PonyFans.com practice report (March 28, 2015)

[PonyPride]

The Mustangs practiced inside Ford Stadium Saturday on one of the scheduled "Junior Days" that brought more than 50 recruits to practice.

• About a dozen players wore either green (out of all football-related drills) or yellow (limited) jerseys. Among those, in response to some questions during the week by PonyFans.com posters, were OLs Evan Brown and Braylon Hyder, each of whom is recuperating from postseason labrum (shoulder) surgery. Also out while recovering from labrum surgery was DE Elie Nabushosi. CB Ajee Montes was among those in a yellow jersey after he strained a hamstring earlier in the week.

• There had been talk over the offseason that Justin Lawler would be moving from DE to TE. Not true. So far, at least, Lawler has worked exclusively with the defensive line group.

• Once again, several of the incoming 2015 freshmen were in attendance, including LB Austin Corbett, LB Matt McNew, DE Delontae Scott, DE Mike Scott and DE Chris Biggurs.

• A handful of recent alumni were in attendance, including former OLs Blake McJunkin and Tommy Poynter, who (go figure) were watching the offensive line do drills. When I asked their impressions of new OL coach Dustin Fry, Pointer said "incredible. You can tell he's a great technician, and he's a young guy, a players' coach. You can tell they like him. They'll learn a lot from him."

• Other former players in attendance included S Chris Banjo, LB Taylor Reed, WR Zach Zimmerman, DB Jeremy Gray, LB Cam Nwosu, S Justin Sorrell, and OL David Richards.

• When the defense did seven-on-seven (linebackers and secondary) drills, it had a different look than last year: Shakiel Randolph is spending almost all of his time at LB now, sophomore Anthony Rhone is running with the first team at middle linebacker. With CBs Ajee Montes, Jesse Montgomery and Horace Richardson wearing the yellow ("limited") jerseys, the first-team CBs were J.R. Richardson and Will Jeanlys. The first-team safeties were Darrion Richardson and A.J. Justice. Of note was the fact that they were backed up by Jordan Wyatt — who spent most of his redshirt season in 2014 as a scout-team cornerback — and walk-on Christian Burks.

• More high-tech additions at practice: not only is a drone helicopter hovering over the field with a GoPro camera that allows an aerial view of what the quarterback sees, but QB Matt Davis also was wearing a GoPro on a chest harness.

• Through six practices, it appears Davis is the clear leader at the QB position. But if the season were opening now, it is unclear who would be the backup. Last Saturday, freshman Ben Hicks got the second-team reps; today, it was redshirt freshman Darrel Colbert. Hicks, Colbert and Jordan Severt seemed to split the backup reps pretty evenly. Hicks continues to show off a live arm, and showed excellent accuracy on deep passes. Colbert looked different than he did as a scout-team QB in the fall — it looks like his reads are a little quicker, and he hit several intermediate passes with accuracy while throwing on the run. Severe might have the most overall arm strength of all of the QBs.

• His college career is all of six practices old, but Hicks certainly doesn't look like a timid teenager easing into his role. When the team went to live 11-on-11 drills, he was the third QB in, and on his first play, fired a 40-yard strike down the left sideline over the outside shoulder of WR A.J. Buffini, who made a beautiful catch as he tumbled to the ground.

• Most of the coaches were on the field giving instructions during kickoff drills, helping players with details like staying in lanes, how to get around the blocks, etc., and the players appear to be intent on proving their value on special teams. Michael Armstrong handled the placekicking duties, while Daniel Chaparro handled most of the punting and kickoff duties. On one drill, Chaparro punted the ball toward the left corner, prompting PR Shelby Walker to steer clear of the bouncing ball. But before it could bounce into the end zone, LB Jonathan Yenga, who will be a senior in the fall, chased it down, dove and batted the ball back in play, where a teammate downed it at the 1-yard line.

• Walker also dropped back, along with WRs Darius Joseph and Ryheem Malone, to return kickoffs.

• Much of the talk about the team since head coach Chad Morris was hired has centered around the changes in the offense, but the defense looks different, too, and not just because of the team's shift from a 3-4 to the 4-3 as its base defense. With an extra down lineman, linebackers are being asked to drop into coverage more than they were last year ... and some of them seem fairly adept at it. That Shakiel Randolph can cover a receiver is no shock after spending three seasons in the SMU secondary, but when QB Matt Davis saw senior WR Darius Joseph racing down the sideline against a linebacker, he pulled the trigger ... only to watch redshirt freshman Kyran Mitchell stay with Joseph step-for-step and maintain perfect inside position while looking back for the pass. He didn't make the interception, but he also didn't commit a penalty and gave Joseph no shot to reach the pass.

