Almost wasn't going to go to practice last Friday, but I needed to get the taste of our early exit from the tournament out of my mouth.
Some highlights/thoughts:
1) They went shells on Friday (i.e., shoulder pads and helmets).
2) The rotation of WRs looked to be some mix of Singleton/Wharton (x), Bankhead/Stovall/Bug (h), Hudson/Veasey (y), and Hansen/Strickland/Duncan (z)
3) Still very impressed with both Bankhead and Stovall. Should be a good competition going forward. Bankhead has a good catch radius and runs nice routes. Stovall, while relatively small, is a superb athlete.
4) On 11s, the rotation was Forrest, Rubenzer, Kline, then Gilliam. Bowers was out with a sinus thing per Sonny. For what it's worth, Forrest and Kline went with the 1s. Rubenzer and Gilliam went with the 2s.
5) Forrest was a bit inconsistent early on with a few off target passes. These included a ball thrown behind Bankhead for an in-completion. Also overthrew an open Singleton down the sideline. Later in practice, however, Forrest looked a bit more consistent -- notching a series of straight completions.
6) Kline still has some accuracy/consistency problems. A few times he was way, way off the mark. Think Ayoob overthrowing David Gray during the 2005 Oregon game. He did have some nice passes though, for what it's worth.
7) Rubenzer still has way too long of a windup.
8) Wallace and Uluave are both still getting looks at the RG position. I sort of prefer Uluave given his athleticism.
9) 1st team D was mostly some combination of Westerfield, Merkari, Manley/Looney, Wilson, Cam Walker, Ray Davidson, Nickerson, Drew, Psalms, Albert, Rambo. Downs, I think, is still with the walking wounded.
10) 1st team O was mostly some combination of Forrest, Watson/Enwere, Cochran, Borrayo, Ooms, Uluave/Wallace, Moore, Singleton/Wharton, Hudson/Veasey, Bankead/Stovall, Hansen/Strickland/Duncan. Note, that there were lots of WR rotating.
10) Really like what Duncan is showing -- especially for a true freshman. He's not the physical specimen that Carlos is, but has consistently been making some nice hauls.
11) Psalms and Albert were almost always standing next to Lovett when not on the field. Probably a good idea since they're going to be relied on heavily this year.
12) Gilliam did hit Bug on the sideline for a long completion during 7v7 (if I recall). Really liked how Gilliam bought time by moving around the pocket while also keeping his eyes down field. He's still behind the others, but this is a flash of his talent.
13) Rubenzer also hit Veasey for a long TD during 11v11 (again if I recall correctly). Veasey was wide open, however, and I chalk this up to more of a breakdown in coverage than anything else.
14) I think McCrary is also feeling more and more at home at RB. He has some shiftiness that can help in avoiding tacklers. He's still progressing, but hopefully can become a nice homerun threat for us.
15) Rusty Becker was running with the 2s. I think he'd do well adding some more weight to make him more effective in the inside. Z. Johnson, Saffle, and Luc Bequette rounded out the 2s DL. Didn't have time to catch all of the other 2s on D. But, it did look like Derron Brown, Turner, and Garner were in there.
Some highlights/thoughts:
1) They went shells on Friday (i.e., shoulder pads and helmets).
2) The rotation of WRs looked to be some mix of Singleton/Wharton (x), Bankhead/Stovall/Bug (h), Hudson/Veasey (y), and Hansen/Strickland/Duncan (z)
3) Still very impressed with both Bankhead and Stovall. Should be a good competition going forward. Bankhead has a good catch radius and runs nice routes. Stovall, while relatively small, is a superb athlete.
4) On 11s, the rotation was Forrest, Rubenzer, Kline, then Gilliam. Bowers was out with a sinus thing per Sonny. For what it's worth, Forrest and Kline went with the 1s. Rubenzer and Gilliam went with the 2s.
5) Forrest was a bit inconsistent early on with a few off target passes. These included a ball thrown behind Bankhead for an in-completion. Also overthrew an open Singleton down the sideline. Later in practice, however, Forrest looked a bit more consistent -- notching a series of straight completions.
6) Kline still has some accuracy/consistency problems. A few times he was way, way off the mark. Think Ayoob overthrowing David Gray during the 2005 Oregon game. He did have some nice passes though, for what it's worth.
7) Rubenzer still has way too long of a windup.
8) Wallace and Uluave are both still getting looks at the RG position. I sort of prefer Uluave given his athleticism.
9) 1st team D was mostly some combination of Westerfield, Merkari, Manley/Looney, Wilson, Cam Walker, Ray Davidson, Nickerson, Drew, Psalms, Albert, Rambo. Downs, I think, is still with the walking wounded.
10) 1st team O was mostly some combination of Forrest, Watson/Enwere, Cochran, Borrayo, Ooms, Uluave/Wallace, Moore, Singleton/Wharton, Hudson/Veasey, Bankead/Stovall, Hansen/Strickland/Duncan. Note, that there were lots of WR rotating.
10) Really like what Duncan is showing -- especially for a true freshman. He's not the physical specimen that Carlos is, but has consistently been making some nice hauls.
11) Psalms and Albert were almost always standing next to Lovett when not on the field. Probably a good idea since they're going to be relied on heavily this year.
12) Gilliam did hit Bug on the sideline for a long completion during 7v7 (if I recall). Really liked how Gilliam bought time by moving around the pocket while also keeping his eyes down field. He's still behind the others, but this is a flash of his talent.
13) Rubenzer also hit Veasey for a long TD during 11v11 (again if I recall correctly). Veasey was wide open, however, and I chalk this up to more of a breakdown in coverage than anything else.
14) I think McCrary is also feeling more and more at home at RB. He has some shiftiness that can help in avoiding tacklers. He's still progressing, but hopefully can become a nice homerun threat for us.
15) Rusty Becker was running with the 2s. I think he'd do well adding some more weight to make him more effective in the inside. Z. Johnson, Saffle, and Luc Bequette rounded out the 2s DL. Didn't have time to catch all of the other 2s on D. But, it did look like Derron Brown, Turner, and Garner were in there.
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