The Reminder that gave Nasir Addison the Confidence he needed in First Career Start

The injury bug has continually plagued the Kentucky cornerbacks. It feels like every time one player gets healthy, another gets injured, creating a rotating door at the position.

DJ Waller suffered a hamstring injury in week one and has not returned since. Terhyon Nichols filled in admirably, but he got dinged up against Eastern Michigan, forcing Kentucky to give Kevis Thomas a chance. When he got beaten a couple of times, the Maryland transfer was relegated to the sideline, forcing true freshman Grant Grayton into action.

Nichols got bit by the injury bug again in the loss to Tennessee. Chris Collins and Brad White needed somebody to step up and start against Auburn. They turned to junior Nasir Addison.

The New Jersey native has exceptional positional athleticism. It’s why he’s been a gunner on the special teams units since he stepped on campus as a freshman. However, aside from last year’s loss at Tennessee, he had not played significant snaps at cornerback.

The unproven Addison had a mighty task against Auburn’s talented wide receivers. This week, he admitted that he was nervous ahead of his first career start.

“I’m going to be 100% honest (You know it’s going to be good whenever a player responds to a question with that statement), I watched my high school tape to give me confidence,” Addison said.

“I called my coaches from back home, just let them know the situation. And the first thing my coach said was, ‘Remember, you’re here for a reason. You’re one of the guys that they trust to get the job done.'”

Addison needed to watch his old highlights to remind himself, “I’m that dude.” It took one play to confirm that he is, in fact, that dude.

“They tried to throw a hitch. He pins it to the ground against a really good receiver (Cam Coleman),” said Brad White. “That was a confidence boost for everybody, for him, for his teammates, for me, his play-caller, the whole deal. And he just continued through the entire night, so really proud of how he played, and now he’s gotta just keep stacking performances.”

“I think the biggest thing was getting my confidence, getting those nerves out,” added Addison. “The first couple plays, always just are nerve-wracking plays, but just breathing and understanding what’s going to happen on different changes, and knowing what Coach White wants to get done with the defense. Things slowed down to get job done.”

Addison got the job done against the Tigers. He had five solo tackles, preventing Auburn from turning short passes into big gains. Even though DJ Waller is trending toward a return against Florida, Addison’s play on The Plains has put him on a path to receive more opportunities to develop in the Kentucky secondary.