• The star of the day in the secondary was redshirt freshman S Jordan Wyatt, who had a pair of interceptions, one of which he made when he raced forward from his deep safety position to cut in front of the receiver, and the other of which came when he dropped back and leaped high in the air to snare a Davis a pass that was intended for a receiver several hards behind him.

• Fans and coaches have been waiting to see what kind of player sophomore DL Spencer Hollie will be as he has waited his turn in the rotation on the line. A DE on the roster, Hollie — listed at 6-4, 348 — lined up inside at DT during team (11-on-11) drills, and showed a glimpse of what is possible when he combines his size and strength with technique, understanding of his new assignments, etc. On one play, he drove two offensive linemen straight backward and got his hand on the quarterback, at which point the whistle blew the play dead. He needs more consistency, and like his teammates he is learning a new system from new coaches, etc., but the combination of power and quickness was eye-catching, to say the least.

• One of the cool things about standing on the sideline, taking pictures, is hearing what players say about their teammates during drills. Two names that came up repeatedly during 11-on-11 drills as guys who are impressing their teammates: Jeremiah Gaines and Courtland Sutton.

• The Morris offense is known for running a lot of plays for the outside receivers, and during his time at Clemson, he had some very good ones. But it also is clear that the outside receivers only succeed when their teammates, specifically the inside/slot receivers, make the blocks to open running lanes. When Ryheem Malone caught a quick screen and raced about 20 yards downfield, it was due in part to Malone's quickness ... and in part to the fact that WR Darius Joseph erased two DBs on one play, creating a lane wide enough that a sports writer could have picked up a few positive yards (before passing out, of course).

• Maybe the best catch of the day was turned in by WR Courtland Sutton, who hauled in a deep pass from QB Matt Davis down the left sideline ... while wearing CB J.R. Richardson like an extra set of shoulder pads. A flag was thrown on the play, but it wasn't necessary as Sutton made the catch, anyway.

• The coaches seem pretty high on sophomore RB Darius Durall, who looks visibly stronger than he did last season, still has the quickness and change-of-direction ability to make people miss in the open field, and has the acceleration to leave defenders behind when he heads upfield.

[SMU 86]

Is Shakiel Randolph now playing the star linebacker position in the 4-2-5 defense that Coach Morris said SMU is switching to?

[JasonB]

Yep. Randolph looks good at that position. He did get injured during practice, though. The defense is definitely ahead of the offense right now.

[PonyPride]

Our man JasonB was nice enough to stand out in the sun and take a stack full of notes at practice. Some of his observations:

• Offensive line:
o Starting o-line: LT Chauncey Briggs, LG Daniel McCarty, C Taylor Lasecki, RG Taylor Reich/Seaver Myers, RT Kris Weeks
o Second: LT Chewy Chamagua, LG Travis Fister, C William Barns, RG Taylor Reich/Seaver Myers, RT Bo Antunovic
o Briggs really stands out. He handles any of the defenders who rush against him, and knows where he is supposed to be. The defensive line is way ahead of the offensive line, which is to be expected right now, but he looks really good.
o McCarty can hold his own on some plays, but also is pushed back into the pocket frequently and never really pushes forward. He needs to be more consistent and get stronger,
o It is going to be very interesting to see where Evan Brown and Braylon Hyder fit in when they come back from their injuries.
o Whether Chamagua is better at tackle or guard, where he has worked some in the past, is hard to tell, but with Brown and Hyder expected to be added in the interior of the line, Chamagua might have to stay at tackle, regardless of which position fits him best.

• Defensive line
o Starting defensive line: LDE Andy McCleneghen, DT Mason Gentry, DT Zelt Minor, RDE Zach Wood
o Second: Jarvis Pruitt/Mike Epley, Nick Reed, Spencer Hollie/Spencer Conley, Justin Lawler
o Hollie is interesting to watch. Some plays, he just can’t quite get moving and is easily controlled or knocked off of balance. He is a very big player. But on other plays, he absolutely overpowers players. He had a bull rush in the scrimmage where he blew up three blockers and made a play in the backfield.
o Wood looks as if he is almost going too hard out there — great motor, but gets himself off balance and can be pushed around at times.
o Gentry looks really good inside. He and Minor both have the size to stand people up, but also have quickness to knife through and get in the backfield.
o Reed was a pleasant surprise. In the one-on-one and two-on-two drills, he constantly beat his player and got into the backfield. Part of that is the weakness of the second string offensive line, but his quickness at his size is surprising. (He did also play running back in high school.)
o Pruitt is pretty quick around the edge. He is probably third string behind Nabusoshi, but he isn’t bad.

