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The Cardinal Countdown: 10 Days Until Kickoff

By CardinalStrong
Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

#10 Jaire Alexander

Class: Freshman

Ht/Wt: 5-11/170

Position: Cornerback

Hometown: Charlotte, NC

Twitter: @No_pariah

Thoughts: Go ahead and get out your cellphone, the little notebook by the bed you jot things down in, the pad of paper you keep by the fridge, whatever it is you use to keep track of various things in your life, and write down the name JAIRE ALEXANDER. Why, you ask? So when your friends and acquaintances say “damn, who is that kid” you can point them back to this note from August 26th and tell them you’ve known for quite some time that he was going to be great.

Jaire was an early enrollee in January and few may remember Petrino’s comments at that time about trying to steal Alexander from the defensive side of the ball. Jaire actually played wideout, as well as corner, at Rocky River High School in Charlotte so he did have experience playing both sides of the ball and Petrino could tell he was a playmaker. While Petrino may have placed some early 'Mike Marra' hype on him, the spring and fall camps have done nothing to disprove that. In fact, Jaire may have actually boosted his already heightened expectations in just a few months on campus. Not only are the coaches on board but local media and national media, have pegged Jaire as a potential breakout star in the Cards  revamped secondary. Jaire has speed and he has great hands (will likely get time as a returner on special teams) but what has impressed the coaches the most is simply his ability to play the corner position so well at such a young age. He has the intangibles needed to succeed early (playing the ball, foot placement, bump and run coverage, etc) and Grantham has already praised his willingness to learn. I called out Trumaine Washington as my starting corner opposite Shaq because he has the edge on experience, but Alexander will definitely play, not just this season, but most likely Day 1 against Auburn. We may be young, but as I talked about yesterday with Dee Smith, we have buckets full of talent in the secondary that are just waiting their turn in the spotlight. When I write the post for Alexander next season I have a pretty strong feeling I won’t have to tell he’s a future star…because he may already be one.

Sweet Tweet:

Hot Rod Holliman, L’s Up, Ali shirt…told you dude is gonna be a stud.

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