I wish I could tell you guys that SDSU kicked up the competition yesterday but I can’t. Day 2 ended up being even more self scout work than Day 1. The team spent even less time doing any offense vs. defense drills than Monday which meant that there was not much for me to really evaluate. Rocky said that he kept it light because this was technically supposed to be their day off.
That shouldn’t take away from how all the individual drills and self scout periods will help SDSU in the long run. The coaches seem very committed to developing the technique and understanding of schemes in spring camp and we'll see that the rest of spring (hopefully not as extreme as Day 1 and Day 2 though, for entertainment's sake).
The only thing worth evaluating during these sorts of drills is whether or not you can catch individual players picking up the coaching tips they are receiving and improving on them over the course of multiple practices. That’s pretty darn difficult to evaluate, leaving me with little to write about.
This should all change today when the team finally gets its shoulder pads on and go up against each other.
Here are some of the notes I jotted down when the offense and defense actually faced each other in a few periods on Day 2.
-Ryan Pope caught my eye because he’s really moving around like he did prior to his injury last fall, back when I thought he was arguably the best lineman on the team. It was a shame that he missed as much time as he did because my guess is that he was certainly good enough to play around midseason, but the coaching staff wasn’t fond of the idea of making any drastic changes to the offensive line unit at that point. I’d say that was the right decision, but I also am still very high on Pope again. He has very good body control and can shift his weight around naturally and quick.
-It really is amazing how much the top returning players seem to be so far ahead of the younger guys at the start of camp. Remember, a lot of the backups and reserves now competing for a spot on the two deep were probably on the scout team last year. They are still very much in ‘training’ and taking in a lot of information regarding SDSU's actual team schemes at this point. When Antonio Rosales, Joe Salcedo (when allowed), Sergio Phillips, Noble Hall and even Pope step up to the line, they execute their rep about as well as a coach can ask for on the very first try and handle their business. They practice like great QBs “have command” of an offense, while the young guys either try to do too much or hesitate on their rep and end up losing the leverage battle from the get go.
This isn’t just hyperbole or a lazy narrative where people say the returning starters determine how good your football team will be the next year. It’s really true in SDSU’s case, especially with the OL and DL. It’s like they are still playing in midseason form. Rosales looks MUCH more comfortable in pass protection than he did last fall. I guess that’s what 14 starts can do for you. He’s very smooth and stronger than he looks, making his reps look very easy. Phillips and Hall continue to always surprise me with their explosiveness for their size. They also have the best hands in the DL group, which is saying a lot because last spring Hall continued to be just a strict bull rusher. His transformation from freshman year to last fall has been a big one. I think a lot of credit should be given to Ernie Lawson.
-As for the younger guys, there are still moments where they look like infants learning to walk, but their potential is without a doubt there.
Tyler Roemer uses his arm length very well and doesn’t rely on his height and size like he did in high school. The most dissapointing thing in potentially talented offensive line prospects is when you see them just lean on the defender and not use any technique. Trenton Fincher has a bit of an issue with this but it’s hard to tell if he’s really 100 percent recovered from his injury last fall. Roemer, on the other hand, has gotten past that point and I feel like he’s still a candidate to beat out Salcedo for the starting spot. He’d be a four year starter if that’s the case.
Zach Thomas has been an intriguing guy because I wasn’t sure which position he’d end up as but he looks very solid at tackle so far. He’s also been using his arms well like Roemer but we’ll see how that goes when the pads come on.
Keith Ismael, one of the more polished of the younger guys, definitely looks like he’s much leaner and put on better weight compared to last fall. There’s a little more pep in his step when he moves his feet and he’s another guy who blocks much stronger than he looks.
-Derrick Achayo has put on a good amount of weight and seems to be handling it well. I was seriously questionin him as a lineman last year because of his sheer size. SDSU tried to hide it by placing him at center - where size isn’t as big of a factor - but that failed when he ended up being a pretty bad snapper. He’s at tackle now and he definitely looks capable of sticking out there moving forward.
-Myles Cheatum is another guy who took a big leap last fall along with Hall and Phillips and he’s also gotten off to a great start this spring. Again, I think Lawson’s addition has brought a lot of energy and his players give a lot of effort because of it.
-Remember the Texas route that SDSU called multiple times during its 99 yard drive against Wyoming, where Chapman just kept checking down to Pumphrey over the middle? Juwan Washington’s going to be very effective in that role if need be.
-Both Isaiah Macklin and Tim Wilson dropped easy passes whenever I seemed to look their way yesterday. Hopefully it was just an off day.
-If Kahale Warring were at a JC right now (which is what most late bloomers do), I wouldn’t be surprised if he had power five offers. His ability as a receiver has improved so much and he’s MUCH more physical. He’s going to be a legit threat during his junior and senior year, if not this year.
-Walk-on Israel Cabrera has had a productive start to camp, knocking out completed passes, getting a few picks off tips and performing well in coverage.
-For an otherwise very quiet practice, Rocky at least ended it with competitions to have the team head off in good spirits. The stakes were up downs, and the offense ended up doing all of them. It started with a teamwork centric drill where multiple players had to push the sled about 20 yards, then spin it around for their teammates to run it back. The defense handled the exchange much better and won each try pretty easily.
Then the OL and DL had to return punts from the jugs machine. That was entertaining but the offense lost again. Rocky then had Quest Truxton return the last punt for double or nothing up downs for the offense. The catch was Truxton had to catch it from behind his back. He did. Celebration ensued and that's how practice concluded.
