Just got back from practice. Luckily didn't encounter any rain so it was a nice day to watch.
Before I get into it, I can say with confidence that the new coaching additions have definitely sped up the pace of practices. More energy, more whistleblowing, more corrections more player excitement and chemistry with each other. I should also say that since there aren't any pads and little physical contact, I didn't focus too much on the defensive side of the ball today. I'll be able to report more of my thoughts on the defense as spring goes on but for now, there's not much to report.
The biggest note teamwise out of today was I think that the offense will legitimately run the read-option, more so than I thought previously. Whenever they went through individual drills, all the QBs practiced the slow-paced, dragging handoff technique that you always see in read-option offenses. When it came to skellies and live action, SDSU's quarterbacks stuck with the traditional pro-set looks.
Since Jeff Horton isn't looking to completely overhaul the offense, I think it's a good idea to make the QBs slowly get used to the read-option looks so that once the season arrives, they'll be ready to show another dimension/wrinkle. Chapman and Rodrigues looked most comfortable with the handoff technique.
QBs
First off, here's how I'd rank the six QBs today:
Tier I
Maxwell Smith, Christian Chapman
Tier II
Jake Rodrigues, Nick Bawden
Tier III
Adam Wood, Drew Anderson
Chapman is easily the most improved QB of the guys who returned. His patience in the pocket really stood out. He scans the field much, much better and takes just the right amount of time once gets his feet set. He was probably the most accurate passer today too.
Smith is what I expected. Big, strong guy that already seems to have solid timing with the receivers. He was the second most accurate passer of the day but I think he completed more deep balls than the rest of the QBs.
Rodrigues was just average - he's had better days. Had poor accuracy and a lot of his throws were mainly low and uncatchable. Solid scambler and can extend plays but he was just off today. Bawden didn't really show what he's capable of and threw a TON of checkdowns throughout practice so it was a little hard for me to get a feel for him. It's the first practice so I'm sure he'll show more as the practices move on but he was definitely conservative today (perhaps by design).
RBs
This group is just ridiculously deep. Pumphrey and Price both looked great as expected, and Stamps was his typical self too (he'll be more effective when the pads come on). The biggest guy that made an impression today was Rashaad Penny. That shouldn't come as a surprise to you guys. He's the best pure runner in space not named Pumphrey. He also had the most explosive play out of the backfield today on a running back screen, avoiding Pierre Romain than cutting back inside to make Brandon Porter miss for a touchdown up the middle.
It seemed like the RBs and FBs all seemed like reliable pass catchers today too.
WRs
First things first, I can't describe to you how much of different practice is for the wide receivers under Coach Cooper. He's constantly on them and is willing to have them repeat their reps as long as it takes. He runs around, yells, does everything with so much energy and focus and it's easy to see how well the receivers respond to him.
Take Jemond Hazely for example. He's a guy that's always been regarded as a high-level talent below the shoulders and that's about it. He's mistake-prone: running bad routes, running the wrong routes and lining up wrong. Today, during 7-on-7, he jumped off the line early. False starts like that never happen during 7-on-7s, but Hazely doing that is just another example of his issues.
Both Rocky and Hunkie got on Hazely immediately, and like magic, Hazely ran a perfect route on the very next play which just so happened to set up a perfect pass over the middle for another receiver that led to a big gain. Overall I thought Hazely had a solid day.
As I reported earlier, Lloyd Mills will miss spring ball. Who's going to shine now that he's gone? Mikah Holder - no doubt.
Holder is going to be special and I'd be shocked if he isn't. Of course it's just one practice but I've been watching him since his junior year of high school and he just keeps getting better (it's hard to find a ceiling for him). He's the most natural receiver out of the bunch, runs routes very hard and catches everything. He makes it look easy in ways that potential NFL guys I've watched here in the past do. Ezell Ruffin was the only WR I said last spring that had a legitimate shot at the NFL and Holder is the closest to that as it stands now. He's really elusive running his routes and knows how to bait his defender to get him off balance. I haven't gone through the film yet but I'm sure he'll stick out to you guys. With the right quarterback, he'll be an all-conference type guy.
Eric Judge obviously stood out because of his speed and quickness but he didn't make too many highlight grabs today.
I should say that the WR unit is probably the youngest it has been in years but the overall amount of drops from the group was minimal. I'm betting Horton is putting an emphasis on that part of the passing game this year and it's showing. Even the walk-ons did their part and made solid catches.
