Wednesday practice report
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 5:12 pmUnder the radar? It's hard to suggest that transfer RB Shawnbrey McNeal is flying under anyone's radar, but he is getting very limited reps in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. Nonetheless, when he does get on the field, his much-hyped speed is impossible to ignore. Early in Wednesday's practice, he took a pitch and headed left on a sweep, beat the entire defense to the sideline and was in the secondary almost instantly.
Safety through strength: Stallion asked yesterday about Bryce Hudman and how he's being used. Although the safeties in SMU's defense learn to play both spots, Hudman has been playing at the strong safety spot in the team's first practices. He is expected to get some playing time as a pass-rushing linebacker, as well, in certain nickel and dime situations, but that formation has not yet been installed.
Can't teach speed: Yes, it's one of those coaching axioms that sometimes gets overused (see: "Kiper, Mel"), but the SMU coaches have made no secret of their desire to get faster, especially on defense. The coaches sought fast linebackers on signing day, and got three of them in Taylor Reed, Ja'Gared Davis and Byron Brown, and the decision to move former WR E.J. Drewery to LB has continued that trend. Drewery is raw and just beginning to learn his new position, but in addition to his size (6-5, 220), he also runs well for the position. On one play Wednesday morning, RB Bryce Lunday took a handoff and headed to the right as Drewery came around the edge on the far side. He didn't make the play, but he covered a lot of distance in a hurry and didn'tgive any ground to the quick sophomore RB.
Shuffling the deck: Different LBs are being tried in different roles, and the juggling continued Wednesday. Patrick Fleming returned to the first-team unit, rejoining Youri Yenga, Pete Fleps and Chase Kennemer. The coaches also got a peek at their fast freshman LBs playing together, as Reed, Davis, Brown and Drewery took the field together. They weren't always in position to make the play, but they got where they were going in a real hurry. They're freshmen and they're learning the defense, so they still have a lot of learning to do, but their speed is undeniable.
Come back: Moreso than in any other practice thus far, the WRs came back to meet passes in traffic, preventing passes from being knocked away or even intercepted. Freshman Darius Johnson did it several times, racing back around (and in one case, dipping under the arms of) DBs to beat defenders to the pass.
Hidden keys: Johnson was involved in one of the more impressive plays of the morning, when he caught a pass on a short crossing route, raced across the field and turned up the left sideline for a long gain. What wasn't so obvious was that the play was made possible by fellow WR B.J. Lee, who stepped in behind and stood up DB Keith Robinson — who was shadowing Johnson on the play — with a rock-solid block, freeing Johnson to run in open space.
Defensive play of the day: It would never show up in the game stats, but the best defensive play of the day was turned in by Emmanuel Sanders ... and now, it wasn't during the Sanders-at-CB experiment (which has yet to take place). Sanders ran a crossing route about 15 yards downfield, and QB Bo Levi Mitchell's pass led him a little too much, and was aimed right at waiting S Robert Mojica. But Sanders dove toward the ball, laying out in a full extension to knock the ball away. He had no chance of making the catch, but his play is the kind that saves an occasional interception.
Catch of the day: Mitchell is obviously much more comfortable running the Run-and-Shoot offense than he was a year ago at this time, but Wednesday wasn't his most accurate practice. In addition to his pass that Sanders prevented from being a Mojica interception, Mitchell also air-mailed a deep route to WR Terrance Wilkerson ... who saved his quarterback by climbing the ladder to snag Mitchell's high fastball.
Safety through strength: Stallion asked yesterday about Bryce Hudman and how he's being used. Although the safeties in SMU's defense learn to play both spots, Hudman has been playing at the strong safety spot in the team's first practices. He is expected to get some playing time as a pass-rushing linebacker, as well, in certain nickel and dime situations, but that formation has not yet been installed.
Can't teach speed: Yes, it's one of those coaching axioms that sometimes gets overused (see: "Kiper, Mel"), but the SMU coaches have made no secret of their desire to get faster, especially on defense. The coaches sought fast linebackers on signing day, and got three of them in Taylor Reed, Ja'Gared Davis and Byron Brown, and the decision to move former WR E.J. Drewery to LB has continued that trend. Drewery is raw and just beginning to learn his new position, but in addition to his size (6-5, 220), he also runs well for the position. On one play Wednesday morning, RB Bryce Lunday took a handoff and headed to the right as Drewery came around the edge on the far side. He didn't make the play, but he covered a lot of distance in a hurry and didn'tgive any ground to the quick sophomore RB.
Shuffling the deck: Different LBs are being tried in different roles, and the juggling continued Wednesday. Patrick Fleming returned to the first-team unit, rejoining Youri Yenga, Pete Fleps and Chase Kennemer. The coaches also got a peek at their fast freshman LBs playing together, as Reed, Davis, Brown and Drewery took the field together. They weren't always in position to make the play, but they got where they were going in a real hurry. They're freshmen and they're learning the defense, so they still have a lot of learning to do, but their speed is undeniable.
Come back: Moreso than in any other practice thus far, the WRs came back to meet passes in traffic, preventing passes from being knocked away or even intercepted. Freshman Darius Johnson did it several times, racing back around (and in one case, dipping under the arms of) DBs to beat defenders to the pass.
Hidden keys: Johnson was involved in one of the more impressive plays of the morning, when he caught a pass on a short crossing route, raced across the field and turned up the left sideline for a long gain. What wasn't so obvious was that the play was made possible by fellow WR B.J. Lee, who stepped in behind and stood up DB Keith Robinson — who was shadowing Johnson on the play — with a rock-solid block, freeing Johnson to run in open space.
Defensive play of the day: It would never show up in the game stats, but the best defensive play of the day was turned in by Emmanuel Sanders ... and now, it wasn't during the Sanders-at-CB experiment (which has yet to take place). Sanders ran a crossing route about 15 yards downfield, and QB Bo Levi Mitchell's pass led him a little too much, and was aimed right at waiting S Robert Mojica. But Sanders dove toward the ball, laying out in a full extension to knock the ball away. He had no chance of making the catch, but his play is the kind that saves an occasional interception.
Catch of the day: Mitchell is obviously much more comfortable running the Run-and-Shoot offense than he was a year ago at this time, but Wednesday wasn't his most accurate practice. In addition to his pass that Sanders prevented from being a Mojica interception, Mitchell also air-mailed a deep route to WR Terrance Wilkerson ... who saved his quarterback by climbing the ladder to snag Mitchell's high fastball.