Jarrick Bernard-Converse Excited About the Defense in 2020
STILLWATER – Even though Oklahoma State returns 10 of 11 starters on defense, the secondary is going to look just a little different than it did in 2019. Safety Jarrick Bernard-Converse and corner Thomas Harper have traded positions for 2020 and, obviously, there’s a new corner in Missouri transfer Christian Holmes.
So, as many of the defensive players we’ve gotten to speak to over the past couple of weeks have said, it’s really like returning all 11 starters with Holmes.
"You know he's been playing for a long time,” Jarrick Bernard-Converse said of Christian Holmes. “He brought some experience from Missouri and he's just been getting better every day. He brought a lot of juice to the secondary, he's been keeping us active and he's just been getting better and making us better too. He's also a great leader."
According to the depth chart put out by Oklahoma State earlier this week, Bernard-Converse, who made the switch down to corner over the offseason, has earned the starting spot opposite of redshirt senior Rodarius Williams.
"It's not much different like you said, but I'll say corner you have to cover less space," said Bernard-Converse. "Because the cover safety position you got a two-way go, you've got the other side of the field and you've got the boundary you can go. But at corner, I feel like you've just got one little area, but it's not much different. You're still covering at the end of the day. You still got to know what you're doing, know the defense and what the offense is trying to do to you."
This is a year where I'd say Bernard-Converse, as well as nearly every other defensive play on the team, know the defense pretty well and are poised for a great season.
"I'm really excited. I'm looking forward to it," said Bernard-Converse. "I feel like we can be the best it's ever been up here. We've got some really good potential. We just got to go out there and focus. Lock in."
Bernard-Converse has had a great start to his Cowboy career. He started in the last nine games of the 2018 season and recorded 59 total tackles, which ranked fifth on the team. Fast forward to 2019 and the defensive back out of Shreveport (LA) Evangel Christian recorded 54 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, five pass break ups and one interception.
