By Tyler Barto
Twitter: Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Despite early woes in pass coverage last season, Lorenzo Waters emerged as a quick study against the run. The first-year starter finished with 6.5 tackles for loss, the most in Rutgers' secondary.

Why was Waters, a junior, so effective?

"I blitz a lot," Waters joked Friday after Rutgers' first training camp practice. "I'm used to it. When I'm down there I know exactly what to do."

Waters frequented the box, giving Rutgers' sixth-best run defense in 2012 an eighth defender. But the Scarlet Knights are introducing a novice, senior Jeremy Deering, at free safety.

Lorenzo Waters: "I'll call the plays (in the secondary)." (Tyler Barto)

Deering had never played the position before spring practice. He barely played defense in high school. It could affect Waters' ability to play instinctively.

"We're going to do whatever's best for the team," Waters said. "It doesn't really have to do with the individual. He's going to be ready to do whatever we ask, so that's what we're counting on."

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Deering will not have to make the secondary's calls in response to offensive formations. That falls to Waters, who will need to see the whole field first before inching toward the box.

Waters figures to remain a regular near the line of scrimmage, where Rutgers will break in a redshirt freshman MIKE for the first time in recent memory. How much he'll do so is unclear.

"It depends on how the coaches are feeling, it depends on the scheme we're trying to go with, what the other team is doing," Waters said. "It depends how they're playing us. That's going to determine how often I'm in the box and what I'm going to do."