Spring Practice

[Mickey]

Did anyone see practice yesterday? Any info on some of the position changes?

How does Fitzgerald look at RB?

Is Barnett playing CB?

Is S. Charles practicing or is he still injured?

How does Robert Gilmore look? Knee OK?

Where is Darrin Johnson playing? OT or DT?

Any receivers standing out?

[PonyFan]

Yes, I stopped by. Great to see the fellas out there again (and Brad Bean, they're holding your spot for you.)

Johnnie Fitzgerald looked strong Saturday. He's pretty tall (6-1 maybe?) and when he takes the ball from the QB, he runs a little upright for my taste, a la Eric Dickerson (although not as tall as ED). But when the defense is coming, he gets low and hits the defenders before they hit him. Time after time, he'd get hit - even in the backfield - and still end up getting 4 or 5 or 7 yards, just because he keeps his legs driving more than any college RB I've ever seen. The word that kept coming to mind was "relentless." I don't think he'll ever have the breakaway speed of a Dickerson, but he's pretty damn fast. He can run right through some guys.

ShanD didn't practice. One of his teammates told me he could miss all of spring ball.

Gilmore looked pretty good. He had a knee brace on that looked like it was designed by the guys who make all of James Bond's toys in the movies, but it's not one of those big, cumbersome deals you see on linemen. He showed nice speed on a few plays, and adjusted well to the ball when it was in the air. I didn't see him make any hard cuts, so it's hard to guess how his lateral strength and acceleration is, but when the ball was in the air, he adjusted well and knocked it down. He ran step-for-step with a few receivers. I don't know if he'd play in a game today, but hopefully he'll be ready in the fall. If he has his speed back, the Ponies have a fast, 6-2 CB - the kind that every team wants.

Darrin Johnson is playing defensive tackle. He looked pretty good, from the little I saw. I talked to a couple of guys who think he'll be best as an offensive tackle down the road (he looks almost skinny at 283, if that's possible, and could be a dynamite 3200pound offensive tackle.) Remember, when he got to SMU, he never really had had to do much strength training because he was always a lot bigger and stronger than the guys he was playing against. But even though he's new to strength training, he still looks like he "plays strong" (check it out - I sound like a coach.) He stood up his blockers in d-line drills, and when he gets those pterodactyl arms up there, it must be like trying to throw over Dallas Hall. He's got a lot of learning to do, but he's got the tools - if not the skills - to be a very good defensive tackle. Definitely needs to get thicker and stronger.

Receivers: You know who I liked? Wesley Medlock. He's got a good frame, and he made several nice catches, including one where he reached back across his body and snagged a bullet from Ashton Nixon. Jay Taylor also looked good. Like Chris Cunningham, Taylor also had the yellow (no contact) jersey on, but he ran fairly well, covered a lot of ground with his nice, easy stride and showed extremely soft hands. It kills me that the previous coaching regime killed his redshirt year. (Speaking of Jay Taylor, why did he have the yellow jersey on? What's his injury?) But the best receiver Saturday clearly was Daniel Francis. He looks like he's doubled the 170 pounds he was listed at last year - kid's got some pipes on him now. He made a bunch of great catches, and showed better strength fighting off DBs than I remember him being able to do last year. He might be the team's best receiver this year.

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Other observations:

* Trey Griffin is so fast it's just sick. He looks like he could punt the ball downfield and be down there in time to field it.

* Ryan Kennedy is a house. Last year's program said he was 245. Not any more. He's got to be 260-270. Nobody that big should be able to run like that or catch like that. I'd almost say make him an offensive lineman, except that he presents a really appealing weapon in the passing game. If he becomes a good blocker, he might never leave the field, because he can definitely catch the ball. Was he heavily recruited? We got a player in this kid. The coaches will find a way to get him on the field. And I pity the first moron who tries to tackle him high.

* Mike Benson could be a really nice DE, but he needs to increase his strength. A lot.

* Don Iremeia-Stansbury has added so much strength and size it looks like his uniform doesn't fit. Hope everyone sees him in the weight room and copies what they see him doing.

* Richard Bartel looks good - really good. He always had a strong arm, but now he's bigger (someone on this board said he's taller, and his arms look thicker.) He was snapping the ball in to receivers, and seemed to have a swagger about him, like he's ready to lead the offense, not just be a guy who can throw it but is only one part. It was only one practice, I realize, but he looked like a guy who's ready to make the offense his. (Has he confirmed that he's not playing baseball this year?) Tate Wallis threw a few knuckleballs, which weren't pretty, but his mechanics looked great. No more of that three-quarters throwing motion. He came straight over the top with his passes. And Ashton Nixon was really surprising. He looks like a good-sized QB, and he showed an extremely live arm. Several of his passes went through WRs' hands - meaning it was their fault, not his. Hard to tell how much he knows after one practice, of course, but the arm, if nothing else, seemed to be there.

* Rolando Humphrey looked good, breaking up several passes.

[Charleston Pony]

DMN article says ShanDerrick will be held out of spring practice. Suddenly, Bennett's comments from the banquet after ShanDerrick's record-breaking FR year, when Bennett said "it will be a shame if he never sees the field again" suggests there's more to his injury than has been reported.

Good thing we suddenly appear to be deep at the RB position, assuming Massey will be able to come right in and play at this level.

[Lotus]

What was ShanDerrick Charles' injury again?

[Lotus]

And thanks, PonyFan, for the report on practice. Those of us who don't live close enough to stop by appreciate it!
See ya'll at the Red/Blue Game

[DallasDiehard]

I watched a little practice yesterday. The best part was when Daniel Francis caught a pass against Anthony Barnett. I guess Francis has a bad ankle or something, because he looked at the defense and started yelling for them to "get someone who can cover me with one wheel." Hilarious.

[bean95]

Daniel Francis is always the comedian. The problem with Shan-D is his back. I believe that he has been hampered with a stress fracture and it takes alot to come back from it. I hope he can give me a little advice on returning considering my current situation.

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bbean

[PonyExpress]

Hope you both get "back" on the field - soon. (Sorry, that was weak. Couldn't resist.)

[PonyFan]

Oh yeah, I didn't see the whole practice, but I forgot to mention someone in yesterday's post: Chris Godfrey looks a lot stronger, and on a couple of plays, he absolutely knocked the snot out of ball carriers. I mean really great hits.