• TE:
o Jeremiah Gaines, Christian Holloway, Dylan Dickman
o Holloway is really, really long for a TE. Didn’t have much of an impact though.
o Gaines looks really, really good and scored a couple of TDs.

• WR:
o Sutton really, really stands out. Absolute beast.
o He has a “men among boys” look that Keenan Holman had when he all of a sudden showed up at a different-level player his senior year a couple of years ago.
o Morris said after practice (see Morris video on home page) that he has very high hopes for Sutton.

• RB:
o K.C. Nlemchi didn’t practice.
o Darius Durall got a lot of reps in his place. Looks very quick. He has something.
o Line saw time as a second-team RB and also played a little in the H-back role to block.

• S:
o A.J. Justice and Darrion Richardson start. Christian Burks and Jordan Wyatt are backups, but it appears set up for freshmen to come in and instantly step into the two-deep.
o Justice looked really good, and in drills transitioned out of his cuts really well.

• LB:
o Rhone is the real deal. He makes plays all over the place. He set the tone of the scrimmage with a huge hit and stop on the first possession. Thick and fast.

• QB:
o Matt Davis is going to start next year. A lot of the offense in the scrimmage was generated around his ability to scramble. The offensive line doesn’t look great, and it’s hard to imagine the other QBs have a shot at starting until it stabilizes.
o Hicks is clearly the No. 2, with Colbert No. 3 and Severt getting an occasional series.
o Colbert doesn’t have bad arm strength, but struggled to complete touch passes on the move.
o Hicks looks like a nice player. Doesn’t have the mobility of Davis, which is going to limit his ability to produce until he gets more experience and the offensive line gets better.
• Players in Yellow (out): Deion Sanders, Daniel Gresham, Nick Natour, R.C. Cox, Caleb Tuiasosopo, Jesse Montgomery, Ajee Montes
• Players in green (limited): Garrett Krstich, Nathan Halverson, Braylon Hyder, Cedrick Lancaster, Cameron Smith, Elie Nabushosi

• General observations
o The way practice is run: A lot of times, a young staff can really be all about recruiting and not about coaching. That is not the case here. Coaches are actively coaching in all parts of practice.
• It stands out that each member of the staff is very fit and is actively engaged in the drills.

o You don’t want to be hurt
• The injured people were working the sledgehammer on the giant tire, lifting heavy rope/chains tied to the flagpoles, sitting on the bike, doing crunches, or walking up and down the hill in the end zone. They were as constantly active as the practice players were. The lesson there is that you would much rather play than be hurt, because they were getting a ton of work without the fun.

o OL versus DL drill
• Very physical. Did one-on-one and two-on-two versions, with two-on-two allowing the defensive line to work on stunts, and the offensive line to work on protecting against them.
• One-on-one notes:
• Lasecki did great handling a bull rush from Hollie
• Briggs dominated Wood a bit — really looked good
• On separate drills, Pruitt blew past two different blockers for sacks
• Reed tore up Barns inside
• Hollie destroyed a couple of people, but also got pushed aside a couple of times.
• Gentry twice beat interior blockers to get into the backfield
• Reed overpowered McCarty
• McCleneghan toasted Pursley
• Fister came back and did well against Reed
• Two-on-two notes:
• The offensive line did a lot better here, but Gentry still stood out.

o Scrimmage
• The defensive line really dominated to offensive line during the scrimmage.
• Gentry made some nice plays, and Lawler was all over the place with several sacks.
• Hicks had a nice pass down the sideline to Buffini, who makes a big catch every single time I have watched practice in the last three years.
• Hicks threw a bad pick (to Wyatt) when under pressure and scrambling to his left.
• Davis ran for a long touchdown, in part because Briggs took Wood out of the play.
• Pruitt had a really nice play when Durall tried to take a run outside on third down and Pruitt actually chased him down and forced a punt.
• Randolph got hurt and had to be helped off the field — a big blow if it is long-term.
• Players on the DL have bigger frames than players on the OL
• Darius Durall ran the sweep very effectively, making defensive linemen miss in space.
• Gaines had two really nice touchdown catches. He is legit at tight end.
• When Hollie runs out of steam, he can lose his balance and gets pushed around. When he gets fit, that could make his overall game more consistent — lots of potential there.
• On the second TD to Gaines, Minor got through the line quickly, but Davis was able to get the pass off.
• Davis threw a go-up-and-get-it pass to Sutton, who made a fantastic catch, fighting for the ball even though J.R. Richardson was draped all over him and was eventually called for pass interference.
• Linebacker Jackson Mitchell made a fantastic play in the flat — slowed the play down and was knocked down, but quickly got back on his feet and made a great open-field tackle for a loss.
• Yenga is a primary gunner in punt coverage.
• Morris said after practice that Sutton did get a redshirt in 2014.

