Conditioning workout observations (7/17/12)

[PonyPride]

Turns out the players aren't doing seven-on-seven today, so this will be brief.

• Talked to OT Taylor Reich, who is rehabilitating after surgery to repair torn ligaments in his ankle. Reich said he is ahead of schedule on his rehab, and after being told he wouldn't be cleared to return to the practice field until September, he said his timeline has been accelerated, and he hopes to be cleared before the end of preseason workouts. He walked without any visible limp, but acknowledged he had considerable work to do in order to regain his cardiovascular fitness.

• Most starting jobs won't be determined until preseason workouts next month, and whether freshman Derek Longoria ends up punting remains to be seen. But he was out before Tuesday's volunteer session, fielding snaps (from DE Zach Wood) and punting to a couple of teammates standing in as return men. Two things stood out: (A) All of his punts, despite just a one-step approach, went about 50-55 yards, and (B) the accuracy was remarkable. There was no scattershooting of punts flying out of bounds or across the field; the returners never had to move more than a couple of steps to field the punts.

• Players are doing a series of 220-yard runs. Among those who are consistently among the leaders in their groups: NT Nick Reed, RB Luke Seeker, LB Jordan Miller, LB Lincoln Richard and CB J.R. Richardson.

[Corso]

Glad to hear Reich is feeling better!

[MustangSTATS]

Seeker is listed as a WR on the smu athletic site, but was a RB in high school. Did they switch him back? He is listed as kind of light to be a SuperBack in the R'n'S.

[Alaric]

Turns out the players aren't doing seven-on-seven today, so this will be brief.

• Talked to OT Taylor Reich, who is rehabilitating after surgery to repair torn ligaments in his ankle. Reich said he is ahead of schedule on his rehab, and after being told he wouldn't be cleared to return to the practice field until September, he said his timeline has been accelerated, and he hopes to be cleared before the end of preseason workouts. He walked without any visible limp, but acknowledged he had considerable work to do in order to regain his cardiovascular fitness.

• Most starting jobs won't be determined until preseason workouts next month, and whether freshman Derek Longoria ends up punting remains to be seen. But he was out before Tuesday's volunteer session, fielding snaps (from DE Zach Wood) and punting to a couple of teammates standing in as return men. Two things stood out: (A) All of his punts, despite just a one-step approach, went about 50-55 yards, and (B) the accuracy was remarkable. There was no scattershooting of punts flying out of bounds or across the field; the returners never had to move more than a couple of steps to field the punts.

• Players are doing a series of 220-yard runs. Among those who are consistently among the leaders in their groups: NT Nick Reed, RB Luke Seeker, LB Jordan Miller, LB Lincoln Richard and CB J.R. Richardson.

Thanks for the great reports as always. Supposedly Texas told Longoria they'd offer him but only as a punter and he said no thanks because he thought he was a D1 caliber athlete otherwise.

[BCS STANG]

Had the chance to see Longoria punting as well. I was pretty astounded when someone flipped him a ball(that he wasn't ready for), he took 1 step and kicked it into the back of the endzone from the opposite 40.

I think Burcham is going to be a star in a few years. Doesn't have the arm strength yet but may be the most accurate of all the qbs.

[PonyPride]

Burcham's arm looks fairly strong now (have seen him throw 30-yard strikes and throw 40-yard lobs with apparent ease), although it surely will get stronger as he gets in the weight room and goes through the SMU practice regimen that includes eleventy billion throws a day.

Seeker played running back during spring drills and has been moved to the position.

[MustangSTATS]

Thanks for the clarification and update.

[ponyscott]

Thanks PP..."SMU practice regimen that includes eleventy billion throws a day."...damn....

[PonyPride]

OK, so maybe eleventy billion is a bit of an exaggeration, but there's no secret that Coach Jones and Coach Morrison believe in a regimen that calls for the quarterbacks to throw a huge number of passes in each practice and over the course of a season (when the quarterbacks and receivers warm up each day, there are four footballs thrown on every single snap).

[ojaipony]

I like what I heard in the Spring about the emphasis on a "hurry up" package (I'm sure JP has some influence there). And, obviously, conditioning will be a huge part of that so I'm glad to see that we might be STARTING camp with all the main players already in great shape.

Maybe it's just me (or the reporting has started earlier this year), but I don't recall the team doing this (early 7on7 and conditioning drills as a unit) last year (and in recent years' past). Am I correct in that?

[PonyPride]

They have done seven-on-seven work every summer. Maybe we have reported more because a lot of this summer's sessions have been dedicated to getting QB Garrett Gilbert familiar with the offense. But yes, they have done seven-on-seven drills every summer.

[ojaipony]

Ah, thanks PP. And THANKS for the reporting!! Can't get enough out here in Cali. Any and all observations (and videos of the 7on7) are welcomed!