Today was a great day in the IPF. Almost everyone showed out really well. A few points:
- Bobby Massie was at practice and massive. At one point, Markuson walked up to him and said, "School... School... School... School." We agree. Bobby, It's time to buckle down and qualify. Massie was physically impressive. I'm not going as far as Yancy and saying that there's not an ounce of fat on his body, but he doesn't look fat. He just looks big.
- Kendrick Lewis has gained a good bit of muscle, and he doesn't appear to have lost significant speed.
- Bradley Sowell had trouble in the drill in which I watched him. He has a good first step, but a thin lower body and is slow to engage. His physicality is impressive, but he needs to improve a good bit. Also, Markuson said that his stance is too wide.
- Alex Washington is second on the LT depth chart. He looks like a much more complete player physically than he was two years ago. He has gone from a ball of fat to a big player all around.
- Jerrell Powe - he has slimmed down noticably and now appears smaller than Lawonn Scott. He has a good burst, and in one of very few times that the d-line went up against the o-line, he was double teamed and still disrupted the pocket. One thing of note, Powe's wrist was taped today.
- EJ Epperson dropped another pass today. I hope it's the wrist and not simply an inability to catch the ball.
- Kentrell Lockett and Powe were singled out in the hand pop drills (when d-linemen kneel and pop the player in front of them). Price told all the other players to watch how they did it. I think it was because of how quickly they got their hands from the ground to the body.
- Jevan Snead was all-around great today. Again, when he missed it was high, but he didn't miss very much.
- Nathan Stanley was out of this world good today. His touch on the deep ball is unrivaled on the team. We are in good hands when Jevan is gone.
- Jacarious Lucas, who recently was granted a sixth year of eligibility, will probably never catch a pass in a game, but he had a spectacular diving catch today and was lauded by the coaching staff.
- Marshay lined up across from McCluster one on play that stuck out. McCluster ran a wheel route, and Marshay was all over him. Jevan put it where it needed to be, but Marshay leapt up and picked the ball off.
- But it was a great day for Dex all around. A prospect standing next to me (who didn't look like a legit prospect) said, "He's like Mighty Mouse."
- Lionel Breaux has speed to burn. He also has a good juke move in routes. On one particular route, he burned... I think Julian Whitehead on a post, and Stanley placed the ball perfectly over the middle.
- Marcus Temple is a near shoe-in to fill in when Marshay and Cassius graduate. Today, he had two fantastic break ups and plays incredibly physically and aggresively. It's great to have a guy like that knocking slot receivers off of their routes.
- Richie Contartesi, the little white guy that could, is actually quite good. He's very shifty and was the first non-scholarship receiver to get snaps, and despite his 5'9" size, he leapt into the air and grabbed a good catch.
More tomorrow.