GENERAL NEWS AND NOTES
Practice began about 7:15 and was held outside on the practice field. I was there for all of it.
This was the first practice in pads.
There will be a practice on Saturday morning that Justin Angel will cover for us. Then, the team has a full week off. Spring break starts after today.
NON-PARTICIPANTS AND LIMITED PARTICIPANTS
DB Allan George was in a red jersey, and saw some action in one-on-one type drills with receivers.
LB Charles Wright was in street clothes with a boot in his left foot. That’s obviously not something anyone wanted to see.
I did not see OL Ean Pfeifer on the field today. Pfeifer missed a lot of last season with what are believed to be concussion issues, and while I haven’t said this before now, I was surprised to see him out there on Monday. He shares 57 with Josiah Sa’o, and there’s the chance I confused the two, but if memory serves, I believe I saw Pfeifer working out with the offensive line on Monday.
I also did not see DL Jalen Pinkney. I had heard some concerns that he may not be out there this spring. I forgot to check for that on Monday.
Both are listed on the official roster that VU handed out for spring practice. We’ll continue to monitor this.
OL Sean McMoore (formerly “Auwae”) also wasn’t out there. I saw him Monday and he was working out but not actively practicing. I don’t expect we will see him in action this spring.
I kept looking for S Austin Quillen, TE Turner Cockrell and LB Michael Owusu today but didn’t see any of them. On Cockrell and Osusu, I don’t have any indication this means anything. Quillen hasn’t been healthy probably as often as not since he’s been here, so that may be something to watch.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES AND TEAM NOTES
The first team offensive line today:
RT Devin Cochran
RG Bruno Reagan
C Egidio DellaRipa
LG Cole Clemens
LT Justin Skule
First team secondary (no surprises here):
CB JoeJuan Williams
CB Donovan Sheffield
S Zaire Jones
S LaDarius Wiley
S Tae Daley was getting a lot of reps also.
TE Braden Kopp was getting a lot of early reps, especially when they practiced running plays.
LS Tommy Schiager was the snapper for kicking work today.
In case you missed it, yes, DL Rutger Reitmaier is practicing and wearing No. 94.
LBs Andre Mintze and Kenny Hebert were grouped with the defensive linemen today in positional workout groups for a short spell. I figured that meant we’d see them lining up off the edge and coming after the passer, which we did later.
DE Stone Edwards is listed at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds. The 6-5 looks legit. I think someone must have forgotten to update the weights because he looks at least 275 to me. The look test can be deceiving, but physically he *looks* like the kinds of ends you see at upper-tier SEC programs.
I watched WR James Bostic for a bit today. I was never crazy about the signing at the time because I didn’t know if he was fast enough, but he looks a little longer and has maybe added some lean muscle since high school, and looks a little quicker than I remembered him. He made a nice catch on Sheffield on a curl route about 10-15 yards downfield.
Can’t remember if we’ve mentioned this before, but DB Frank Coppet is playing safety.
DB Elijah Hamilton and WR Alex Stump both wear No. 15, and I did a double-take when they went up against each other. Hamilton made a nice play to prevent a catch along the left sideline when they went up against each other. It was going to be a tough grab for Stump and Hamilton made a nice play.
WR C.J. Bolar made a nice catch on a ball across the middle that was thrown slightly behind him in one-on-ones with DBs. He made a similar catch from QB Kyle Shurmur in 11-on-11s a couple minutes later.
S LaDarius Wiley had a pick on a ball that Shurmur threw right to him. Don’t know if someone ran the wrong route, or what. Wiley came up with another turnover later; my head was turned at the start of the play to talk to someone but I think it was on a fumble.
Shurmur’s next throw went behind TE Jared Pinkey and was almost picked. It was far from Shurmur’s best practice.
QB Deuce Wallace had a nice throw to WR Jackson Winrow that went for about 25 yards in 11 on 11s.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
I won’t elaborate because I don’t want to respect the staff and don’t want to abuse my practice privileges, but I saw VU working a time or two on the kinds of things I think they need to do more of, in terms of offensive schemes. It’s practice, and I have no idea if it carries over to games, but just thought U’d share the observation.
I’m starting to suspect that C.J. Bolar will be a factor as a true freshman. It’s something to watch as the spring progresses.
I didn’t see a lot of RB Keyshawn Vaughn today—RB Khari Blasingame got more of the reps—but he broke loose down the right sideline for a long run in 11-on-11s. He’s got legit SEC speed. I can understand why they are really excited about him. Based on really, really limited observation time (so take it FWIW) I suspect they’ve not had a back with his breakaway capability since Warren Norman was healthy.
I was asked to watch WR Alex Stump today. I didn’t see him get a lot of reps in 11-on-11s. What I’ve been told privately is that he can really help, but health has been an issue. Future practices will reveal whether today was a one-off thing or something to go on the radar of concern.
The defense seemed to focus a lot on stripping the ball and it got a few today. Outside of Vaughn, I was not impressed with the offense today. Maybe some minds were on spring break.
I said last practice report that there weren’t a lot of red jerseys. I still think there are fewer injured players than there were this time last year, but what VU seems to be doing is just holding most out of practice instead of playing them.
I wouldn’t be alarmed about Wright—it’s not exactly uncommon to see players held out in spring and be fine in fall—but the Jalen Pinkney and the Pfeifer absences are potential causes for concern.
Owusu intrigued me as a recruit; again, no reason to read anything into him not being there if it’s one-off thing because it may have been a lab or something but I think he’s got the kind of frame and athleticism to help them. So that’s something to watch.
