Day 2 of spring camp seemed like another very light practice in preparation for the pads to come on later this week but there were still a couple of notes and observations worth mentioning.
-Doug Deakin has looked really impressive so far running the special teams periods. He comes off as a perfectionist and seems very serious about the role and wants the players to take it just as seriously. When there was one rep where a botched snap sent the ball tumbling on the ground well past the placeholder a lot of the players had a chuckle but Deakin got their attention right back with some choice words and reiterating that a mistake like that 'is not a joke.'
-TE Shane Coleman is another one of those freshmen standouts that I liked last fall that has had a very strong start to camp so far, at least when it comes to route running. He has very quick leg turnover at his size and the way he whips his arms in the air and just plucks the ball from right in front of him makes me think he'll be a natural play-action target in this offense.
-As some of you have already noticed, WR Ethan Dedeaux is certainly set to build up some hype leading up to this season. That said, you got to admit that the type of player he is (speedster with hands) is always going to do well in a padless, spread out 7v7 & 1v1 type setting. Walkon receiver BJ Busbee is another example of this.
Don't take that the wrong way, because I really, really like what he's done so far and have always believed his game could translate to the next level (if used correctly) ever since I watched him in high school. He just seems to have that innate ability that lets him run at such a high speed throughout his entire route and then maintaining that speed both into and out of his receptions.
The only thing holding me back from really hyping him up is that there are SO many cases of guys like him being nothing more than a practice standout.
-As much as I was impressed with Kyre Richardson's upside yesterday I was happy to see him be more consistent today. You can count on him to compete on every rep and as his technique gets better and more reps come his way, he's going to keep on improving. He's just a very fun player to watch out there.
-WR Tim Wilson seemed like he was shaking off some rust yesterday, especially with his hands, but he was much more dependable on Day 2. I'd like to see him put together a string of practices without any mindless drops at some point in camp before I really put my faith behind him. I still think he's more of a dimensional threat than Isiah Macklin but his hands are the main area that can really limit his potential.
-It definitely seemed like CB Darren Hall also got more comfortable on Day 2. He's arguably the twitchiest athlete of the top cornerback candidates and he's really good at playing the ball when he doesn't bite on routes or commits penalties (he's been holding a lot of jerseys in 1v1s). He was honestly one of my favorite performers from Day 2 so the switch back to corner is already looking like a smart move.
-Speaking of which, Tayler Hawkins seems to have really benefitted from his practices at corner last year. He looks very comfortable in coverage so far even though I expect him to be at his best when the pads come on later this week.
-On the QBs, Christian Chapman was just OK today. He was behind on some throws and you can sort of tell he's getting used to throwing to a bunch of new receivers after basically working with Holder/Truxton/Trevillion all fall.
(Note: I pause again today when it comes to criticizing the QBs because I'm soft and my hands were freezing in the cold. I couldn't imagine being able to throw a football in that condition.)
-Mark Salazar is definitely going to challenge Ryan Agnew for the backup spot if he plays in the scrimmages this spring like he did the first two days. While both backups still have accuracy and ball placement issues, Salazar seems to be really confident in making his throws. He doesn't hesitate like backup Aztec QBs have seemed to do far-too-commonly in recent years (including Agnew), which is impressive for his first spring camp.
That's a very small but important trait to possess if he can manage to get a hold of the offense, improve his decision making and work on his touch within the next year or two. His gunslinging style was one of the primary reasons I liked his potential in HS despite the system he played in. It's a trait you can't easily evaluate on film because the spread system makes it so simple for them to make one read before taking off on the run.
So far, it's obvious that he doesn't overthink things or try to do too much, which is half the battle for inexperienced college quarterbacks that have to make quick decisions against the higher caliber athletes lining up on defense (compared to what they dealt with in high school).
Again, Salazar still has a big hump to get over but his future is a little bit more promising compared to other QBs I've seen here simply based off his confidence out there.
Some more tidbits I jotted down:
-Greyshirt LT Delon Jemmott seemed to be spending a lot of one on one time with Adam Roberts today. The focus seemed to be on his footwork getting out of his stance. He technically hasn't played real football since Fall 2016 so he'll be playing catch up this spring. Remember, he was always considered a project player with very high potential. Things like Roberts spending extensive time with him throughout practice today is what it will take to help him reach that potential.
-I try not to do too many notes on the offensive line until the pads come on but peeking over to the other side of the field, I liked how Keith Ismael was moving. His body has really transformed compared to this time last year and he seems to have a lot of good weight on him while remaining healthy.
-Honestly, I can already tell I'm going to be hyping up the returners on the o-line a ton this spring that you guys may even get tired of it. Let's just hope they all stay healthy because the spring following the first full season for an offensive lineman is usually eye-opening when comparing them to the prior year.
-Noble Hall and a number of other players weren't out on the field during warmups but showed up about an hour in because they didn't get out of a class until 3.
On the defensive line, the depth chart looks like this to start spring:
DE: Chibu Onyeukwu, Connor Mitchell and Shane Irwin
DT: Noble Hall, Damon Moore, JJ Glass
DE: Anthony Luke, Mark Brown (Reminder: Myles Cheatum is out for at least half the spring)
-I know people tend to write off Moore for his size but he's a technically sound player with quick feet and that makes him a perfect fit to play d-tackle in this scheme. Ernie Lawson seems to really enjoy coaching him too.
-The starting linebacker trio will be Kyahva Tezino, Ronley Lakalaka and Troy Cassidy.
I thought for a second that Andrew Aleki may make a move back to the d-line since the team won't have one dimensional linebackers (pass rushers) but Rocky views him as a linebacker and that's where he'll be staying.
-On the DBs, I noticed another example of the corners and safeties blending in together when working with Richard Sanchez. There was one portion during an individual period where Sanchez had three players drop back while facing him as he tossed the ball in the air and they all broke hard toward the ball to pick it off. At first it looked very similar to a drill Coach Gonzales used to do all the time with the safeties to work on footwork technique in zone coverages, but this time it was tweaked to get the corners involved.
Instead of having three safeties take part in the rep, Sanchez had the left corner, left warrior and an Aztec line up (in that order) for a rep. Then another Aztec, right warrior and right corner lined up (in that order) for a rep.
There was also a difference in the amount of space the three players had between each other, as Sanchez basically had all three DBs lineup shoulder to shoulder before starting the drill. Having them line up so close to each other gives a great indicator of which DB reacted best to the ball.
I'd compare it to watching an NFL defensive line react to the snap of the ball on a TV broadcast, where it's easy to spot which lineman has the best get off (ex: Aaron Donald).
It also helps all the DBs get used to playing with each other rather being being seperate until live periods such as 7v7s and scrimmaging.
-Practice ended with some 'fun' periods, where Rocky had the team split up into position groups to complete some challenges like long snapping, throwing, and punting into trash cans etc. with the losing group having to run across the entire field and back before calling it a day.
-Rashaad Penny and Trey Lomax were at practice.
-Warrior safety Jerry Chaney has finally switched jersey numbers, from 86 to 31.
-Recruits:
Monte Vista running back Jahmon McClendon attended practice. I expect an eventual offer to him, either as a RB or DB.
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His coach and teammate, jumbo athlete Blake Schmidt, were also there.
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