Impressive freshman
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2000 5:35 pmStopped by practice this morning (8/17/00) and saw a couple of freshmen who really stood out.
Rico Harris looks like he could be a contributor early on. Nice size (although a little skinny -- he is a freshman after all) and seems very comfortable back there.
But the one who really stood out was DB Wesley Medlock, he of the "I'm going to win a Heisman" claim. Two plays in particular drew my attention. On the first, a receiver slipped, or broke off a route, and Medlock was all alone when a pass sailed in his direction —— a pass that he easily would have returned for a touchdown —— but he was unable to get up high enough to pull it down. He got his hands on it, but could not pull it in.
But on the next play, rather than hanging his head and pouting, Medlock bounced back. The offense threw a swing pass out to the flank to Jason Pipkins, who caught the ball, took one step and got absolutely destroyed by Medlock (after which Medlock then stood over Pipkins and did some grade-A woofing.) Now I don't generally condone showing up a teammate like that -- especially by a freshman -- but it showed that (A) Medlock has big-time hitting ability and also showed (and perhaps more importantly) that (B) he has a short memory, which is an invaluable trait in a defensive back. The ability to get burned and forget, thereby being able to come back on the next play is one of the basic needs of every defensive back.
I think in Harris, and especially in Medlock, SMU may have unearthed a pair of dynamite DBs for the future.
Rico Harris looks like he could be a contributor early on. Nice size (although a little skinny -- he is a freshman after all) and seems very comfortable back there.
But the one who really stood out was DB Wesley Medlock, he of the "I'm going to win a Heisman" claim. Two plays in particular drew my attention. On the first, a receiver slipped, or broke off a route, and Medlock was all alone when a pass sailed in his direction —— a pass that he easily would have returned for a touchdown —— but he was unable to get up high enough to pull it down. He got his hands on it, but could not pull it in.
But on the next play, rather than hanging his head and pouting, Medlock bounced back. The offense threw a swing pass out to the flank to Jason Pipkins, who caught the ball, took one step and got absolutely destroyed by Medlock (after which Medlock then stood over Pipkins and did some grade-A woofing.) Now I don't generally condone showing up a teammate like that -- especially by a freshman -- but it showed that (A) Medlock has big-time hitting ability and also showed (and perhaps more importantly) that (B) he has a short memory, which is an invaluable trait in a defensive back. The ability to get burned and forget, thereby being able to come back on the next play is one of the basic needs of every defensive back.
I think in Harris, and especially in Medlock, SMU may have unearthed a pair of dynamite DBs for the future.