ANNAPOLIS —- Navy is giving Travis Bridges a look on defense.
The 6-foot, 318-pounder is working with the Midshipmen’s defense during spring practice after playing on the offensive line last year. He appeared in 11 games during the fall as an offensive guard.
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“Just wanted to see another big guy inside,” coach Ken Niumatalolo said Monday. “It’s just experiment. If it doesn’t go well, we can always move him back to guard. Travis is one of our few 300-plus guys, so we wanted to see what he looked like at nose. He moves well.”
Nose guard is one of Navy’s least experienced positions. Pre-spring starter Alex Doolittle made two starts last year and had three tackles in eight games. Reserves Barry Dabney and Drew Kinsella had no tackles last season. All three will be juniors next season.
Bridges began the spring as a second-stringer at left guard, a position where Josh Cabral has made 25 consecutive starts. Hence the willingness to at least look at Bridges on defense.
“The kid can definitely help us at guard, but we also feel he can help us at nose guard,” Niumatalolo said. “If he’s in the mix, in the top two, at nose guard, we’ll keep him there. If not we’ll move him back to guard.”
—- Patrick Stevens
