Practice (August 12) observations
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2022 4:28 pmOnce again, JasonB went to practice Friday, and offers the following notes and observations ... and once again, many thanks to you, JasonB.
The Mustangs spent half the time outside and then half the time inside this morning. Lots of special teams work today when they were outside. I'll go position group by position group, but overall, I would say the defense is still ahead of the offense and looks really good.
Quarterback: Tanner Mordecai is clearly the 1, and ([url=https://twitter.com/JoeJHoyt/status/1558119409125920773]head coach Rhett Lashlee announced it])after practice that Mordecai is the starter this year. Mordecai has clearly taken a step forward this year. He was a top-3 quarterback in the league last year, and will be better this season. He threw a nice fade in the corner to transfer WR Jake Bailey for a TD (CB Brandon Crossley mistimed his jump a little, but still a nice pass), and also another really nice deep ball to WR Rashee Rice over his shoulder. That said, QB Preston Stone had a really nice practice today. He had some great scrambles and saves, including a great throw over the middle to transfer WR Moochie Dixon, who made a great catch. Also had a fantastic pass on an outside seam route between the corner and the safety.
Running back: Tre Siggers is also (right now) clearly the first choice back, and seems to be a step quicker this year — I think he looks really good. Velton Gardner, a transfer from Kansas, is really quick. One major bit of news is that today was the first day Camar Wheaton, the transfer from Alabama, was out of the red (restricted) jersey. The second is that T.J. McDaniel looks like his old self, much better than he did in the spring. I thought he ran really well today. I think Siggers is the starting back with McDaniel as the backup combo back, and then Gardner is the home run/quick back spot right now with Wheaton running second string. Tamar will push Gardner for that top spot as we enter the last couple of weeks of fall camp. As a whole, this group is really good.
Wide receiver: Rice continues to look like a draft pick. Dixon looks great as well — he has speed, he runs sharp routes, and really caught the ball nicely today. He will be a plus player for the Mustangs this year. Bailey seems like he has pushed ahead at the slot position, and has developed a quick report with Mordecai — he had a couple of nice touchdown grabs today. He looked like he hurt his shoulder attempting to make a catch in the end zone. Transfer WR Beau Corrales looked much better today than when I saw him Saturday — a lot of smoother in and out of his routes, and he caught everything thrown his way. He did come down [deleted] his shoulder, though, and took the rest of the practice off. Jordan Kerley is still in the red jersey, but is still showing good hands and good speed. Teddy Knox caught a couple of touchdowns today. He has phenomenal top-end speed, but he isn't as strong in and out of breaks, and some of his routes are rounded because his body balance isn't quite right when he changes directions. Additionally, the coaches are working on him getting his hands in the right spot on contested plays. So, he isn't as polished as some of the other outside receivers, but the athletic talent is there and he is certainly going to have an impact. Dylan Goffney seems to be running with both the inside and outside receivers, and might be the first off the bench in the slot. As mentioned Saturday, he is really, really smooth in and out of routes and has fantastic hands. Roderick Daniels looks really good with great hands. Jayleen Record really had a good practice in the outdoor session and made some really nice plays. Austin Upshaw had a deep touchdown on a fly route, and Calvin Wiggins got in and made some nice catches. This team is absolutely loaded at WR, and it goes at least 10 deep. It has to be the top group in the conference, and Rice and Dixon look like the top combo of outside receivers in the league.
Tight end: Now we start to get interesting. R.J. Maryland got an awful lot of time with the 1's today. He had a really nice TD catch in the red zone session in the corner over S Isaiah Nwokobia, and a couple of other catches in scrimmage as well. He is tall (6-3), runs very well, good speed, athletic, can catch — screams out that he is a future NFL prospect. He hasn't really filled out yet (he's listed at 205 pounds), so his time will be sporadic and probably will be used more as a fourth wideout effectively, but he has a ton of talent. The other guy who surprised me with the amount of time he got today was Kam Allen. Again, a little slight (6-5, 220), but he can run and he can catch. This was my lowest-rated unit coming into the year, and I was really surprised by what they showed today. I'm not sure if the Mustangs have any great blockers, but they look really good in the passing game.
Offensive line: Today was a bit of experimentation. They gave Jaylon Thomas some time at center with the second string, as clearly the issues from Cameron Ervin the other day have had him pushed back to guard. I think Brandon Hickman starts and Thomas is the backup center. Thomas, of course, will be a starter somewhere on the line, but today Joe Bissinger, the transfer from Virginia, was at LG with Sparks at RG, Owen Condon at RT and Justin Osborne at LT. So, still moving things around and trying things out with JT getting some time at center and Marcus Bryant taking the day off. Osborne at LT, I thought, looked much better than he did last year when they tried him at tackle at the beginning of camp. He is much more mobile now, looks more lean. IMHO, Dalton Perdue struggles a little, he isn't as fluid and athletic as the others, and Rhett Larson also got some time at second-team tackle today, and while he held up fine, he just looks skinny (he's listed at 6-5, 280). I wouldn't be surprised to see things develop with Osborne, Bryant and Condon fighting it out to be the starting tackles, and those are your three at that position for the season. Condon looks good, by the way — not dominant, but good. That rotation allows your middle three to be between Thomas, Bissinger, Hickman, Ben Sparks and probably Thalen Robinson with Ervin providing additional depth at both guard and center. I haven't seen Robinson play, but he is very engaged at practice and doesn't look like someone who expects to sit out for a significant time. Sparks looked solid with the 1s today, which was great to see. Overall, I think the OL looks really good in pass protection. What I haven't seen yet is an ability to really push off the line in the running game. It is a mix of the weakest lineman being Hickman at center and the strongest part of the DL is at tackle, but I'm concerned about the offense's ability to convert third-and-1 with the power run up the middle. Also, if some of you remember from a couple years ago, after a big play, Lashlee loves to run hurry-up and then call a quick dive up the middle, and I am not sure if they have the OL to execute that, yet. Something to keep an eye on during the rest of camp. I want to see the line maul the DE during the running game a couple of times, and it just hasn't been there yet.
Defensive end: Nelson Paul, Je'lin Samuels and David Abiara weren't practicing today (or at least I didn't see them), so Gary Wiley and Junior Aho were the starters. Isaiah Smith got some time with the 1's as well. Jayden Jones, Trevion Sneed and Turner Coxe all got time with the second team. A lot of solid players, who are all good enough to play against the run and do okay against the pass, but the only person who really flashes with the ability to make plays right now is Smith. Honestly, this is probably the weakest group on defense right now. Lots of solid players, and yes, there were a lot of guys not participating today, but we need someone to cause some problems. Some of that might be Condon and Osborne playing well at tackle, but I really want to see a little more flash from the group. It isn't a problem spot, but right now I think this is the difference between the defense being good and being great.
Defensive tackle: Just loaded — DeVere Levelston and Elijah Chatman are everything you expect them to be. Stephon Wright and Mike Sandjo-Njiki were running second-team today and did really well also. Wright: you can see the lean and the physicality and why they wanted him so badly from Arizona State. The fact that guys like Terrance Newman, freshman Dylan Frazier and freshman Braylen Jackson aren't getting much time tells you how incredibly deep this group is.
Linebacker: Again, loaded. Isaac Slade-Matautia and Jimmy Phillips start and look good. Shanon Reid and Jaquondis Burns are the second team and look just as good — zero dropoff. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Reid is pushing Slade-Matautia for the starting spot. Reid has really good acceleration when he is on the move... he got free and started to rush Mordecai on one play and it was really difference-making acceleration.
Cornerback: As we get into the secondary, I have to say, it is so much better than in the past. I can't tell you how many times the QB is forced to hold the ball and is forced into a coverage sack or a dump off, or just has to throw it away. The fact that they go against this WR and QB group all the time and don't get spanked says a lot. Ar'Mani Johnson is the No. 1 corner right now, playing very physically and aggressively. Looks like he did a couple of years ago. Sam Westfall continues to fight for a starting spot and hasn't gone away. Jahari Rogers ... man, you have to love the fact that he chooses to go against Rice as often as possible in the individual drills. He is athletic and I'm not sure he is quite there yet, but he certainly has the drive to be a great corner. He is going to struggle at times this season because of his inexperience, but he will be a good one at some point. Kevaris Hall has great length (6-2) and is fighting for a starting spot with the other three. He did get beat deep by Upshaw today, but he is a good physical corner. The guy I was really happy to see perform well today was the freshman, A.J. Davis. He had two really nice breakups against Knox. If he had come in last year, when the team was really weak at corner, I think we would have been talking about him like we talked about Bryce McMorris. The secondary is just better this year, so he is further down the list, but he looked really good and makes me feel much better about the depth. Even Jayden Lawton shows some flashes, but not with the consistency of Davis.
Nickelback: Crossley is the clear starter here. He has burst and length, and has added some muscle to play inside. I think he is going to be dangerous in the middle of the field with his ability to reach off of his coverage assignment. Transfer Nick Roberts wasn't practicing here today, so Roderick Roberson was playing with the second team. He got caught a couple of times out of position, but looked OK for the most part. Depth here is a concern for me until I see Roberts more.
Safety: Bryan Massey is still sitting out, so the starters were Nwokobia and Chase Cromartie. Nwokobia, I thought had a great practice. They were drilling on WR screens, and he was awesome fighting through blockers to disrupt at the point of attack. He had a couple of pass breakups in red zone drills, and looked really good. Cromartie looked OK, but also got beat deep once. Transfer Chris Adimora played with the second team and was fine, with a really nice breakup in the red zone drill when he recovered against Redding after being beat initially and poked the ball away. I think strong safety is probably Nwokobia over Adimora. The other player on the second team was the freshman Ahmaad Moses, and I thought he looked great. This is another case where if this was last year, when the secondary was a lot worse, we would be talking about Moses the same as we talked up Nwokobia. He had a really nice pass breakup against Maryland in the end zone, is quick and just seems to be in the right spot. Massey is the clear starter at free safety, but I would not be surprised at all if Moses is second string ahead of Cromartie by the end of camp.
Special teams: Lots of special teams practice today. Very clear now IMHO that transfer Ryan Bujcenski is the starting punter, and Collin Rogers the starting placekicker, with Hall backing up both and handling kickoffs. Rogers is a very consistent kicker. Bujcevski is not a great punter, but he is very consistent — every punt goes to the correct side of the field, has enough hangtime for good coverage, and goes between 37 and 47 yards. Hall has tons of power (his punts, when he gets ahold of it, look like Thomas Morestead), but lack consistency, and he had one punt blocked and one FG attempt blocked today. He just has a long stride where if the snap isn't just right, and there is any sort of delay, he gets in trouble. So, while I don't think the kicking game is going to be spectacular, it certainly won't be a disaster either.
Overall, I think this is a very good, very deep team. The only thing missing is the ability to convert short yardage and a stud at DE. I'll try and make it out again next week, and my entire focus will be on the OL and DL to see what progress is being made there. The third week of Fall camp is usually the most physical, and that is when you can really see where a team is on both sides of the line.
The Mustangs spent half the time outside and then half the time inside this morning. Lots of special teams work today when they were outside. I'll go position group by position group, but overall, I would say the defense is still ahead of the offense and looks really good.
Quarterback: Tanner Mordecai is clearly the 1, and ([url=https://twitter.com/JoeJHoyt/status/1558119409125920773]head coach Rhett Lashlee announced it])after practice that Mordecai is the starter this year. Mordecai has clearly taken a step forward this year. He was a top-3 quarterback in the league last year, and will be better this season. He threw a nice fade in the corner to transfer WR Jake Bailey for a TD (CB Brandon Crossley mistimed his jump a little, but still a nice pass), and also another really nice deep ball to WR Rashee Rice over his shoulder. That said, QB Preston Stone had a really nice practice today. He had some great scrambles and saves, including a great throw over the middle to transfer WR Moochie Dixon, who made a great catch. Also had a fantastic pass on an outside seam route between the corner and the safety.
Running back: Tre Siggers is also (right now) clearly the first choice back, and seems to be a step quicker this year — I think he looks really good. Velton Gardner, a transfer from Kansas, is really quick. One major bit of news is that today was the first day Camar Wheaton, the transfer from Alabama, was out of the red (restricted) jersey. The second is that T.J. McDaniel looks like his old self, much better than he did in the spring. I thought he ran really well today. I think Siggers is the starting back with McDaniel as the backup combo back, and then Gardner is the home run/quick back spot right now with Wheaton running second string. Tamar will push Gardner for that top spot as we enter the last couple of weeks of fall camp. As a whole, this group is really good.
Wide receiver: Rice continues to look like a draft pick. Dixon looks great as well — he has speed, he runs sharp routes, and really caught the ball nicely today. He will be a plus player for the Mustangs this year. Bailey seems like he has pushed ahead at the slot position, and has developed a quick report with Mordecai — he had a couple of nice touchdown grabs today. He looked like he hurt his shoulder attempting to make a catch in the end zone. Transfer WR Beau Corrales looked much better today than when I saw him Saturday — a lot of smoother in and out of his routes, and he caught everything thrown his way. He did come down [deleted] his shoulder, though, and took the rest of the practice off. Jordan Kerley is still in the red jersey, but is still showing good hands and good speed. Teddy Knox caught a couple of touchdowns today. He has phenomenal top-end speed, but he isn't as strong in and out of breaks, and some of his routes are rounded because his body balance isn't quite right when he changes directions. Additionally, the coaches are working on him getting his hands in the right spot on contested plays. So, he isn't as polished as some of the other outside receivers, but the athletic talent is there and he is certainly going to have an impact. Dylan Goffney seems to be running with both the inside and outside receivers, and might be the first off the bench in the slot. As mentioned Saturday, he is really, really smooth in and out of routes and has fantastic hands. Roderick Daniels looks really good with great hands. Jayleen Record really had a good practice in the outdoor session and made some really nice plays. Austin Upshaw had a deep touchdown on a fly route, and Calvin Wiggins got in and made some nice catches. This team is absolutely loaded at WR, and it goes at least 10 deep. It has to be the top group in the conference, and Rice and Dixon look like the top combo of outside receivers in the league.
Tight end: Now we start to get interesting. R.J. Maryland got an awful lot of time with the 1's today. He had a really nice TD catch in the red zone session in the corner over S Isaiah Nwokobia, and a couple of other catches in scrimmage as well. He is tall (6-3), runs very well, good speed, athletic, can catch — screams out that he is a future NFL prospect. He hasn't really filled out yet (he's listed at 205 pounds), so his time will be sporadic and probably will be used more as a fourth wideout effectively, but he has a ton of talent. The other guy who surprised me with the amount of time he got today was Kam Allen. Again, a little slight (6-5, 220), but he can run and he can catch. This was my lowest-rated unit coming into the year, and I was really surprised by what they showed today. I'm not sure if the Mustangs have any great blockers, but they look really good in the passing game.
Offensive line: Today was a bit of experimentation. They gave Jaylon Thomas some time at center with the second string, as clearly the issues from Cameron Ervin the other day have had him pushed back to guard. I think Brandon Hickman starts and Thomas is the backup center. Thomas, of course, will be a starter somewhere on the line, but today Joe Bissinger, the transfer from Virginia, was at LG with Sparks at RG, Owen Condon at RT and Justin Osborne at LT. So, still moving things around and trying things out with JT getting some time at center and Marcus Bryant taking the day off. Osborne at LT, I thought, looked much better than he did last year when they tried him at tackle at the beginning of camp. He is much more mobile now, looks more lean. IMHO, Dalton Perdue struggles a little, he isn't as fluid and athletic as the others, and Rhett Larson also got some time at second-team tackle today, and while he held up fine, he just looks skinny (he's listed at 6-5, 280). I wouldn't be surprised to see things develop with Osborne, Bryant and Condon fighting it out to be the starting tackles, and those are your three at that position for the season. Condon looks good, by the way — not dominant, but good. That rotation allows your middle three to be between Thomas, Bissinger, Hickman, Ben Sparks and probably Thalen Robinson with Ervin providing additional depth at both guard and center. I haven't seen Robinson play, but he is very engaged at practice and doesn't look like someone who expects to sit out for a significant time. Sparks looked solid with the 1s today, which was great to see. Overall, I think the OL looks really good in pass protection. What I haven't seen yet is an ability to really push off the line in the running game. It is a mix of the weakest lineman being Hickman at center and the strongest part of the DL is at tackle, but I'm concerned about the offense's ability to convert third-and-1 with the power run up the middle. Also, if some of you remember from a couple years ago, after a big play, Lashlee loves to run hurry-up and then call a quick dive up the middle, and I am not sure if they have the OL to execute that, yet. Something to keep an eye on during the rest of camp. I want to see the line maul the DE during the running game a couple of times, and it just hasn't been there yet.
Defensive end: Nelson Paul, Je'lin Samuels and David Abiara weren't practicing today (or at least I didn't see them), so Gary Wiley and Junior Aho were the starters. Isaiah Smith got some time with the 1's as well. Jayden Jones, Trevion Sneed and Turner Coxe all got time with the second team. A lot of solid players, who are all good enough to play against the run and do okay against the pass, but the only person who really flashes with the ability to make plays right now is Smith. Honestly, this is probably the weakest group on defense right now. Lots of solid players, and yes, there were a lot of guys not participating today, but we need someone to cause some problems. Some of that might be Condon and Osborne playing well at tackle, but I really want to see a little more flash from the group. It isn't a problem spot, but right now I think this is the difference between the defense being good and being great.
Defensive tackle: Just loaded — DeVere Levelston and Elijah Chatman are everything you expect them to be. Stephon Wright and Mike Sandjo-Njiki were running second-team today and did really well also. Wright: you can see the lean and the physicality and why they wanted him so badly from Arizona State. The fact that guys like Terrance Newman, freshman Dylan Frazier and freshman Braylen Jackson aren't getting much time tells you how incredibly deep this group is.
Linebacker: Again, loaded. Isaac Slade-Matautia and Jimmy Phillips start and look good. Shanon Reid and Jaquondis Burns are the second team and look just as good — zero dropoff. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Reid is pushing Slade-Matautia for the starting spot. Reid has really good acceleration when he is on the move... he got free and started to rush Mordecai on one play and it was really difference-making acceleration.
Cornerback: As we get into the secondary, I have to say, it is so much better than in the past. I can't tell you how many times the QB is forced to hold the ball and is forced into a coverage sack or a dump off, or just has to throw it away. The fact that they go against this WR and QB group all the time and don't get spanked says a lot. Ar'Mani Johnson is the No. 1 corner right now, playing very physically and aggressively. Looks like he did a couple of years ago. Sam Westfall continues to fight for a starting spot and hasn't gone away. Jahari Rogers ... man, you have to love the fact that he chooses to go against Rice as often as possible in the individual drills. He is athletic and I'm not sure he is quite there yet, but he certainly has the drive to be a great corner. He is going to struggle at times this season because of his inexperience, but he will be a good one at some point. Kevaris Hall has great length (6-2) and is fighting for a starting spot with the other three. He did get beat deep by Upshaw today, but he is a good physical corner. The guy I was really happy to see perform well today was the freshman, A.J. Davis. He had two really nice breakups against Knox. If he had come in last year, when the team was really weak at corner, I think we would have been talking about him like we talked about Bryce McMorris. The secondary is just better this year, so he is further down the list, but he looked really good and makes me feel much better about the depth. Even Jayden Lawton shows some flashes, but not with the consistency of Davis.
Nickelback: Crossley is the clear starter here. He has burst and length, and has added some muscle to play inside. I think he is going to be dangerous in the middle of the field with his ability to reach off of his coverage assignment. Transfer Nick Roberts wasn't practicing here today, so Roderick Roberson was playing with the second team. He got caught a couple of times out of position, but looked OK for the most part. Depth here is a concern for me until I see Roberts more.
Safety: Bryan Massey is still sitting out, so the starters were Nwokobia and Chase Cromartie. Nwokobia, I thought had a great practice. They were drilling on WR screens, and he was awesome fighting through blockers to disrupt at the point of attack. He had a couple of pass breakups in red zone drills, and looked really good. Cromartie looked OK, but also got beat deep once. Transfer Chris Adimora played with the second team and was fine, with a really nice breakup in the red zone drill when he recovered against Redding after being beat initially and poked the ball away. I think strong safety is probably Nwokobia over Adimora. The other player on the second team was the freshman Ahmaad Moses, and I thought he looked great. This is another case where if this was last year, when the secondary was a lot worse, we would be talking about Moses the same as we talked up Nwokobia. He had a really nice pass breakup against Maryland in the end zone, is quick and just seems to be in the right spot. Massey is the clear starter at free safety, but I would not be surprised at all if Moses is second string ahead of Cromartie by the end of camp.
Special teams: Lots of special teams practice today. Very clear now IMHO that transfer Ryan Bujcenski is the starting punter, and Collin Rogers the starting placekicker, with Hall backing up both and handling kickoffs. Rogers is a very consistent kicker. Bujcevski is not a great punter, but he is very consistent — every punt goes to the correct side of the field, has enough hangtime for good coverage, and goes between 37 and 47 yards. Hall has tons of power (his punts, when he gets ahold of it, look like Thomas Morestead), but lack consistency, and he had one punt blocked and one FG attempt blocked today. He just has a long stride where if the snap isn't just right, and there is any sort of delay, he gets in trouble. So, while I don't think the kicking game is going to be spectacular, it certainly won't be a disaster either.
Overall, I think this is a very good, very deep team. The only thing missing is the ability to convert short yardage and a stud at DE. I'll try and make it out again next week, and my entire focus will be on the OL and DL to see what progress is being made there. The third week of Fall camp is usually the most physical, and that is when you can really see where a team is on both sides of the line.