Five things to watch with Miami Hurricanes defense in Spring Game

4. Who is going to be the primary backups in the secondary?

After having to rebuild the secondary last season, Miami is fairly secure in who the starters will be in the secondary. Jackson and Johnson are the leaders in the defensive backfield. Sheldrick Redwine is likely to hold on to be the starter at free safety as he was a season ago.

Jhavonte Dean and Trajan Bandy are battling to be the second starter at cornerback. Bandy played a lot last season in the nickel package. The question with Bandy is can he cover the bigger wide receivers on the outside?

Freshmen D.J. Ivey and Gilbert Frierson have been playing well this spring at the corners. Gurvan Hall was impressive at safety before suffering an injury that ended his Spring two weeks ago. Al Blades Jr. and Nigel Bethel will enroll later this summer.

5. Who will be the second starting defensive tackle?

Miami doesn’t have a lot of depth at defensive tackle this Spring. Pat Bethel is the most likely candidate to start next to Willis this fall. He had 18 tackles last season backing up McIntosh, Norton and third defensive tackle Anthony Moten who graduated.

Next: Miami Hurricanes defensive line far ahead of offensive line

Freshmen Nesta Silvera and Jordan Miller will enroll at Miami later this summer. Miller is more of a project. Four-star signee Silvera was ranked the second-best defensive tackle in the country, the 54th best player overall and 11th best player in Florida.