarterback? Mark Cann has had the starting job sewn up for a while.
Running back? Chubb Small, Darius Marshall and Terrell Edwards will divvy up the carries.
Defensive line? It will be a rotation.
The linebackers, wide receivers, safeties, tight ends and kickers all are set.
That leaves only two position battles -- offensive tackles and cornerbacks.
The veteran tandem of right tackle Buck Baldridge and left tackle Brandon Campbell are battling the rookie combo of right tackle C.J. Wood and left tackle Ryan Tillman.
"The battle is going down to the wire. ... it's a fight to the finish," said Campbell. "Right now, it's two-for-two rotating."
Which means Campbell/Baldridge get two plays with the first-team offensive line and, then, Tillman/Wood get the next two plays.
Meanwhile, D.J. Wingate, T.J. Drakeford, Josh Miller and Dequan Bembry are battling for the two cornerback jobs. Wingate and Drakeford are getting the majority of first-team reps.
"Oh, there's a good position battle going on at corner," said Drakeford. "Every day we're learning more things and starting to get more comfortable with our technique and improving.
"Which is a good thing for us because it means we'll have more depth. We won't be just a two-cornerback team. We'll be a team that can rotate more corners in.
"So, it's a great battle. But we're taking it for the best, so we can have more depth at the cornerback position."
Wingate, a sophomore, started three games last season. Miller is a junior college transfer, while Drakeford and Bembry are red-shirt freshmen.
True freshman Ahmed Shakoor also has tossed his helmet in the ring, getting second-team reps while Bembry nurses a pulled groin muscle.
That adds several degrees of heat to the competition. Yet, it remains a friendly battle.
"Oh, we're the best of friends," said Drakeford. "We're a team. That's the main thing you have to understand. We're a brotherhood.
"In that cornerback room, we make sure everybody is ready to play. Like last year, it was a lot of J.J. (former corner J.J. Johnson who was kicked off the team) and Zearrick Matthews (sidelined with a broken foot).
"Instead of it being J.J. and Zearrick now, we have the depth of Josh Miller, Dequan Bembry, DeNathian Robinson, Kevin Perry. ... we have so many guys we can actually put in, no matter what."
Yet, the ultimate goal remains the same. ... hold onto those first-team reps.
"Oh, that's one thing I've got to do," said Drakeford. "I've got to make sure I hold on."
And the tackles?
"We'll find out at the end of this week who is going to come out on top," said Campbell. "We're coming after our starting jobs. We're trying to get those back."
Folks, that's as entertaining as this training camp gets.
Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 526-2827. E-mail him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.
