Today was all indoors, which was a nice escape from the summer heat. I got there early and got some good videos that will be up on my twitter later tonight. Since I saw the entire practice, there were a ton of things that stood out to me. Here are all the notes I took:
DNP:
-De’Rickey Wright
-CJ Taylor
-Jaylen Mahoney
Top 2 performers:
CB Martel Hight
- He made a few notable PBUs that caught my eye during both 1-on-1s and 11-on-11s.
- In particular, he made a deflection on a deep ball that looked like he came flying in out of nowhere. His instincts have stood out to me these last couple of practices.
- More and more, Hight and Berry look like the best options at corner, from what I’ve seen. Not that Tyson Russell and BJ Anderson have played poorly, but that Hight and Berry have simply made plays. In the SEC, you need corners that can make plays, plain and simple.
- Also, it's not like Hight has been doing this against chopped liver. He had a PBU against Will Sheppard that caught my eye during 11-on-11.
- In terms of Trudell Berry, he didn't pop as much as Hight did today, but he did make a really nice defensive play against London Humphreys. As he closed in on Humphreys towards the sideline, I thought Humphreys had caught the ball, but it turned out Berry had ripped the ball free at the last second. Plays like that are what Coach Lea wants in his defensive backs and Martel Hight & Trudell Berry have been making most of those types of plays.
WR Junior Sherrill
- He looked very good today, especially in the 11-on-11 session late in practice with the 2nd team offense.
- The Lipscomb Academy product has been dangerous with the ball in his hands the last couple of practices – had two catches today that reminded me a lot of what he did in high school
- When he committed to Vandy, I had heard from a few people that his "game speed" is legit. After watching him in 11-on-11 sessions, I can say that I 100% agree.
- You look at him on the practice field and you wouldn't necessarily expect much out of him, but he puts heart over height. As soon as he breaks the huddle, it's almost like he flips a switch and enters game mode. He's fun to watch with the ball in his hands.
- He'll certainly be used at times this season, he's too good to be sitting on the bench.
- Spoke with WR coach Alex Bailey after practice and he brought up both Junior Sherrill & London Humphreys: "I'm extremely pleased with him. Any time he gets a chance to make a play, he goes and makes it. He and London don't act like freshmen."
- I could tell Coach Bailey isn't surprised that his prized commits are already making their presence felt in camp.
A common theme for me so far in camp has been the 2023 freshman class stepping up and showing how talented they are. The corners
Martel Hight/Trudell Berry & the receivers
Junior Sherrill/London Humphreys have immediately made an impact, which makes me think they'll force the coaching staff to put them on the field this season. There's a lot of work to be done, of course, but the future is bright on West End with the influx of young talent.
Other notes:
- Ken Seals looked comfortable
- Drew Dickey made a great throw to Gamarion Carter toward the sideline
- London Humphreys looked good (got some reps with the ones)
- Gamarion Carter caught a nice pass from Seals also – can't forget about Carter, that's the scary part of this WR group
- Quincy Skinner was fairly active today as well
- Logan Kyle had a drop that he probably should’ve caught
- Chase Gillespie + Pat Smith rotated with the ones (Gillespie looked better than usual)
- Ethan Crisp was in the backfield a good bit during 11-on-11
- Kane Patterson stood out to me during 11-on-11 - that dude is extremely instinctive
- Langston Patterson plays with his head on fire
- The offensive line got a good push early in practice (Smith ran well behind them)
- The battle on the edge between Darren Agu and Gunnar Hansen has been fun to watch all camp
- Junior Uzebu actually looked pretty solid in 1-on-1s (the best out of all the offensive linemen) - He's improved a TON
- Leyton Nelson is BIG – and will be a dominant player in the future
- The defensive line continued to make it tough on the running game today
- Sedrick Alexander had a nice run.
- Savion Riley keeps standing out
- Jacob Borcila, Brock Taylor, and Will Farris all looked really good towards the end of practice during the live field goal session (Didn’t see many misses from any of them)
- Borcila hit the "game-winning" FG to end the practice
Defensive line standouts:
-Brayden Bapst got penetration
-Miles Capers got penetration (looks stronger)
-Jailen Ruth got penetration (athletic, needs to get bigger of course - I really like what I saw from him in 1-on-1s – projects really well)
-Aeneas DiCosmo looked good in 1-on-1s
-BJ Diakite looked really good in 1-on-1s (also got penetration during 11-on-11
-Nate Clifton &
Yilanan Outarra also looked good
-DL beat OL pretty consistently in 1-on-1s
-Nate Clifton picked off Drew Dickey in 11-on-11 (Clifton’s improvement throughout his career has been incredible to watch)
