The team practiced in Vanderbilt Stadium, starting at 7, and starting with some 11-on-11 “thud” situations and moving to a full-contact scrimmage that VU media relations director Larry Leathers estimated at 30 plays. (I thought it might have been longer, but I didn’t count.)
Full disclosure: I missed the very first part of practice, but was told I didn’t miss anything of consequence.
PLAYERS NOT PARTICIPATING
DE Adam Butler (wore pads and was active in running around and even doing some light one-on-ones with a teammate)
OLB Landon Stokes
S Arnold Tarpley
LB Josh Smith (new addition; no pads)
RB Ralph Webb (wore pads, running throughout practice)
OT Andrew Jelks
OL Cole Hardin
DL Jay Woods ***
WR Caleb Scott
*** NOTE: There has been some scuttlebutt on the severity of the Jay Woods injury. Vanderbilt’s policy is not to comment much on injuries; all I can tell you was that Woods was not wearing pads and had his red jersey slung over his shoulder. I did not see any evidence of a brace, a sling, a cast, etc. He mostly stood still but when he moved, I didn’t see any limitations. Woods was riding the stationary bike just fine earlier in the week.
I did ask around a bit after practice. People have to be very guarded and non-specific in what they say, but the issue, as I understand it, is somewhere in one of his legs. They’re not sure what exactly the issue is, or even exactly where the problem is located, but he’ll be tested and they’ll probably know something by early next week. I’m confident I’ll have some information soon and when I do, I’ll pass that along.
PLAYER NOTES
PK Tommy Openshaw was solid on short field goal attempts up to 43 yards; his distance wasn’t great but it was enough. He probably tried a half-dozen kicks and pushed one wide right from 43 (an edge rusher got close to blocking that one.) He did hit a 45-yarder fairly well later. Again, they want Openshaw to concentrate strictly on kicking and he's not getting punting reps.
I thought LB Nigel Bowden looked good again in the run game. He’s quicker and was really active.
There’s been a lot of buzz about TE Jared Pinkney. He looks the part athletically and moves well but I haven’t seen the plays from him yet. Today he got open on a drag route across the middle and dropped a ball that hit him in stride and in the hands. Moments later, he redeemed himself on a catch along the right sideline off a Shurmur throw, breaking a weak tackle attempt and making about a 20-yard gain. But on the very next snap, he couldn’t handle a short throw from Shurmur and knocked the ball straight up in the air, where CB Torren McGaster made the pick in the end zone. It wasn’t an easy catch—Shurmur had to jam the ball in a tight window and Pinkney went low to try to get it—but it also could have been made. Later, Pinkney made another good play on a timing route where he turned and snagged a ball behind him.
RB Khari Blasingame continues to justify a move to that side of the ball. He made one nice short-yardage run in which he dragged a pile of tacklers for another 2-3 yards. He continues to show ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. RB Dallas Rivers hasn’t had a bad camp, but I continue to see more upside from Blasingame; we’ll wait to see how the coaching staff feels about this ability to pick up on the things we don’t see, but I would not be shocked if he passed Rivers on the depth chart.
RB Jalen Banks is also in his first year on that side of the ball. He had a nice run between LT and LG today for a few yards; with the emergence of banks and the fact that Jamauri Wakefield comes this fall, I’m not sure how much a factor he’ll be, but, I’ve seen some bursts from him here and there in recent practices.
LB Oren Burks made a nice play batting a pass out of the air as he rushed the QB, who on that play was Kyle Shurmur. A moment later, he got back-side pressure which forced Shurmur to get rid of the ball.
WR Darrius Sims was once again getting some reps in the running game, out of the backfield.
QB Wade Freebeck showed really nice touch on a town downfield for about an 18-yard game to TE Nathan Marcus; the ball got just out of the reach of Nigel Bowden and Marcus made a nice grab. The very next throw again went to Marcus in single coverage, as Marcus turned and made a really nice TD grab near the front of the end zone. It was a rough first week-and-a-half for Marcus, but he made plays today the way we’ve seen him make at his best. In both cases, the coverage was near and the ball couldn’t have been thrown better; they were really nice plays on both ends.
I watched the center position closely. OL Barrett Gouger got snaps for about the first 25 minutes of practice, then yielding way to Ean Pfeifer, who also got work with a number of first-teamers. Gouger moved to his left and played guard when Pfeifer came on and moments later was also playing some LT.
CB Taurean Ferguson got flagged on a deep ball to Sims. I don’t think the completion was going to be made. Ferguson nearly got a field-goal block off the edge a few minutes later.
