Tuesday (4/17/12) practice notes

[PonyPride]

Observations from Tuesday’s practice on the Pettus practice field:

• The offensive line is not the only unit with new faces this spring. On the other side of the ball, Torlan Pittman is back as the starting NT, and nobody is surprised to see Margus Hunt running with the first team at RDE. With injuries to Kevin Grenier and Beau Barnes, Zach Wood is working as the first-team LDE, and reportedly is up to about 270 pounds. The second-team defensive line included LDE Spencer Conley, NT Aaron Davis and RDE Cameron Smith.

• WR Bobby Waid has spent the last two days with his right ankle in a protective walking boot after rolling his ankle Monday. Waid said after practice that he is done with the boot, and hopes to take part in all drills Wednesday if the team's medical staff allows him to do so.

• Former walk-on Luke Seeker has moved to RB.

• There is a lot of competition to replace graduated FS Chris Banjo, with Jay Scott, JUCO transfer Daniel Roundtree, Jeremy Gray and Hayden Greenbauer all in the mix. Two weeks into the team’s spring workouts, Scott is working beside SS Ryan Smith with the first-team defense, along with CBs Kenneth Acker and J.R. Richardson. Roundtree and Gray have been working as the safeties with the second-team defense, alongside CBs Chris Parks and Keith Robinson.

• When the team splits into offense and defense to run drills, players rotate playing and stepping in on the scout team. Had he been wandering near the defense, new OL coach Bob Palcic might have been inclined to lobby head coach June Jones to let Margus Hunt try out at OT. Working as a scout LT, Hunt looked weirdly comfortable in the position. Think about what coaches look for in an ideal OT candidate: tall, long arms, quick feet and exceptional strength and balance. Hunt isn’t moving, of course, but he looked far less out of place than you’d think.

• CB Rodney Hubert looks vastly improved over last season. He has good size (he’s listed at 5-11 and 165, but he looks both taller and heavier than that) and has drawn praise this spring for his playmaking ability, which was on display again Tuesday when he ran down WR Chayse Joubert on a deep post route and knocked away a slightly underthrown pass.

• Two of the nicest receptions of the day were turned in by a pair of walk-ons. WR Steven Nelson came back and dove between two DBs to snag an underthrown pass, and WR Jordan Airhart leaped and twisted his body around to snare a high pass that was thrown several feet behind him.

• For the second day in a row, incoming freshman QB Neal Burcham was in attendance at the Mustangs’ practice.

• Injured LT Ben Gottschalk (back) said after practice that he hopes to be cleared Wednesday to return to the practice field. Gottschalk said he has started running and felt good.

• Freshman WR Gehrig Dieter has shut down for the rest of the spring after his balky knee (he had a torn meniscus repaired over the offseason) has acted up. Dieter said the pain in his knee is not excruciating, but it is uncomfortable enough that the SMU medical staff went to a conservative approach in order to make sure he’s available in the fall. "It doesn’t hurt a lot," Dieter said. "It’s just sore, and they said, ‘don’t risk it.’ So I’m watching and learning as much as I can, but I’m probably not going to practice again this spring."

• Senior Blake McJunkin has been working for the last few days at RG, with Taylor Lasecki working as the first-team center. Normally a center, sliding over one spot is not completely foreign to McJunkin, who played some guard last year on the scout team while recuperating from an ankle injury. McJunkin said no final decisions have been made, and that new OL coach Bob Palcic is simply experimenting with various combinations in an effort "to get the best five guys on the field." McJunkin is versatile enough to play any of the three interior OL positions and said he has no real preference, as long as he gets to play, but he does see on advantage to playing guard. "I love pulling and trapping, and I didn’t get to do that much playing center," he said. "Playing guard, I love to get going and smoke some people."

• Another OL in a new spot is Ben Hughes, a center in high school who also has played OG since arriving at SMU. But Hughes has been working this spring at LT, a position he said he has not played "since PeeWee football." Hughes said he likes the idea, adding that he’ll play any position asked of him if it helps him get on the field.

The main difference, he said, is the change in stance. Interior linemen use a more even stance (with their feet side-by-side), while tackles stand up a little taller and go with more of a staggered stance and have to keep more of their weight over their inside foot "or the defensive end will run right past you on the inside," Hughes said. "But you don’t make as many calls (at tackle), so it’s more a matter of playing and thinking less."

Hughes said he now carries about 280 pounds on his 6-foot-4-inch frame, and if Palcic keeps him at tackle, he hopes to get to 290 or 295 by the start of the 2012 season.

• Graduating cornerback Richard Crawford said Tuesday he had a meeting last week with the Washington Redskins at the team’s facility in Ashburn, Va., during which he met with head coach Mike Shanahan and secondary and special teams assistant coaches. "They said they liked how I played," Crawford said, "but I guess they were also trying to figure out what kind of person I am, whether I’d be a person worthy of adding to their organization." He said the Redskins are considering him for special teams and for a nickel CB spot.

[ojaipony]

Thanks, PP! This is an awesome report!

I guess I suck at evaluating talent because I'm quite shocked that Christian Holloway isn't even mentioned as a 2nd stringer at this point (I swear he'd be competing for the starting DE position). Also, I'm shocked to not even see Lazarri Middleton mentioned as a 2nd stringer (again, I thought he'd be a shoe-in for the other starting CB spot). I know it's only spring but, hey, the best players play and that's all I care about. And if Grenier and Wood are better than Holloway (very hard for me to believe but what do I know) then the team will be that much better for it. Also slightly surprised that Roundtree isn't projecting as the other starting safety. I guess we'll all find out in Waco.

[Stallion]

Holloway only played football in his final two years of High School and hasn't played in a year and a half. Its not a surprise it may take him awhile to physically and mentally mature.

[ponynut]

Isn't about time for a spring roster???? Anybody know why the hold up or am I missing someting. Thanks!

[ojaipony]

Holloway only played football in his final two years of High School and hasn't played in a year and a half. Its not a surprise it may take him awhile to physically and mentally mature.

Very good point as usual. I'm sure most of it is mental - not many others on this team are as physically gifted or athletic as this guy from what I've seen.

[RE Tycoon]

How's Stephon Sanders looking? Really excited to see him make a JG type leap in his 2nd year.

[squire]

How's Stephon Sanders looking? Really excited to see him make a JG type leap in his 2nd year.

I'd say he already made that leap.