Here’s what I observed today. Please pay attention to the notes that follow for some context. One more note: players are grouped more by teams than who they’re behind, so a player listed on the second team may not technically be “behind” the player he’s listed behind within his position group.
DEFENSE
DE Dare Odeyingbo Drew Birchmaier
DT Cameron Tidd Rutger Reitmaier
DE Dayo Odeyingbo Stone Edwards
OLB Josh Smith Kenny Hebert
ILB Jordan Griffin Feleti Afemui
ILB Andrew Rector Colin Anderson
OLB Caleb Peart Andre Mintze
CB JoeJuan Williams Tae Daley
CB Donovan Sheffield Randall Haynie
FS LaDarius Wiley Gil Barksdale
SS Zaire Jones Frank Coppet
It’s sometimes hard to discern the pecking order on the front seven, and especially the defensive line. When practices are outdoors, they scrimmage on the far end of the field with the defense facing us. That means we’re shielded by the offensive line and often, coaches and players behind them.
Today, I was able to watch indoors from above, which helped a lot.
Anyway…
DEFENSIVE LINE: It looked to me like the Odeyingbo brothers and Tidd were getting the largest number of reps on Monday. I’m less certain about the second team, because they shuffle guys in and out a bunch, but I thought those listed above were the three playing the most. But, I also saw Darion DeBrossard out there at end some, with Jonah Buchanan at the other end, and Josiah Sa’o (in the middle, I think) some. I would look for DeBrossard to have the biggest impact among those latter three, and I’m not sure that he might not be running second-team ahead of Stone Edwards.
And again, Jalen Pinkney’s not out there to figure in the mix, and I don’t think we will see him this spring.
LINEBACKER: Smith and Peart were consistently getting first team reps, but Hebert and Mintze are seeing the field a good bit, too. Vanderbilt listed Rector as safety, but I don’t remember seeing him getting reps there, and he’s consistently on the field with the first team. The mystery is where Dimitri Moore fits. I suspect he’d be challenging Rector for first-team reps if he were out there. Anderson and Afemui saw the field inside a decent amount on Monday. I think Brayden DeVault-Smith is running third team on the inside, but he was out there a decent amount in scrimmage conditions today, too. I had high hopes for Michael Owusu becoming a pass-rushing force on the outside when he came to campus. I don’t think he moves as well as Hebert or Mintze based on watching him today but I’ll keep an eye on that.
CORNERBACK: This is a potential problem area after Williams. Sheffield has consistently been the No. 1 guy opposite him. The second-team guys didn’t seem to be getting a ton of reps compared to how VU was substituting at other spots, but I could be wrong there. Remember, Daley moved over from safety and so that’s new for him in terms of college experience, and Allan George is wearing a red shirt, so he’s limited. That leaves Randall Haynie (who did a good thing or two Monday) and Elijah Hamilton (who was on the field some Monday) … and … those are all the corners on the roster, walk-ons included. It’s no mystery as to why they signed a ton of corners in the 2018 class.
SAFETY: They’ve very thin here in terms of experience. Wiley has a spot locked down, and Jones probably does too. These guys are playing most of the time, though I did see Frank Coppet some today. Austin Quillen has constantly been hurt and we haven’t seen him out there at all this spring. Rector is now a linebacker. So, this explains why walk-on Gil Barksdale is the second-team safety for now. Again, there’s a terrific chance for new faces to play here. I haven’t asked them about moving Daley back to safety, but I wonder if that’s a possibility.
Feel free to ask about anything I may have missed. I try to pay attention to everyone on scholarship and their potential role, but I will miss guys from time to time.
DEFENSE
DE Dare Odeyingbo Drew Birchmaier
DT Cameron Tidd Rutger Reitmaier
DE Dayo Odeyingbo Stone Edwards
OLB Josh Smith Kenny Hebert
ILB Jordan Griffin Feleti Afemui
ILB Andrew Rector Colin Anderson
OLB Caleb Peart Andre Mintze
CB JoeJuan Williams Tae Daley
CB Donovan Sheffield Randall Haynie
FS LaDarius Wiley Gil Barksdale
SS Zaire Jones Frank Coppet
It’s sometimes hard to discern the pecking order on the front seven, and especially the defensive line. When practices are outdoors, they scrimmage on the far end of the field with the defense facing us. That means we’re shielded by the offensive line and often, coaches and players behind them.
Today, I was able to watch indoors from above, which helped a lot.
Anyway…
DEFENSIVE LINE: It looked to me like the Odeyingbo brothers and Tidd were getting the largest number of reps on Monday. I’m less certain about the second team, because they shuffle guys in and out a bunch, but I thought those listed above were the three playing the most. But, I also saw Darion DeBrossard out there at end some, with Jonah Buchanan at the other end, and Josiah Sa’o (in the middle, I think) some. I would look for DeBrossard to have the biggest impact among those latter three, and I’m not sure that he might not be running second-team ahead of Stone Edwards.
And again, Jalen Pinkney’s not out there to figure in the mix, and I don’t think we will see him this spring.
LINEBACKER: Smith and Peart were consistently getting first team reps, but Hebert and Mintze are seeing the field a good bit, too. Vanderbilt listed Rector as safety, but I don’t remember seeing him getting reps there, and he’s consistently on the field with the first team. The mystery is where Dimitri Moore fits. I suspect he’d be challenging Rector for first-team reps if he were out there. Anderson and Afemui saw the field inside a decent amount on Monday. I think Brayden DeVault-Smith is running third team on the inside, but he was out there a decent amount in scrimmage conditions today, too. I had high hopes for Michael Owusu becoming a pass-rushing force on the outside when he came to campus. I don’t think he moves as well as Hebert or Mintze based on watching him today but I’ll keep an eye on that.
CORNERBACK: This is a potential problem area after Williams. Sheffield has consistently been the No. 1 guy opposite him. The second-team guys didn’t seem to be getting a ton of reps compared to how VU was substituting at other spots, but I could be wrong there. Remember, Daley moved over from safety and so that’s new for him in terms of college experience, and Allan George is wearing a red shirt, so he’s limited. That leaves Randall Haynie (who did a good thing or two Monday) and Elijah Hamilton (who was on the field some Monday) … and … those are all the corners on the roster, walk-ons included. It’s no mystery as to why they signed a ton of corners in the 2018 class.
SAFETY: They’ve very thin here in terms of experience. Wiley has a spot locked down, and Jones probably does too. These guys are playing most of the time, though I did see Frank Coppet some today. Austin Quillen has constantly been hurt and we haven’t seen him out there at all this spring. Rector is now a linebacker. So, this explains why walk-on Gil Barksdale is the second-team safety for now. Again, there’s a terrific chance for new faces to play here. I haven’t asked them about moving Daley back to safety, but I wonder if that’s a possibility.
Feel free to ask about anything I may have missed. I try to pay attention to everyone on scholarship and their potential role, but I will miss guys from time to time.
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