After the pick, Shurmur recovered and had a nice day. He and Freebeck are generally making the throws that OC Andy Ludwig will ask of his QBs in this offense.
OLB Caleb Peart made a sack on the last two plays of the scrimmage.
TEAM NOTES
My biggest concern so far: There have been a bunch of quarterback-center exchange issues this spring, some on straight snaps and some on shotgun snaps. This happens with a new center but obviously this must get cleaned up between now and fall or that’s a disaster you don’t want.
On this… one really interesting thing that coach Derek Mason said today after practice was that LT Andrew Jelks could be a real possibility at center. Basically, he said they want to get their best five linemen on the field, and especially with the abilities of OT Justin Skule, they feel pretty good about the development of their tackles. You can hear his words in a video I’ll post later this morning.
When push comes to shove, I still think they'll have a hard time doing it. But Mason threw that out there and so it's worth noting.
The Shurmur-Freebeck competition has been a whole lot more interesting than I’d imagined. Honestly, if I knew nothing about the career of either, I’d probably consider Freebeck the favorite for the job. It’s not that Shurmur’s been bad, but Freebeck’s got a better arm and he’s really making the throws right now.
That said, a lot of Freebeck’s work has come against second-teamer and so it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. So don’t read much into it more than that; it’s just an observation, but it was interesting that Freebeck was the first name that Mason dropped post-practice today.
Either way, it’s good news for the offense. This will not be an explosive group, and despite the obvious improvements I see, people need to check their expectations here. It’s just not going to be an offense that thrives on big plays, and because of that limitation, your QBs have to be really accurate and you have to limit mistakes, and again, they’re not throwing to Chris Boyd and Jordan Matthews out there. We have not seen that in games yet, and you can’t claim that attribute until you consistently demonstrate it. But there’s little question in my mind that both quarterbacks, now two years into OC Andy Ludwig’s tenure, are more comfortable in the offense and more suited to make the kinds of shorter and intermediate throws that the team needs.
I didn’t focus much on the secondary today, but one observation from camp: This team really needs play-making DBs. McGaster getting that pick today was perhaps a step in the right direction. Edge-rushing is a big part of that and VU was able to generate some pressure today, but I don’t know how much to read into that given the fact that a lot of the guys who’ll be taking reps at tackles aren’t going to be involved in contact drills.
COMING LATER
Individual interview videos of Mason, Freebeck and Peart
Full disclosure: I missed the very first part of practice, but was told I didn’t miss anything of consequence.
PLAYERS NOT PARTICIPATING
DE Adam Butler (wore pads and was active in running around and even doing some light one-on-ones with a teammate)
OLB Landon Stokes
S Arnold Tarpley
LB Josh Smith (new addition; no pads)
RB Ralph Webb (wore pads, running throughout practice)
OT Andrew Jelks
OL Cole Hardin
DL Jay Woods ***
WR Caleb Scott
*** NOTE: There has been some scuttlebutt on the severity of the Jay Woods injury. Vanderbilt’s policy is not to comment much on injuries; all I can tell you was that Woods was not wearing pads and had his red jersey slung over his shoulder. I did not see any evidence of a brace, a sling, a cast, etc. He mostly stood still but when he moved, I didn’t see any limitations. Woods was riding the stationary bike just fine earlier in the week.
I did ask around a bit after practice. People have to be very guarded and non-specific in what they say, but the issue, as I understand it, is somewhere in one of his legs. They’re not sure what exactly the issue is, or even exactly where the problem is located, but he’ll be tested and they’ll probably know something by early next week. I’m confident I’ll have some information soon and when I do, I’ll pass that along.
PLAYER NOTES
PK Tommy Openshaw was solid on short field goal attempts up to 43 yards; his distance wasn’t great but it was enough. He probably tried a half-dozen kicks and pushed one wide right from 43 (an edge rusher got close to blocking that one.) He did hit a 45-yarder fairly well later. Again, they want Openshaw to concentrate strictly on kicking and he's not getting punting reps.
I thought LB Nigel Bowden looked good again in the run game. He’s quicker and was really active.
There’s been a lot of buzz about TE Jared Pinkney. He looks the part athletically and moves well but I haven’t seen the plays from him yet. Today he got open on a drag route across the middle and dropped a ball that hit him in stride and in the hands. Moments later, he redeemed himself on a catch along the right sideline off a Shurmur throw, breaking a weak tackle attempt and making about a 20-yard gain. But on the very next snap, he couldn’t handle a short throw from Shurmur and knocked the ball straight up in the air, where CB Torren McGaster made the pick in the end zone. It wasn’t an easy catch—Shurmur had to jam the ball in a tight window and Pinkney went low to try to get it—but it also could have been made. Later, Pinkney made another good play on a timing route where he turned and snagged a ball behind him.
