HARRISONBURG — Through two weeks of James Madison preseason camp, five true freshmen have impressed coach Mike Houston.

Last week, Houston said defensive end John Daka, linebacker John Kinney, safeties Bryce Maginely and Adam Smith as well as offensive lineman Mac Patrick could see the field in their first seasons on campus.

Patrick — a product of Hanover High School in Mechanicsville — is taking reps at guard with the second-team. Coaches have said it is extremely difficult for freshmen to see action up front since the size differential between players on the line of scrimmage in high school and in college is drastic.

“You don’t see it very often, but [offensive line coach] Jamal [Powell] and I have talked about it,” Houston said. “I think Mac can play as a sub interiorly for us right out of the gate and then the hope by mid-season is that he’s a guy we can rely on to be in the rotation.”

Last year at The Citadel, Houston played a true freshman — Tyler Davis — on the offensive line. Davis appeared in 10 games and Houston said he thinks Patrick is capable of the same.

Powell — is in his second season at JMU — had a hand in recruiting Patrick and the other four offensive linemen from the 2016 signing class.

“I had a feeling that all five guys we recruited we’re going to be pretty special,” Powell said. “But Mac has shown that he can pick up a lot of stuff really well and that he has no problem with contact.”

On defense, Daka, Kinney, Maginely and Smith have all appeared with the second-team at some point during training camp, but during JMU’s first scrimmage of the preseason Saturday, Daka earned some first-team snaps.

Daka would’ve had four sacks in the game-like practice, but quarterbacks were in non-contact red jerseys.

“John [Daka] got some extra reps and really took advantage of some of those reps,” Houston said. “I think he’s got a chance, but you also saw some bonehead mistakes by him. He had an offsides during the two-minute drill, which is a situation when you know the offense is going to try to get a cheapy. He has to learn through that stuff.”

The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder will play in situational roles on defense, while also contributing on special teams. In clear-cut pass rushing opportunities, JMU could use Daka on one side of the defensive line with preseason All-American Andrew Ankrah crashing toward the quarterback from the other.

“There are situations where we want to get our best pass rushers on the field, so certainly I think that combination would be part of it,” Houston said.

Throughout camp, Daka has also run with the first-team kickoff coverage unit.

Last fall, Kinney racked up 158 tackles at Hermitage High School and was a VHSL 5A First-Team All-State choice. Kinney is vying for a role in linebackers coach Byron Thweatt’s rotation.

“John is the most aggressive guy in the group and that includes Gage [Steele], Brandon [Hereford] and Dimitri [Holloway],” Thweatt said. “But sometimes he’s an unguided aggressive. He’ll go 100 mph, but into the wrong gap. As long as he can grasp the concepts, he’ll play.”

Kinney is also a backup to Hereford and Holloway in JMU’s nickel package.

Thweatt said he expects Kinney to pickup everything he’s being taught by the start of the season. Kinney’s task in the final week of preseason camp will be to show Thweatt that he knows enough of the playbook.

“Coming in as a true freshman typically you need guys to get bigger and stronger, but he came in big and strong,” Thweatt said. “The thing is that he has to learn the defense. As a true freshman, we’ve started him off slow to get the base fundamentals out of the way. Now, we can progress him.”

Freshman quarterback Cole Johnson showed he can handle executing in JMU’s offense, but Houston said the team will likely redshirt the Virginia Beach native. JMU doesn’t have a reason to waste a year of Johnson’s eligibility since two veterans — Bryan Schor and Connor Mitch — will occupy the starting and backup roles.

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