I apologize for the tardiness here. Ivory Tower and a group of our reporters in the field (see: friends doing a favor for us) gathered this info as most of the Cupdaters were predisposed for most of the day so major props are in order for them.
- Greg Hardy was not practicing and had a boot on his right leg as per our expectations. However, Hardy appeared not to be favoring his right leg and seemed to be in good spirits which is a good sign. We imagine a guy like that, being the physical freak he is, could recover rather quickly.
- Highly touted defensive end Craig Drummond has that big 6’5” frame that line coaches covet, but appears to have a little baby fat on him still and might be a little out of shape.
- 6’7” wide receiver Melvin Harris is missing more time with another broken foot. Harris was in street clothes and still appears to be as skinny as a bean pole.
- Although it was reported that Dexter McCluster was going to be working with the wide receivers, he spent a good deal of time with the running backs today.
- After Snead the depth chart at quarterback looks to be Billy Tapp, Nathan Stanley, and Clayton Moore (ed: I totally forgot about that guy there, high-o Silver!).
- Continuing his incredible Cotton Bowl performance, corner Marshay Green picked up where he left off to begin practice. Green picked off Stanley in one on one drills (which rarely see interceptions) and had a pass break up among other solid plays. He played tight, physical coverage that few of us haven’t personally seen from any of the Rebel corners in the past few years. The guy just flies all over the field and is somehow in on every other play. Cassius Vaughn, however, was burned several times including a play where Lionel Breaux left him in the dust for a nice catch.
- Speaking of Lionel Breaux, that guy's damn fast. I know we all knew that already but he's certainly a viable option to pick up where Mike Wallace left off. This isn't to say he'll ever be to our offense what Wallace was, but he's definitely got most of his speed.
- Snead looked great. He was throwing bullets to Shay Hodge and McCluster enough to make it obvious that they had been running drills all offseason. In a rollout drill, Snead showed great mobility and nice accuracy.
- Tapp and Stanley were both consistent, but a surprise was the solid play of Moore. I'm being serious, he looked comfortable and confident today which, for a scorned freshman, is pretty impressive.
- Coveted offensive line signee Bobbie Massie was sporting a red cap (he luvs da REBZ) and was checking out his future teammates in line drills. If you weren't aware of this already, Bobbie Massie is huge. We're talkin' "big enough to make you doubt the man's mortality" huge.
- Highly recruited running back Enrique Davis went into the offseason wanting to improve his value as a complete back. Davis seems to have made progress, catching a ball out of the backfield in passing drills. We are definitely stacked at halfback and shouldn't fret too much over this position for a while. Kudos, Nutt.
- Receiver Andrew Harris showed up today with several athletic catches in tight coverage. We've been excited about this guy ever since he got here. He's got long arms and great strength. Hopefully we'll see some more of him this season.
- Bradley Sowell seems comfortable at LT but we haven't seen enough to gague his progress. We'll keep you filled in.
- Jerrell Powe didn't really wow any of us in the practice but he has definitely lost some weight. I know it's tough to motivate a young man from rural Mississippi to put down the fried catfish and hushpuppies for a few months but somehow Nutt has done it. Hopefully we'll get to see some more defensive line drills over the next few days to really gague his speed.
- Oh, speaking of DL drills, Terry Price seems like another Tracy Rocker. While he may not be as good a coach overall, he runs the same drills and has the same attitude and approach, more or less.