Here is a link to the full article in Sportico.com.

https://www.sportico.com/business/finan ... 234733152/

(stole this from Dore74 (XIV site)

Oh my

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More on 2025 WR Clarence Taylor out of Pleasant Grove (Ala.)

Really feel we are building an advantage here:

Stanford - - the PAC12 is just really weak now and either they should add SDSU, BSU, Fresno and what Utah St(?) or try to work out some sort of new “Continental Conference” with another weak P5 conference: the ACC. Stanford may be toast.

Northwestern - - this thing keeps gaining momentum. Another day another allegation. Reminds me of the Penn State fiasco but Penn State has much more of a resiliency to emerge and frankly (pun intended) has emerged. Not sure if their facilities package is proceeding forward or will be delayed or will be scrapped? They are facing an avalanche of lawsuits, penalties, bans, scholarship reductions etc before this is all said and done. Northwestern may be toast.

Duke - - seem to have hired the right coach. ACC is weak and may get even weaker if some of the top programs move to the SEC. Duke is meh.

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)

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What concept do you think it is?
Thanks for playing!

Caught up with Sandy Creek (Ga.) product Dalen Penson, who camped at Vandy in June and picked up an offer. He returned to West End this past weekend and is really liking the Commodores so far

How is he looking? I know we have high hopes for him, but havent heard alot from camps on how he is performing.

Sounds like Hugh Freeze is trying to temper expectations. The guy is a helluva coach though. Id love to beat them and get an all time winning record against them. Right now its 21-21-1.

I've got kid duty at home and Billy will be there for us. However, Billy has to work his regular job producing George Plaster's show, so, I'd say there's a decent chance we won't have a report up until later tonight. Thanks for your patience.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2 (PRACTICE NO. 7)
Saw almost all of practice today, it was held outdoors. A lot of scrimmaging with just about everybody healthy getting in there, but a lot several key guys—ANCHOR CJ Taylor, S Jalyen Mahoney, S DeRickey Wright were three of the more important guys still out—not playing.
Today’s thoughts have no particular order, sorry about that, I’m in a bit of a time crunch

It could be just me and it could mean nothing because this is the feeling-it-all-out portion of camp and it’s not always a full-on pass rush because of contact restrictions but it feels as if the offensive play-calling has been more aggressive than in the past under this staff.

The passing game was very hit-and-miss today. On the first play of practice, QB AJ Swann made an ill-advised throw and got picked by S Savion Riley, who’s taken advantage of his chance to play more with Mahoney barely seeing the field this fall. Riley later broke up what might have been a TD throw (not sure who the QB was on that one).

I think CB Martell Hight might have the best closing burst of their corners. Hight broke quickly on a ball today that QB Ken Seals threw and knocked it away. My way, way-too-early list of “true freshman most likely to play this year” would be he, WR Junior Sherrill, (who had another TD today, can’t remember if that was 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 portion) WR London Humphries and DT De’Marion Thomas.

WR Ezra McAllister had maybe the best play I’ve seen him make since he’s been here, taking a long throw from Seals and turning int into a long TD.

CB BJ Anderson had a pick today when WR Will Sheppard had a rare miscue, tipping a ball to where Anderson could snag it.

LB Ethan Barr picked QB Drew Dickey on a 2-point play today.

Seals had rare back-to-back picks today when Hight got one and LB Langston Patterson did the same on the next play.
I continue to like DE Darren Agu, who’s probably more thought of as a pass-rush threat, but has shown up pretty well in the run at times.

I haven’t talked about freshman linebacker Bryan Longwell much but he made a nice play or two today. I think he’s playing the “middle” spot, where Ethan Barr and Langston Patterson are ahead of him, and I presume Prince Kollie, too.

G Delfin Xavier Castillo got in a little time at center today; I’m guessing that’s a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency preparation with OL Grayson Morgan continuing to be sidelined.

DL coach Larry Black seemed to indicate DL Christian James would be back soon, though I’ll believe that when I see it since I don’t recall him even going through drills yet.

The biggest question I have is, how much better is the secondary? And I don’t think that one gets answered for a while. It’s still been too easy for the quarterbacks at time but some of that has come against something less than a full-on pass rush (I think that’s by design) and most of that without the three best safeties on the team (if you consider Taylor a safety). Obviously it has to be a concern based on in-game production the last three years. I still can’t tell whether they like Truedell Berry or Tyson Russell better at the boundary corner (Anderson seems close to a lock to start on the field side) and of course, Hight’s quick development could help. Seeing Riley show up in the spring and fall has been encouraging. S Steven Sannienola should be able to help too, but I just don’t remember him being out there much and I’m pretty sure that’s a workload/soft-tissue situation, where they are always cautious.

So, what should the reader make of practice reports here? For now, take them more as observations of things that happened than sweeping statements, and maybe pay more attention to scrimmages, and especially the ones closer to the season.

This may have come up in another thread, but I would like to publicly apologize to McDonald's. The money was delivered in Chick Fil A bags, not McDonald's bags. Even though I was mislead by the mainstream sports media, that is no excuse. I should have waited until all the facts came out before making derogatory statements about McDonald's bags being used to pay off players. I would also like to specifically apologize to the hashbrowns and EggsMcMuffins.

Again, McDonald's you have my heartfelt apology.

Mets closer, Edwin Diaz, appears to have torn his ACL jumping up and down and celebrating PRs win over the DR. The Mets just signed him to a 5 year $102M contract.

This seems like an incredible group. I keep reading about London Humphries and Sherril making plays. I remember years ago we would complain that our WRs couldnt get separation, and rarely had someone who can throw to them. If we have a running back emerge our offensive could be really something. Losing Ray Davis really stinks, had he stayed he could have had a monster year with our passing game being where it is.