Air Force notes: Cobb emerges as clear favorite at fullback

Troy Calhoun doesn’t like to proclaim anyone a starter in August, but his endorsement of Wes Cobb at fullback is about as close as he’ll come to it.  

Cobb had been sharing repetitions with Mike DeWitt in camp. After DeWitt missed a block during Saturday’s scrimmage, he was quickly replaced in the lineup by Cobb and drew the ire of Calhoun.

After the scrimmage, Calhoun was asked about the fullback position and singled out Cobb, a junior who is a converted tailback.  

“What we’ve seen so far, Wesley Cobb, down in, down out, has been more consistent, on the field and off the field, everything that’s involved that way. You can’t have a better teammate,” Calhoun said. “He’s a warrior through and through.”

And if there was any doubt Calhoun was naming Cobb as the new favorite to start, he then made a stronger comment.

“He’ll be a solid fullback for us this year,” Calhoun said. “We need to have somebody else come on and emerge, because we need depth at that position.”

Cornerback shakeup

Josh Hall and Steffon Batts worked as the starting cornerbacks this week when Anthony Wright missed a couple days of practice.

When Wright returned Saturday, it was Batts who remained in the starting lineup, with Hall going to the second team. Calhoun praised Batts, but also mentioned that Chris Miller had a good week of practice. Batts was impressive in the first week of camp, which led to the promotion.

“I came out of spring a little more focused this year, just focused on what I had to do and not trying to do too much,” Batts said.

Kicker up in the air

Parker Herrington got the first repetitions at kicker during 11-on-11 drills with Erik Soderberg coming on next, which shows the battle over who will be Air Force’s kicker is far from over. Herrington hit a 55-yard field goal during the scrimmage.

“There’s no separation right now,” said Calhoun, who added that a third kicker – presumably Zach Hoffmann – is in the mix as well.