Practice started very early today which meant I missed a lot but did get to see the scrimmage periods.
The team was in full pads and did full contact and the scrimmaging was much more physical this time around.
Walk-on Luke Bussey for example, is a smaller guy but really had some great hits today. Danny Gonzales was really challenging him to play smarter today, too, as he also moved up the detph chart to play alongside Jeff Clay and Ron Smith (Bussey took over Baldwin’s spot). Jake Fely, Malik Smith, Damontae Kazee and Noble Hall all had some really loud stops.
Overall I’d say this was one of the team’s best overall practices.
-QBs did well, hardly any interceptions today other than Chapman throwing a duck off his back foot. Jake Rodrigues showed more patience today, like rolling out while keeping his head up field, finding Mikah Holder on the opposite side for a completion and decent gain. He was a little too patient though on a rollout later in the scrimmage, shying away from making a tough pace to the nearside TE or WR and just running about of bounds into traffic. That’s where he pulled his hammy. We’ll see tomorrow if it’s serious.
As mentioned, JJ Whittaker didn’t play today so Pierre Romain took reps in his spot and also remained on the field with his usual second unit, giving him some extra reps. I thought he did well with the first team. Kept guys in front of him and didn’t take any gambles; made the right play.
Pearce Slater didn’t play so Joe Salcedo moved up the depth chart.
The lines looked like this:
Salcedo, Craighead, Flores, Siragusa and Miller
Servatius, Tuihalamaka, Maass, Rosales and Pope.
Krum, Greene, Phillips, Wofford and Sevatius.
-It’s worth noting that Rocky publicly said for the first time that Arthur Flores is “above the others” at center. Austin Maass looks to be the backup center. And Sergio Phillips today actually did more at right guard than he did at center. I think the staff just really wants him to be capable at both spots in case one of the top guys go down.
Will Tui got a lot of reps on the second team today (for the first time it seemed like over Greene) and he also was supposed to go in with first team during one drive but he wasn’t paying attention on the sideline. Craighead ended up going back on the field in his place.
On the d-line, here were some of the combos that I saw today during the scrimmage.
Sanchez Heyward Barrett
Watson Noble Turner
Kelly Watson Turner
Kelly Jackson Rochelin
Cheathum Jackson Rochelin
- I still expect Noble Hall to surprise fans this year. He’s been doing very well against the run and also had a nice swat on 3rd down to end the drive.
I think I saw Jordan Watson leave practice early near the end but I’m not sure what was going on. Will check to see if it was an injury tomorrow because Rocky and the other coaches didn’t notice it.
-At linebacker, Fely again stood out and made some stops against the run in the backfield just after the running back received the hand off. He’s just incredible at reading run plays, NFL level football IQ.
-At safety Malik Smith has had more of a quiet confidence about himself this fall but he’s still playing at a high level. There’s more maturity to his game on the field and I hardly see Gonzales getting on him for making mistakes, mostly because they don’t happen nearly as often. He’s also more correct on the chances that he’s been known to take against play action.
-Kameron Kelly had an easy pick on a bad duck by Chapman today. Kelly’s return was really impressive though, sprinting across the field and nearly taking it all the way back.
-Rocky said that if Na’Im McGee gets hurt, Trey Lomax would take over at Aztec and either Kelly or Kendrick Mathis would have to take Lomax’s spot. That’s a difficult choice but Kelly has been one of the better playmaker so far in camp.
-I haven’t talked much about David Wells but today was one of his better practices. Much more physical as a run blocker and has made strong catches during the past two practices against one or multiple defenders guarding him close.
-One of the surprise plays of the day was Nick Bawden taking a quick handoff and putting together a nice 25 yard run, breaking at least three (pretty weak) tackles on the way there. He’s still very upright as runner but moved really well in that instance.
-The first and second team offenses really ran the ball well. Penny is starting to have more productive carries than Price as of late and Washington is continuing his promising play.
This is a bit of a stretch but Penny’s starting to look like Jay Ajayi when he runs. He’s much stronger and still somehow looks light on his feet. Had a couple 10-20 yard runs during the scrimmage and also showed some nice moves after catching a pass over the middle for about 15-20 yards. It was called back because of an illegal block by Bawden though. Coach Horton actually got really heated about that.
Washington ran past everyone down the sideline for another 40-yard+ touchdown run (against the second team defense) and had another nice run later on for about 20 yards (against the third team). That put the offense in the red zone and Washington was able to get it in on a goal line run up the middle.
-Dakota Gordon also had a tough 15-20 yard carry up the middle.
-At wide receiver, Eric Judge and Favreau were with the ones.
-Mikah Holder and Lloyd Mills were with the twos. They all have great skillsets to work with but Mills and Holder, especially Holder, can really make guys miss in the open field.
