Observations from practice (8/29)

[PonyPride]

The Mustangs had a split workout Sunday morning, about half on the Pettus practice field and the rest inside the Armstrong Field House. Some observations:

• How the Mustangs replace graduated TE Kylen Granson remains to be seen, but it looks like pieces are in place, even if it means a tight end-by-committee approach. Tommy McIntyre is the superior blocker in the group, and has shown improved hands. Transfer Nolan Matthews is similarly enormous (6-6, 258), but is shiftier than might be expected of a player with his size. Transfer Grant Calcaterra has eased into the rotation, but is a fluid route runner with excellent hands.

• Freshman QB Preston Stone barely resembles the player who arrived a semester early in January. He is running with more assertiveness, and not just straight-line speed — he sat a defender down with a head-fake (but then slipped so he didn't get too far downfield). More impressively, even in practice, when he admittedly is not subject to hard hits, he clearly is reading the defense a lot more quickly, making quick decisions and getting rid of the ball quickly. He and Tanner Mordecai both showed excellent downfield accuracy Sunday.

• Freshman WR Dylan Goffney will play — how much and when remains to be seen, but he will. He has good speed and size (6-2, 213), but more importantly, he knows how to use that size to his advantage. Specifically, he goes up and over to win jump-balls, and is very adept at posting up between the oncoming pass and defenders behind him. He caught a few short passes Sunday during team (11 on 11) drills with a defender very close by, but shielded the ball away and completed the reception each time.

• WR Reggie Roberson looks better. Since the American Athletic Conference Media Day, he has claimed he is 100 percent, but this weekend he looked visibly faster, even running away from defenders after catching passes downfield.

• There were times when he first arrived that LB Jimmy Phillips had trouble with big offensive linemen. That is not gone entirely — when an offensive lineman on the north side of 300 pounds gets his hands on a linebacker, the big blocker almost always will have the advantage. But Phillips looks visibly bigger this year, and is much more effective shedding blockers, which will help when chasing down a quarterback or ball carrier.

• When he first arrived last year, the first thing that was readily apparent about WR Danny Gray was his speed ... and with good reason — he can fly. At one point last year, head coach Sonny Dykes said Gray was "just scratching the surface" of what he can become, that he is not just a sprinter. Gray continues to run past would-be defenders, but he is growing as a receiver. Several times during camp — including a couple of times Sunday during team (11 on 11) drills — he turned the corner on a DB and headed up the sideline, and rather than trying to just outrun every cornerback, he subtly leans in to the defender, who naturally leans back ... but the move gives Gray the inside track on deep passes which sail over his outside shoulder, where either he will catch them or nobody will. He caught a few like that Sunday; on one, he was practically wearing a defensive back on his back.

[ALEX LIFESON]

Good report...thanks!

[SmooBoy]

As always with SonnyD teams, not worried about offense. Seeing how the D develops is key to the season.