The starters

Cornerbacks

A.J. Green (Sr., 6-1, 190) Rodarius Williams (RJr., 6-0, 187)

Safeties

Malcolm Rodriguez (Jr., 6-0, 205)

Jarrick Bernard (So., 6-2, 195) Kolby Harvell-Peel (So., 6-0, 210)

Key backups

Kemah Siverand (RSr., 6-1, 200) Bryce Balous (RSr., 5-11, 190) Tre Sterling (RSo., 6-1, 202) Tanner McCalister (So., 5-11, 185)

Jason Taylor II (RFr., 6-2, 195) Thomas Harper (Fr., 5-11, 165)

Scouting ahead

This season: Going back to the spring, Oklahoma State's secondary was clearly viewed as the strength of the defense. Five starters return in coordinator Jim Knowles' 4-2-5 scheme, plus some backups who played crucial minutes.

Knowles will lean heavily on his defensive backs early in the year while the front six grows up and develops depth. With a pair of third-year starters at cornerback in Green and Williams, OSU has something a lot of teams covet. And the experience gained by players such as Bernard, Harvell-Peel and McCalister as true freshmen last fall will pay dividends.

Harper has been the surprise emergence in the group, coming in as one of the smallest players on the roster, but making his presence known in the spring as an early enrollee. He's at the top of the list of true freshmen with a chance to play immediately, both as a backup cornerback and return man.

The future: The Cowboys brought in three defensive backs in the 2019 recruiting class and have four more committed in 2020, led by Korie Black of Connally High School in Waco, Texas, and Jabbar Muhammad from the Dallas suburb of DeSoto.

The Pokes also have a pair of in-state products with Zach Middleton from Tulsa Kelley and Jordan Reagan from Bixby. With 19 scholarship defensive backs on the roster, and only three set to graduate, the Cowboys have built depth throughout the secondary to fit Knowles' defensive plans.