The Cardinal Countdown: 57 Days Until Kickoff

#57 Dayna Kinnaird

Class: RS Sophomore

Ht/Wt: 6-3/254

Position: Defensive Line

Hometown: Jeffersonville, IN

Twitter: @DaynaKinnaird

Thoughts: Dayna is another local kid (Jeffersonville) the Cards picked up a couple years back to try and add some depth to the front seven. Kinnaird was a preferred walk-on back in 2017 and took a redshirt his first year while getting back to 100% after an early injury. Kinnaird didn’t see any action last year but just like the rest of the roster will have a chance to prove to the staff he deserves some reps up on the line.

I try and take a moment each year to highlight players similar to Kinnaird. Guys who may have been in the program 2,3, even 4 years and haven’t see much time. Maybe they never see a live snap during their career or maybe their impact isn’t felt until they become upperclassmen but make no mistake, these guys work their tails off every single day the same as they guy who plays every snap. In the video below, which highlights D-Line Coach Mark Ivey, you’ll see numerous snapshots of Kinnaird (#57) going through the drills, getting coached up, and going full speed the whole time…

Kinnaird played a little outside linebacker and defensive end in high school and I honestly think he could be utilized in either spot at this level. Right now he’s taking reps with the D-line but depending upon what the staff views as a greater position of need I could see Dayna’s speed on the outside translate well. His size allows him to flex as he is slightly oversized at OLB but slightly undersized at DE, but could easily shift in either direction if necessary. Just as I spoke about before, Coach Brown’s new system makes play from the DE position take on an even larger role than the previous 4-3 alignment. Instead of just pinning your ears back the ends need to have gap discipline and realize that taking a wide angle and trying to use pure speed on the outside leaves a 3-4 yard hole between them and the nose tackle, an invitation for a easy 4 yard gain. I think Coach Ivey has some solid options this year at that spot and it’ll be interesting to see if Kinnaird gets into that rotation in 2019.

Sweet Tweet:

All signs point to Dayna’s entire family being big Cards fan for quite some time now. It never gets old seeing a local kid dream about playing for his hometown team and then turning that dream into a reality. Good on you Dayna. Keep grinding.