PonyFans.com practice report (March 28, 2015)
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 3:57 pmThe 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.
• 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.
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