Jamerson has all the tools
Senior making the move to safety
MADISON – The tale of the tape favors Wisconsin senior Natrell Jamerson.
Given the task of replacing Leo Musso at safety, Jamerson is bigger, stronger and faster than his predecessor.
“This dude is athletic,” fellow safety D’Cota Dixon said recently. “He is pound-for-pound the strongest on the team. I think he is the most athletic guy on this team, to be honest. He has it all.”
Jamerson, who played wide receiver as a freshman in 2014 and cornerback in ’15 and ’16 before moving to safety in the spring, carries a chiseled 198 pounds on his 6-foot frame. He put up 405 pounds on the bench press earlier this summer.
Musso’s physical tools were underrated, but he didn’t record a team-high five interceptions and finish second on the team in tackles with 74 on talent alone.
The standout from Waunakee was always around the ball, understood angles and found a way to bring down physical and elusive runners in the open field.
In addition, he and Dixon were in sync from Day 1 last season under firstyear secondary coach Jim Leonhard.
“I think he (Jamerson) can be just as effective as Leo as long as he is able to continue to communicate,” said Dixon, who started all 14 games in 2016. “I think what helped Leo and I wasn’t so much our individual athleticism, it was more us working together.”
Despite all his physical tools, Jamerson is naturally quiet. He doesn’t bloviate and he isn’t a chatterbox on the field.
“Everybody knows I’m not a very loud person,” Jamerson said.
Jamerson’s ability to bark out calls to Dixon and the rest of the secondary has improved gradually.
“He is much more consistent with the playbook, so he is much more confident being vocal,” Dixon said. “He knows his job. He even knows my job. We’ve been switching. Coach Leonhard has been switching us more and that is making communicate even more.
“He has come a long way since the spring. And with all his athleticism, it makes it almost easy for me. In certain defenses and certain coverages, when I give him a call I know he has the speed to get over the top.”
The decision to move Jamerson to safety wasn’t made in a rush. Leonhard talked to then-defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox last season about that option as he looked ahead to ‘17.
“I moved him right after the season, really,” said Leonhard, who took over as defensive coordinator after Wilcox was named head coach at California. “When they came back in the winter I told him: ‘Make sure you start taking a look because this is what’s going to happen.’”
Jamerson has shown in camp he is willing and able to attack the line of scrimmage.
“I like it,” Jamerson said. “Having the opportunity to come downhill and make plays like that? I love it just as much as I love being in coverage. It is fun. Those are the type of plays you dream for.
“If I can hit you, I’m going to hit you as hard as I can. I know I’m physical enough. I like being physical. Any chance I get, I’m going to show it.”
But will Jamerson be able to handle his coverage responsibilities?
As a cornerback, Jamerson was able to focus on his man and not worry about peeking into the backfield to read the eyes of the quarterback.
That isn’t the case at safety.
“The biggest difference for him is just learning how to see things from deep,” said Leonhard, an All-American safety at UW. “Whether he is in the middle of the field or playing quarters (coverage) and he is 10 to 12 yards deep. He has never done that. I thought throughout the spring he made a lot of progress. You could just see the comfort level take the next step when he got into fall camp.”