RB Khari Blasingame continues to justify a move to that side of the ball. He made one nice short-yardage run in which he dragged a pile of tacklers for another 2-3 yards. He continues to show ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. RB Dallas Rivers hasn’t had a bad camp, but I continue to see more upside from Blasingame; we’ll wait to see how the coaching staff feels about this ability to pick up on the things we don’t see, but I would not be shocked if he passed Rivers on the depth chart.
RB Jalen Banks is also in his first year on that side of the ball. He had a nice run between LT and LG today for a few yards; with the emergence of banks and the fact that Jamauri Wakefield comes this fall, I’m not sure how much a factor he’ll be, but, I’ve seen some bursts from him here and there in recent practices.
LB Oren Burks made a nice play batting a pass out of the air as he rushed the QB, who on that play was Kyle Shurmur. A moment later, he got back-side pressure which forced Shurmur to get rid of the ball.
WR Darrius Sims was once again getting some reps in the running game, out of the backfield.
QB Wade Freebeck showed really nice touch on a town downfield for about an 18-yard game to TE Nathan Marcus; the ball got just out of the reach of Nigel Bowden and Marcus made a nice grab. The very next throw again went to Marcus in single coverage, as Marcus turned and made a really nice TD grab near the front of the end zone. It was a rough first week-and-a-half for Marcus, but he made plays today the way we’ve seen him make at his best. In both cases, the coverage was near and the ball couldn’t have been thrown better; they were really nice plays on both ends.
I watched the center position closely. OL Barrett Gouger got snaps for about the first 25 minutes of practice, then yielding way to Ean Pfeifer, who also got work with a number of first-teamers. Gouger moved to his left and played guard when Pfeifer came on and moments later was also playing some LT.
CB Taurean Ferguson got flagged on a deep ball to Sims. I don’t think the completion was going to be made. Ferguson nearly got a field-goal block off the edge a few minutes later.
After the pick, Shurmur recovered and had a nice day. He and Freebeck are generally making the throws that OC Andy Ludwig will ask of his QBs in this offense.
OLB Caleb Peart made a sack on the last two plays of the scrimmage.
TEAM NOTES
My biggest concern so far: There have been a bunch of quarterback-center exchange issues this spring, some on straight snaps and some on shotgun snaps. This happens with a new center but obviously this must get cleaned up between now and fall or that’s a disaster you don’t want.
On this… one really interesting thing that coach Derek Mason said today after practice was that LT Andrew Jelks could be a real possibility at center. Basically, he said they want to get their best five linemen on the field, and especially with the abilities of OT Justin Skule, they feel pretty good about the development of their tackles. You can hear his words in a video I’ll post later this morning.
When push comes to shove, I still think they'll have a hard time doing it. But Mason threw that out there and so it's worth noting.
The Shurmur-Freebeck competition has been a whole lot more interesting than I’d imagined. Honestly, if I knew nothing about the career of either, I’d probably consider Freebeck the favorite for the job. It’s not that Shurmur’s been bad, but Freebeck’s got a better arm and he’s really making the throws right now.
That said, a lot of Freebeck’s work has come against second-teamer and so it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. So don’t read much into it more than that; it’s just an observation, but it was interesting that Freebeck was the first name that Mason dropped post-practice today.
Either way, it’s good news for the offense. This will not be an explosive group, and despite the obvious improvements I see, people need to check their expectations here. It’s just not going to be an offense that thrives on big plays, and because of that limitation, your QBs have to be really accurate and you have to limit mistakes, and again, they’re not throwing to Chris Boyd and Jordan Matthews out there. We have not seen that in games yet, and you can’t claim that attribute until you consistently demonstrate it. But there’s little question in my mind that both quarterbacks, now two years into OC Andy Ludwig’s tenure, are more comfortable in the offense and more suited to make the kinds of shorter and intermediate throws that the team needs.
I didn’t focus much on the secondary today, but one observation from camp: This team really needs play-making DBs. McGaster getting that pick today was perhaps a step in the right direction. Edge-rushing is a big part of that and VU was able to generate some pressure today, but I don’t know how much to read into that given the fact that a lot of the guys who’ll be taking reps at tackles aren’t going to be involved in contact drills.
COMING LATER
Individual interview videos of Mason, Freebeck and Peart