The best catch of the day was probably Paul Pitts III who ran a streak and caught a pass in the endzone that nobody thought he'd be able to get to and/or reach. His extra gear showed up and I think that trait has been missing ever since he returned from injury earlier in his career.
TE
Really focused on David Wells and Darryl Richardson out of the tight ends so here our my main thoughts. Wells has really worked on his body and has added a lot more muscle. Easily the best he has looked since he arrived. He's also really improved on tracking the ball and attacking it - his biggest knock last season. I don't recall him dropping any balls either.
Richardson is the more dynamic player and he's improved on his route running. He's starting to show more of his athleticism and use it more to his advantage. I think out of all the TEs, he's the guy other teams would have to worry about in terms of yards after the catch. His cuts are very impressive for his size and he's not stiff at all. Speaking of which, he showed of a tough stiff arm today while on the move.
OL
Not much news other than Sergio Phillips looks solid at center and should give Austin Maass a run for his money. Kwayde Miller indeed started at LT today and looked as good as I remember. I talked with Miller afterward and will do a story on him. The most noteworthy thing he mentioned is that if his back acts up again (he's had two surgeries) and he needs surgery again, his career will likely be over. He's not too concerned about it as of now though and he's definitely ready to step up and hold onto the starting job.
Ryan Pope looks good physically but will take him some time since he's still pretty new to football. Coach Schmidt was on him a lot today.
Note: For whatever reason, Paul Rodriguez watched practice today. He was permanently dismissed by Long this winter.
##
On defense the standouts were JJ Whittaker, Trey Lomax and Malik Smith (again, consider today was mainly seven on seven action). It's worth noting that Fred Melifonwu worked a bit with the defensive line today, probably to help prepare him for Cody Galea's role last year as a standup end.
Jake Fely was jogging at practice with Adam Hall today and it's clear that he's added some bad weight to his body. From behind, I honestly thought he was Kenny Galea'i at first glance. He has six months to get back in football shape though, and Hall made him run a bunch of laps today.
Also, there was some emphasis on special teams today, more so than has been the case last fall and spring.
To end practice, Donald Hageman was good from 26, 36 and 46 yards but missed on his two attempts from 51 yards out (one short, the other wide right).
This post was edited on 2/23 8:12 PM by RubenMeza
This post was edited on 2/23 8:15 PM by RubenMeza
Before I get into it, I can say with confidence that the new coaching additions have definitely sped up the pace of practices. More energy, more whistleblowing, more corrections more player excitement and chemistry with each other. I should also say that since there aren't any pads and little physical contact, I didn't focus too much on the defensive side of the ball today. I'll be able to report more of my thoughts on the defense as spring goes on but for now, there's not much to report.
The biggest note teamwise out of today was I think that the offense will legitimately run the read-option, more so than I thought previously. Whenever they went through individual drills, all the QBs practiced the slow-paced, dragging handoff technique that you always see in read-option offenses. When it came to skellies and live action, SDSU's quarterbacks stuck with the traditional pro-set looks.
Since Jeff Horton isn't looking to completely overhaul the offense, I think it's a good idea to make the QBs slowly get used to the read-option looks so that once the season arrives, they'll be ready to show another dimension/wrinkle. Chapman and Rodrigues looked most comfortable with the handoff technique.
QBs
First off, here's how I'd rank the six QBs today:
Tier I
Maxwell Smith, Christian Chapman
Tier II
Jake Rodrigues, Nick Bawden
Tier III
Adam Wood, Drew Anderson
Chapman is easily the most improved QB of the guys who returned. His patience in the pocket really stood out. He scans the field much, much better and takes just the right amount of time once gets his feet set. He was probably the most accurate passer today too.
Smith is what I expected. Big, strong guy that already seems to have solid timing with the receivers. He was the second most accurate passer of the day but I think he completed more deep balls than the rest of the QBs.
Rodrigues was just average - he's had better days. Had poor accuracy and a lot of his throws were mainly low and uncatchable. Solid scambler and can extend plays but he was just off today. Bawden didn't really show what he's capable of and threw a TON of checkdowns throughout practice so it was a little hard for me to get a feel for him. It's the first practice so I'm sure he'll show more as the practices move on but he was definitely conservative today (perhaps by design).
RBs
This group is just ridiculously deep. Pumphrey and Price both looked great as expected, and Stamps was his typical self too (he'll be more effective when the pads come on). The biggest guy that made an impression today was Rashaad Penny. That shouldn't come as a surprise to you guys. He's the best pure runner in space not named Pumphrey. He also had the most explosive play out of the backfield today on a running back screen, avoiding Pierre Romain than cutting back inside to make Brandon Porter miss for a touchdown up the middle.
