We'll have full coverage of the first practice throughout the rest of the night, but here are some early thoughts from the first session, per the staff members on hand (Alex, Anwar, Jason and Dustin).
***
Almost as soon as the team finished stretching and headed for the first drill of the spring, junior wide receiver Armanti Foreman walked gingerly over to the medical staff. No word yet on the specifics of what happened, but clearly it wasn’t the ideal start of camp for one of the team’s top offensive threats.
From the moment the quarterback drills began, senior Ty Swoopes took the first rep every time. In team drills, the three quarterbacks that were primarily used were first Swoopes with the first-team, Jerrod Heard with the second-team and Shane Buechele with the third-team. No one should get worked up over what happens with a single snapshot of a single practice, but Kai Locksley and Matthew Merrick very limited team session drills.
As far as first impressions from the three quarterbacks that took the most reps today:
On Swoopes: Had the best day of all the quarterbacks. There’s no need to get carried away with the hyperbole, but he was the best guy on the field at the position today.
On Heard: Little too inconsisent. Had a few turnovers and also had a few receivers drop passes on him today.
On Buechele: Wasn’t asked to do a lot today, mostly threw underneath stuff.
The first-team offensive line looked like this:
LT: Connor Williams
LG: Brandon Hodges
C - Zach Shackleford
RG: Patrick Vahe
RT: Kent Perkins
When the team was in three-man line drills, Elijah Rodriguez was taking snaps with the second-team offensive line at center, while Terrell Cuney worked at left guard, Garrett Thomas at left tackle, Alex Anderson at right guard and Tristan Nickelson at right tackle. In fact, when Hodges left the field in the middle of practice, Cuney replaced him at left guard. With Hodges out of the line-up, there was a definite dip in performance at the left guard spot.
Buck Major is still a major work in progress and probably isn’t a factor right now.
Also, the line drills are completely different than last year. The zone blocking drills are completely gone and it’s all man-gap, power football work. It’s like all school power football.
Sheroid Evans worked some with the second-team defense at cornerback and did a nice job of jamming Dorian Leonard twice at the line of scrimmage in drills, knocking him off if his untended route. Evans look like he’s put in some serious time in the weight room.
The first-team defense looked like this:
SDE: Bryce Cottrell
DT: Poona Ford
DT: Paul Boyette
Fox: Naashon Hughes
LB: Malik Jefferson
LB: Tim Cole
CB: Davante Davis
CB: Holton Hill
Nickel: P.J. Locke
S: Jason Hall
S: Dylan Haines
The second-team defense looked like this:
DE: Charles Omenihu
DT: Jake McMillon
DT: Chris Nelson
DE: Quincy Vasser
LB: Edwin Freeman
LB: Breckyn Hager/Anthony Wheeler
CB: Antwuan Davis/Sheroid Evans
CB: Kris Boyd
Nickel: John Bonney
S: DeShon Elliott
S: Kevin Vaccaro
When the team goes into it’s 4-3 alignment, Edwin Freeman is the player that joins Jefferson and Cole, as he fills in the spot at the weak-side linebacker.
Collin Johnson impressing from day one. Playing at the X-position with the first team and looks like a guy that is going to play a lot. Didn't make any plays in the team sessions with the first-team, but he was taking the reps.
Deandre McNeal is working with inside receivers and had a few drops today.
Bryce Cottrell was probably the best defensive player on the field tonight. He made plays throughout practice and it didn't matter who was blocking him.
***
Almost as soon as the team finished stretching and headed for the first drill of the spring, junior wide receiver Armanti Foreman walked gingerly over to the medical staff. No word yet on the specifics of what happened, but clearly it wasn’t the ideal start of camp for one of the team’s top offensive threats.
From the moment the quarterback drills began, senior Ty Swoopes took the first rep every time. In team drills, the three quarterbacks that were primarily used were first Swoopes with the first-team, Jerrod Heard with the second-team and Shane Buechele with the third-team. No one should get worked up over what happens with a single snapshot of a single practice, but Kai Locksley and Matthew Merrick very limited team session drills.
As far as first impressions from the three quarterbacks that took the most reps today:
On Swoopes: Had the best day of all the quarterbacks. There’s no need to get carried away with the hyperbole, but he was the best guy on the field at the position today.
On Heard: Little too inconsisent. Had a few turnovers and also had a few receivers drop passes on him today.
On Buechele: Wasn’t asked to do a lot today, mostly threw underneath stuff.
The first-team offensive line looked like this:
LT: Connor Williams
LG: Brandon Hodges
C - Zach Shackleford
RG: Patrick Vahe
RT: Kent Perkins
When the team was in three-man line drills, Elijah Rodriguez was taking snaps with the second-team offensive line at center, while Terrell Cuney worked at left guard, Garrett Thomas at left tackle, Alex Anderson at right guard and Tristan Nickelson at right tackle. In fact, when Hodges left the field in the middle of practice, Cuney replaced him at left guard. With Hodges out of the line-up, there was a definite dip in performance at the left guard spot.
Buck Major is still a major work in progress and probably isn’t a factor right now.
Also, the line drills are completely different than last year. The zone blocking drills are completely gone and it’s all man-gap, power football work. It’s like all school power football.
Sheroid Evans worked some with the second-team defense at cornerback and did a nice job of jamming Dorian Leonard twice at the line of scrimmage in drills, knocking him off if his untended route. Evans look like he’s put in some serious time in the weight room.
The first-team defense looked like this:
SDE: Bryce Cottrell
DT: Poona Ford
DT: Paul Boyette
Fox: Naashon Hughes
LB: Malik Jefferson
LB: Tim Cole
CB: Davante Davis
CB: Holton Hill
Nickel: P.J. Locke
S: Jason Hall
S: Dylan Haines
The second-team defense looked like this:
DE: Charles Omenihu
DT: Jake McMillon
DT: Chris Nelson
DE: Quincy Vasser
LB: Edwin Freeman
LB: Breckyn Hager/Anthony Wheeler
CB: Antwuan Davis/Sheroid Evans
CB: Kris Boyd
Nickel: John Bonney
S: DeShon Elliott
S: Kevin Vaccaro
When the team goes into it’s 4-3 alignment, Edwin Freeman is the player that joins Jefferson and Cole, as he fills in the spot at the weak-side linebacker.
Collin Johnson impressing from day one. Playing at the X-position with the first team and looks like a guy that is going to play a lot. Didn't make any plays in the team sessions with the first-team, but he was taking the reps.
Deandre McNeal is working with inside receivers and had a few drops today.
Bryce Cottrell was probably the best defensive player on the field tonight. He made plays throughout practice and it didn't matter who was blocking him.
Last edited by a moderator:
