Tuesday (4/2/13) practice report

[PonyPride]

The offense spent much of the morning in passing drills, sharpening up routes against no defense. It can be hard to judge when there's no defense, of course, but overall, the quarterbacks looked accurate and receivers made most of the catches. Among those making several nice grabs: Keenan Holman, former CB Rodney Hubert, Colin Lagasse and Der'Rikk Thompson.

• Barring injury, QB Garrett Gilbert is a virtual lock to retain the starting position, but his backups have looked sharp. Neal Burcham, in particular, was very accurate on several deep throws. Gilbert also looked particularly on-target with his deep throws, including a few to WRs Arrius Holleman and Nate Halverson.

• CB-turned-WR Kenneth Acker didn't practice because he said his stomach didn't feel well. He said he didn't think it was serious.

• LB Jonathan Yenga left practice early and was walking with a brace on his knee after practice. He said he collided with S Hayden Greenbauer while trying to break up a pass and fell awkwardly, and might have strained his medial collateral ligament (MCL), but insisted that the brace was just precautionary and that the injury was not serious. He said if he misses any practice time, it will be minimal, and that he expects to be back next week at the latest.

• Many coaches seem to think that, if given a choice, bigger, taller players are preferable over their smaller counterparts. That makes sense in many cases, but not it is not always required, as shown when the team went to 11-on-11 drills (with offensive players standing in as mock defenders) and QB Conner Preston (listed at 6 feet tall) hooked up on a few passes with WR Deion Sanders (listed at 5-7), including one when Sanders went up and plucked the pass from between two defenders. Sanders isn't as tall as his famous father, but he runs well and has pretty long arms for a guy his size.

• Chauncey Briggs, who will be a redshirt freshman in the fall and has trimmed down to 295 pounds, has been getting some work at both tackle positions.

• The Catch of the Day was turned in by WR Colin Lagasse, who raced into the right side of the end zone and laid out to make a diving grab of a pass from Burcham.

• LT Ben Gottschalk is the elder statesmen of the Mustangs' new offensive line, and when asked which of the younger players has impressed him, the first player he named was new LG Kris Weeks.

Recruited as a tackle, Weeks said Tuesday that the move inside is a venture into uncharted territory, as his five practices this spring at guard mark his first time playing the position at any level.

"I played center in PeeWee football, I think," he said. "Since then, I have always played tackle."

Weeks found out about the move "about a week before spring" workouts started, and says the biggest adjustment is adapting to how quickly plays can change in the interior of the offensive line.

"Everything feels like it's happening quicker" at guard, Weeks said. "At tackle, you have your guy, and it's usually just you and him. At guard, you have to read the play and sometimes hand your guy off to the guy next to you, or pick up someone else's man. It all happens really fast.

"The thinking is different, but the technique is a little different, too, but I'm getting used to it. We do more popping and pulling (when the blocker stands up and runs to one side of the field as a lead blocker). I've never done that before. It's fun."

The increased mobility has Weeks in good shape - a characteristic he said applies to the offensive line in general.

"Our line has gotten lighter," he said. "We have worked really hard in the offseason. I'm one of the heavier linemen now - I'm 305 - and you can see the benefits. We're moving really well."

Weeks said he still needs to work on the change in the communication process at his new position. When the offense approaches the line of scrimmage, the center makes the initial call for the line, first barking out the formation shown by the opponent's defensive front and then calling the protection for the offensive line. From that point, the guards and tackles make additional calls to adjust to what they see from the defense.

"It's different," Weeks said. "At tackle, you make certain calls, but the guard can call them off, depending on what he sees. I'm still getting used to that, but I'm getting more comfortable with it."

[JasonB]

I was able to attend practice this morning and help Pony Pride out. A couple of thoughts I wanted to add:

- Stewart has moved inside to the slot position, at least for today.

- If I were to speculate (and this is pure speculation, I haven't heard from or talked to anyone about this), I would bet that he was moved inside so that the receivers who show up in the fall can compete for jobs on the outside.

- It looks like the three H's are lining up at the same outside WR position.

- Ace looks a lot slimmer and more fluid. Hopefully he reaches his potential.

- A lot less drops than the typical practice last year. There was a 10 minute span where the wind picked up and concentration wavered, but other than that, it was better.

- Funniest sight of the day - Preston taking snaps and Kristic and Kent acting as defensive linemen. They dwarfed him and it was pretty funny to watch. CP still completed his passes through.

- Shead looks the part. All of the RBs look in great shape. It was nice to see Williams running and playing again.

- I made this comment to Pony Pride, but I am not as worried about the OL. I was really, really worried last season coming out of Fall practice. But I look at the 10 in the two deep, and I see big guys with size that move well. Sure, they are young and inexperienced, but there is a lot of talent and depth in there. We might have the occasional breakdown with experience and mental mistakes, but I really like what I see. I am looking forward to watching that group develop. I don't remember being able to say that about the full 2 deep in quite a while.

- Seals looks like a monster. He is huge, and he can run. With him and Sanders on the outside, those are two big, fast linebackers. I am looking forward to watching that tandem.

[ponyte]

Thanks for the great update. Seems very positive as compared to other years.

[Pony Fan]

How is Sam Rice looking?

[SMU2007]

Barring injury, QB Garrett Gilbert is a virtual lock to retain the starting position

I'm not sure a stronger lock exists.

[DallasDiehard]

Stronger locks = Gottschalk? Joyner? Sanders? Jeremy Johnson?

Yeah, you're right. That's the toughest lock.