I meant to put this up earlier tonight, but I haven't been back to my humble abode since I left for campus at 9 AM after pulling a near all nighter. So, I apologize for the late practice report, my unavoidable grammar and spelling mistakes. And I also apologize to JUCO (ed: And Ghost, you lazy ass) for not playing my online dynasty game tonight (Pac 10 Champions!).
Anyways, here are some scattered observations from practice (ed: edited by Ghost, you bum):
When I got to practice they were stretching. I'll spare you the (ed: hot, juicy) analysis of that. Then they ran special teams drills and took the people we care about to the far reaches of the practice field. Special teams were as equally stimulating as the stretching. No homo, lots of sarcasm.
The first group I paid attention to were the defensive backs. The two safeties, Kendrick Lewis and Johnny Brown, really stood out to me. Brown made a couple of very nice reads on some balls, while Kendrick Lewis was throwing his body all over the field and really competing.
I then ventured over to observe Terry Price and the defensive line. Price is not one for pleasantries as every phrase he bellowed contained some type of four letter word and a reminder of why the players were no good. Kentrell Lockett and Jerrell Powe had really good days on the defensive line. I saw Kentrell get loose a few times while Powe disrupted more than a few plays and also looked great in drills. Also, I know it has been said here before, but Powe looks really good "on the hoof" now.
I didn't pay too much attention to the offensive line during the scrimmage, but I did watch the two lines go against each other in some goalline drills. Rishaw showed some good physicality and Sowell did really well when he was matched against Emmanuel Stephens. I can't say the same for Sowell when lined up across from Kentrell or Tillman, who both showed him what an experienced end can do to a n00b tackle. Sowell looked to be injured at one point but we don't have much info on that just yet.
One player on the o-line who is not going to get any praise is Josh Tatum. During their bull in the ring drill Tatum was mouthing off to whoever he was going up against (Drummond?) before getting absolutely destroyed. This drew the ire of Markuson who let Tatum have it and reminded him that if he is going to talk trash he better have something to back it up with. Tatum also seemed to take a few plays off during drills and the scrimmage.
The hit of the day came courtesy of Lamar Brumfield. Enrique Davis had bounced a run outside and was streaking down the sidelines until a Brumfield hit knocked ED off his feet and sent him flying into some spectators. ED must have informed Brumfield that Tupac wasn't really dead or tried to argue that Lynn Haven had more street cred than Compton.
Marshay Green is good. He was beastly in the pass skeleton and scrimmage. I don't remember a single play where Green was beat, and he made some very impressive plays on balls that did not go unnoticed by coach Vaughn.
By the way, coach Vaughn is a fantastic players coach. He is always high energy and is sure to let a player know when they do something good, but is never hesitant to call someone out when they decide to suck.
Speaking of coaches, Houston Nutt doesn't do shit at practice. Every time I saw him he was chatting up some booster or hanging out with his little posse of old guys. He finally started showing some interest in practice during the scrimmage when he would relay the play to some graduate assistant, who would then send the play to the huddle.
Wide receivers are thin, very thin. Right now we have five wide receivers who are worth a damn practicing. Two of the wideouts are seniors: Dexter McCluster and Shay Hodge. Dexter still looks blazingly fast, so the weight he gained over the winter is not slowing him down at all. Hodge made some nice plays, but he looked out of shape and was huffing and puffing (ed: Huffing and puffing? Thanks, Mother Goose) most of practice. Lionel Breaux had a great practice too. He made some nice cuts, came out of his breaks well and showed some good speed.
On the ground, Cordera Eason stood out to me. Eason looks much faster this spring and was running with purpose. Bolden looks a little bigger and ran with the same authority we saw all last season. Enrique is a power back. He is noticeably bigger and showed some real promise running between the tackles; however, his practice ended on a sour note when he coughed up the ball at the end of the scrimmage. Gerald Rivers either caused the fumble or recovered it in the scrum. It was a bit tough to tell.
I know he's only a walk-on, but Andre Sterling also broke a couple of nice looking runs against the defense. He showed above average speed and pretty good field-vision. I'm not claiming that he is going to be this diamond in the rough type player, just saying he had a good practice.
The award for best bit of trash talking goes to Cassius Vaughn who informed Johnny Brown that he was "no better than a 78 on NCAA" and that he (Cassius) was an 83.
Not quite as cool as having Bobby/Bobbie Massie/Massey at practice, but the Johnson brothers were in the house to watch practice.
No practice tomorrow, but the Rebels will return to the practice field Wednesday. We'll have another report to you then.