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.
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.
