Practice observations

[PonyPride]

I am out of town this weekend, and therefore not at practice. But our friend JasonB went this morning, and compiled some observations to share with PonyFans.com and its readers. University policy prohibits discussion of specific position groups, specific plays, etc.

On behalf of PonyFans everywhere, thanks, JasonB!


Because this is only the fourth day of practice, I take all "first team/secondnd team" stuff with a huge grain of salt, because this is the time of camp where coaches are still experimenting with players in different positions before they really lock things down to get the best players on the field. Therefore, I am more focused on individual players at this stage. All of that said, here are my notes.

— Overall, the pace of practice is extremely fast — like really fast. They get a ton of reps in because of it.
— QB Tanner Mordicai looks great. He has clearly worked a lot on his deep ball and making it more catchable rather than trying to throw the perfect pass every time. He has improved significantly from the spring. He threw a beautiful deep ball to WR Rashee Rice, who made a fingertip catch and ran it in for the touchdown. IMHO, Tanner is well ahead of the other QBs.
— QB Kevin Jennings looks the real deal, but he is clearly behind Preston Stone. Both of them don't make as quick decisions as Mordecai and are forced to use their legs more. To be fair, some of that may be due to quick decision making, and some may be due to playing behind backup offensive linemen against a really deep defensive line.
— At WR, Rice loos like a pro. He looks like a true top class WR, and is going to have a monster year. He looks bigger, stronger, faster, runs great routes and catches the ball extremely well.
— Rice, Beau Corrales, Jake Bailey, Jordan Kerley, Dylan Goffney, Moochie Dixon, Roderick Daniels, Teddy Knox and Austin Upshaw all look like legit WR to me. It is a very deep WR core. A lot of folks have been talking up Dixon, Knox and Corrales as newcomers, but there are two others that stand out to me.
• The first is Daniels. That dude is quick out of his breaks, really runs a sharp route, and he has hands like James Proché. Anything around him gets pulled in. He is going to be a fantastic player coming out of the slot. I get that Bailey is probably the favorite to start at that position, but Daniels looks really good to me. He did a shake-and-bake in a red zone drill against DB Brandon Crossley and then laid out to make a great catch across the middle that was amazing.
• The second is Goffney. He has nice hands, but he is just so, so smooth out of his cuts on the outside. Coverage will be tight and then he makes a cut and suddenly has separation. Very strong route runner. I'm not sure that he is a deep threat, but, honestly, he is my dark horse now to steal some playing time away from Corrales, Kerley, Dixon and Knox opposite of Rice. Don't get me wrong: those players look good, and Knox had a fantastic one-handed catch in the end zone today (although, I think he is a little behind the others because his hands aren't quite as good and his routes aren't quite as good, even though he is extremely fast). But watching Goffney, he looks like a future pro to me. I'll have my eye on him all fall as a potential breakout candidate despite the logjam at WR.
— At RB, when you watch them run drills, Tre Siggers, Brandon Epton, Tyler Lavine and T.J. McDaniel all have great footwork. When Velton Gardner and Montaye Dawson run the drills, the speed ticks up, but the footwork isn't as good. Then Camar Weaton runs, and it pops — he has both. I hope he can get healthy enough to take that red jersey off, because he will be a difference maker.
— I didn't focus on the OL other than to say that the first group really held up pretty well. Without full pads, they weren't really banging away up front. Center versus DT Elijah Chatman is something I want to see at the end of next week once all the pads come on. But I will say that I thought OT Owen Condon looked the part at tackle, which makes me feel a lot more comfortable about the OL.
— At DE, there are a lot of people being held out in the rotation. Junior Aho played DE, which surprised me a little bit, but you look at the depth on the inside and maybe it isn't that surprising.
— The big thing at DE, however, is Isaiah Smith. He looked great and got a ton of reps, and made at least two plays in the backfield where he just flat beat a lineman and blew everything up. Frosh linemen tend to hit a wall in fall camp, so we will see if he can sustain it, but that is the best I have seen a frosh DE play since the death penalty — really impressive.
— At CB, the improvement we all saw from [url]Ar'Mani Johnson[/url] in the spring has continued. I thought he was fantastic Saturday. He really looks like a true No. 1 corner.
— The other corner who looks great is the newcomer, Kevaris Hall from Tulane. He had a pick in the drills, has great length, and I think gives us two really nice corners if they end up starting.
— CB Jahari Rogers[/url} also looked better. The poor guy had to take Rice a lot, and Rice is an NFL receiver. But the quickness and athleticism are certainly there to be a good corner at some point. But IMHO, he is clearly behind the others. Also, the two frosh corners — [url=https://smumustangs.com/sports/football/roster/aj-davis/13214]A.J. Davis and Jayden Lawton — don't look completely out of place. I feel better about this position than I did earlier.
— At safety, [url]https://smumustangs.com/sports/football/roster/bryan-massey/12843]Bryan Massey[/url]just stands out. He is so fast and has started reading the game really well. He will be an NFL player. In the goalline drills, he was forced to match up in the slot and you can see why he wasn't put in the nickelback position, because his hips aren't quite right..
— And finally, I only saw the punters on special teams. Ryan Bujcenski is the starter. He doesn't have a huge leg, but he is the more consistent of the two and has enough hang time to force a fair catch at 40 yards pretty consistently. But don't expect an all-world punter. Brendan Hall is the guy that when he gets hold of the ball, it looks like Thomas Morstead. But Hall just isn't quite consistent enough. Also, with his length, his kicking is slow enough that he is susceptible to getting blocked. We are going to be better than last year, but Bujcenski just wasn't as good as I was hoping for.

[PNW_Stang]

Thanks for the report!

Seems like we have 9-10 WRs who could play. That’s insane.

Were any of the redshirt freshman DEs playing - Samuels and the guy from Parish?

How does Sam Westfall look? Would feel good if we had 4 corners.

Who do you think the three top RBs are?

[BUS]

Thank you for the report. Alway like to get your perspective. We will be better and \one of your first points... I ike the fast practice... lots of reps and keep the focus going.

Go Mustangs - See you at the nil Derby Hay party.

[ClassOf81]

This is great.
Thanks Jason.
Beat NTSU.

[ponyboy]

Is Wheaton expected to be ready for North Texas?

[JasonB]

Thanks for the report!

Seems like we have 9-10 WRs who could play. That’s insane.

Were any of the redshirt freshman DEs playing - Samuels and the guy from Parish?

How does Sam Westfall look? Would feel good if we had 4 corners.

Who do you think the three top RBs are?

- There were several DEs sitting out. But Smith really stood out, and granted he was against the second string OL a lot, but he made plays against both sides of the line (against each of the tackles).
- Westfall looks ok, but he always looks ok to me and then never plays in games. I think he is fine as a 4th corner.
- Siggers is your top back and is a combo. Levine is power, and Gardner is quick. I need to see TJ and Camar take a hit before I put them in the conversation. I have no idea when Camar is going to get the red jersey off.