Practice began about 7:15 and was held outside on the practice field. I was there for all of it.
This was the first practice in pads.
There will be a practice on Saturday morning that Justin Angel will cover for us. Then, the team has a full week off. Spring break starts after today.
NON-PARTICIPANTS AND LIMITED PARTICIPANTS
DB Allan George was in a red jersey, and saw some action in one-on-one type drills with receivers.
LB Charles Wright was in street clothes with a boot in his left foot. That’s obviously not something anyone wanted to see.
I did not see OL Ean Pfeifer on the field today. Pfeifer missed a lot of last season with what are believed to be concussion issues, and while I haven’t said this before now, I was surprised to see him out there on Monday. He shares 57 with Josiah Sa’o, and there’s the chance I confused the two, but if memory serves, I believe I saw Pfeifer working out with the offensive line on Monday.
I also did not see DL Jalen Pinkney. I had heard some concerns that he may not be out there this spring. I forgot to check for that on Monday.
Both are listed on the official roster that VU handed out for spring practice. We’ll continue to monitor this.
OL Sean McMoore (formerly “Auwae”) also wasn’t out there. I saw him Monday and he was working out but not actively practicing. I don’t expect we will see him in action this spring.
I kept looking for S Austin Quillen, TE Turner Cockrell and LB Michael Owusu today but didn’t see any of them. On Cockrell and Osusu, I don’t have any indication this means anything. Quillen hasn’t been healthy probably as often as not since he’s been here, so that may be something to watch.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES AND TEAM NOTES
The first team offensive line today:
RT Devin Cochran
RG Bruno Reagan
C Egidio DellaRipa
LG Cole Clemens
LT Justin Skule
First team secondary (no surprises here):
CB JoeJuan Williams
CB Donovan Sheffield
S Zaire Jones
S LaDarius Wiley
S Tae Daley was getting a lot of reps also.
TE Braden Kopp was getting a lot of early reps, especially when they practiced running plays.
LS Tommy Schiager was the snapper for kicking work today.
In case you missed it, yes, DL Rutger Reitmaier is practicing and wearing No. 94.
LBs Andre Mintze and Kenny Hebert were grouped with the defensive linemen today in positional workout groups for a short spell. I figured that meant we’d see them lining up off the edge and coming after the passer, which we did later.
DE Stone Edwards is listed at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds. The 6-5 looks legit. I think someone must have forgotten to update the weights because he looks at least 275 to me. The look test can be deceiving, but physically he *looks* like the kinds of ends you see at upper-tier SEC programs.
I watched WR James Bostic for a bit today. I was never crazy about the signing at the time because I didn’t know if he was fast enough, but he looks a little longer and has maybe added some lean muscle since high school, and looks a little quicker than I remembered him. He made a nice catch on Sheffield on a curl route about 10-15 yards downfield.
Can’t remember if we’ve mentioned this before, but DB Frank Coppet is playing safety.
DB Elijah Hamilton and WR Alex Stump both wear No. 15, and I did a double-take when they went up against each other. Hamilton made a nice play to prevent a catch along the left sideline when they went up against each other. It was going to be a tough grab for Stump and Hamilton made a nice play.
WR C.J. Bolar made a nice catch on a ball across the middle that was thrown slightly behind him in one-on-ones with DBs. He made a similar catch from QB Kyle Shurmur in 11-on-11s a couple minutes later.
S LaDarius Wiley had a pick on a ball that Shurmur threw right to him. Don’t know if someone ran the wrong route, or what. Wiley came up with another turnover later; my head was turned at the start of the play to talk to someone but I think it was on a fumble.
Shurmur’s next throw went behind TE Jared Pinkey and was almost picked. It was far from Shurmur’s best practice.
QB Deuce Wallace had a nice throw to WR Jackson Winrow that went for about 25 yards in 11 on 11s.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
I won’t elaborate because I don’t want to respect the staff and don’t want to abuse my practice privileges, but I saw VU working a time or two on the kinds of things I think they need to do more of, in terms of offensive schemes. It’s practice, and I have no idea if it carries over to games, but just thought U’d share the observation.
I’m starting to suspect that C.J. Bolar will be a factor as a true freshman. It’s something to watch as the spring progresses.
I didn’t see a lot of RB Keyshawn Vaughn today—RB Khari Blasingame got more of the reps—but he broke loose down the right sideline for a long run in 11-on-11s. He’s got legit SEC speed. I can understand why they are really excited about him. Based on really, really limited observation time (so take it FWIW) I suspect they’ve not had a back with his breakaway capability since Warren Norman was healthy.
I was asked to watch WR Alex Stump today. I didn’t see him get a lot of reps in 11-on-11s. What I’ve been told privately is that he can really help, but health has been an issue. Future practices will reveal whether today was a one-off thing or something to go on the radar of concern.
The defense seemed to focus a lot on stripping the ball and it got a few today. Outside of Vaughn, I was not impressed with the offense today. Maybe some minds were on spring break.
I said last practice report that there weren’t a lot of red jerseys. I still think there are fewer injured players than there were this time last year, but what VU seems to be doing is just holding most out of practice instead of playing them.
I wouldn’t be alarmed about Wright—it’s not exactly uncommon to see players held out in spring and be fine in fall—but the Jalen Pinkney and the Pfeifer absences are potential causes for concern.
Owusu intrigued me as a recruit; again, no reason to read anything into him not being there if it’s one-off thing because it may have been a lab or something but I think he’s got the kind of frame and athleticism to help them. So that’s something to watch.