It seemed like the RBs and FBs all seemed like reliable pass catchers today too.
WRs
First things first, I can't describe to you how much of different practice is for the wide receivers under Coach Cooper. He's constantly on them and is willing to have them repeat their reps as long as it takes. He runs around, yells, does everything with so much energy and focus and it's easy to see how well the receivers respond to him.
Take Jemond Hazely for example. He's a guy that's always been regarded as a high-level talent below the shoulders and that's about it. He's mistake-prone: running bad routes, running the wrong routes and lining up wrong. Today, during 7-on-7, he jumped off the line early. False starts like that never happen during 7-on-7s, but Hazely doing that is just another example of his issues.
Both Rocky and Hunkie got on Hazely immediately, and like magic, Hazely ran a perfect route on the very next play which just so happened to set up a perfect pass over the middle for another receiver that led to a big gain. Overall I thought Hazely had a solid day.
As I reported earlier, Lloyd Mills will miss spring ball. Who's going to shine now that he's gone? Mikah Holder - no doubt.
Holder is going to be special and I'd be shocked if he isn't. Of course it's just one practice but I've been watching him since his junior year of high school and he just keeps getting better (it's hard to find a ceiling for him). He's the most natural receiver out of the bunch, runs routes very hard and catches everything. He makes it look easy in ways that potential NFL guys I've watched here in the past do. Ezell Ruffin was the only WR I said last spring that had a legitimate shot at the NFL and Holder is the closest to that as it stands now. He's really elusive running his routes and knows how to bait his defender to get him off balance. I haven't gone through the film yet but I'm sure he'll stick out to you guys. With the right quarterback, he'll be an all-conference type guy.
Eric Judge obviously stood out because of his speed and quickness but he didn't make too many highlight grabs today.
I should say that the WR unit is probably the youngest it has been in years but the overall amount of drops from the group was minimal. I'm betting Horton is putting an emphasis on that part of the passing game this year and it's showing. Even the walk-ons did their part and made solid catches.
The best catch of the day was probably Paul Pitts III who ran a streak and caught a pass in the endzone that nobody thought he'd be able to get to and/or reach. His extra gear showed up and I think that trait has been missing ever since he returned from injury earlier in his career.
TE
Really focused on David Wells and Darryl Richardson out of the tight ends so here our my main thoughts. Wells has really worked on his body and has added a lot more muscle. Easily the best he has looked since he arrived. He's also really improved on tracking the ball and attacking it - his biggest knock last season. I don't recall him dropping any balls either.
Richardson is the more dynamic player and he's improved on his route running. He's starting to show more of his athleticism and use it more to his advantage. I think out of all the TEs, he's the guy other teams would have to worry about in terms of yards after the catch. His cuts are very impressive for his size and he's not stiff at all. Speaking of which, he showed of a tough stiff arm today while on the move.
OL
Not much news other than Sergio Phillips looks solid at center and should give Austin Maass a run for his money. Kwayde Miller indeed started at LT today and looked as good as I remember. I talked with Miller afterward and will do a story on him. The most noteworthy thing he mentioned is that if his back acts up again (he's had two surgeries) and he needs surgery again, his career will likely be over. He's not too concerned about it as of now though and he's definitely ready to step up and hold onto the starting job.
Ryan Pope looks good physically but will take him some time since he's still pretty new to football. Coach Schmidt was on him a lot today.
Note: For whatever reason, Paul Rodriguez watched practice today. He was permanently dismissed by Long this winter.
##
On defense the standouts were JJ Whittaker, Trey Lomax and Malik Smith (again, consider today was mainly seven on seven action). It's worth noting that Fred Melifonwu worked a bit with the defensive line today, probably to help prepare him for Cody Galea's role last year as a standup end.
Jake Fely was jogging at practice with Adam Hall today and it's clear that he's added some bad weight to his body. From behind, I honestly thought he was Kenny Galea'i at first glance. He has six months to get back in football shape though, and Hall made him run a bunch of laps today.
Also, there was some emphasis on special teams today, more so than has been the case last fall and spring.
To end practice, Donald Hageman was good from 26, 36 and 46 yards but missed on his two attempts from 51 yards out (one short, the other wide right).
This post was edited on 2/23 8:12 PM by RubenMeza
This post was edited on 2/23 8:15 PM by RubenMeza