[footballdad]

Rhone will be a playmaker for the next 3 years

Safety is gonna be a big problem

Little to no pass rush from this group

OL mediocre to weak

Primary improvements will be culture and scheme. Much of the same with Matt Davis making a lot of plays with his feet. Hopefully he can stay healthy the entire year.

[blackoutpony]

How did Sutton get a redshirt? He played last year. Was it a medical one? Even so, good news.

[whitwiki]

I think we need to stop sending old white guys to practice. Every report is "looks really quick" . Everyone looks quick to old white guys!

[footballdad]

I think we need to stop sending old white guys to practice. Every report is "looks really quick" . Everyone looks quick to old white guys!

True, 'looks' are very deceiving in our practices. Lancaster was 'amazing' by all accounts last year. Could see the freshman receivers making an immediate impact (out of necessity), but glaring holes in the OL and Secondary, LB a complete mystery.

Zero mention of Ngalo? What's up with him?

Christian Burks as backup safety? He's not even on the roster!

[JasonB]

I think we need to stop sending old white guys to practice. Every report is "looks really quick" . Everyone looks quick to old white guys!

True, 'looks' are very deceiving in our practices. Lancaster was 'amazing' by all accounts last year. Could see the freshman receivers making an immediate impact (out of necessity), but glaring holes in the OL and Secondary, LB a complete mystery.

Zero mention of Ngalo? What's up with him?

Christian Burks as backup safety? He's not even on the roster!

I don't think anyone said Lancaster was "amazing", just that his quickness really stood out. He has always been a straight line guy to this point.

I also don't think we called out everyone on the roster as quick... there are many not mentioned that are not as quick. Or maybe they beat someone who wasn't.

Evaluating practices towards the end of June was hard - they were run at a slow pace, and there was a general lack of competition. Even when they scrimmaged, you had a d-line doing a lot of read stuff and staying on the line and an o-line pass blocking, so it was hard to evaluate that stuff as well.

The amount of competition in the practice now is significantly higher. The amount of coaching is also significantly greater. You can really start to evaluate players.

I didn't spend a lot of time watching corner, because I was trying to focus on the line. So I don't have anything much to say about their play. I will say that it was obvious to me that Safety is set up for AJ and DR to head into the season as starters and frosh to come in immediately and become part of the two deep. I caught a little bit of the safety drills because they were in front of me, so I saw enough that AJ was running in and out of his breaks really well. Better than D Rich. I thought he looked better.

I was freaked out about LB, and didn't focus on them this practice, but Rhone looks awesome. Yenga was the other starter at LB.

You will see in an interview that will be posted later that Gentry thinks the o line is getting a lot better and is already better than it was in the Fall. That said, I thought they really struggled on Saturday.

[ALEX LIFESON]

Burks is #13. I'm an old white guy, and I didn't see any great speed! Lol

[ClickClack]

According to the roster, #13 is walk on DB, Cayman Carter who played scout team QB previously as he was a dual threat high school QB

[Junior]

According to the roster, #13 is walk on DB, Cayman Carter who played scout team QB previously as he was a dual threat high school QB

There you go. Dual-threat. QB known as Carter on offense, S that goes by Burks on defense.

[PonyPride]

Carter left the team last year. Burks is a walk-on safety, and has made some plays.

June Jones was very high on Lancaster last year. He said more than once that at times in practice, Lancaster was "unguardable." I don't know if "unguardable" is the right word, but there were times when he made an awful lot of plays in practice.

[footballdad]

Carter left the team last year. Burks is a walk-on safety, and has made some plays.

June Jones was very high on Lancaster last year. He said more than once that at times in practice, Lancaster was "unguardable." I don't know if "unguardable" is the right word, but there were times when he made an awful lot of plays in practice.

Looking back, June really was a delusional clown. He also made a proclamation in front of the entire team that Lancaster would single- handedly win 2 or 3 games for us last year. (Because June was such a magnificent evaluator of talent.....as we all know )

Lancaster have any chance to see the field this year?

[Junior]

Carter left the team last year. Burks is a walk-on safety, and has made some plays.

June Jones was very high on Lancaster last year. He said more than once that at times in practice, Lancaster was "unguardable." I don't know if "unguardable" is the right word, but there were times when he made an awful lot of plays in practice.

Unguardable might have been referring to the fact that no one on last year's defense could cover him. Not that he was THAT good, just the D was THAT bad.