Holy God, was it hot today... Probably 1,000 people came to sit on the hill overlooking the practice fields today. After a long warm-up, the first full-contact scrimmage kicked off. The offense had a pretty good day, and though the defense held their own, most of the highlight-worthy moments were created by the offense.
Jevan looked to be in control today. Not making every play out there, but not making any bad decisions.
Nathan Stanley: same song, different verse. Great deep throws, still struggling on some underneath routes.
Clayton Moore: HE WAS AMAZING... just kidding.
Raymond Cotton: Cotton continues to get more comfortable. I still haven't seen the speed necessary to come in and play this year. There were times where I wished that he'd taken off running just so I could see what he looks like.
Early in the practice, Cordera Eason ripped off a huge a TD run, called back for holding, where he broke an arm tackle and outran everyone on the way to the endzone.
Bolden had some solid carries. He's very good, and they aren't making him prove himself too much out there, with so much competition going on below him.
Enrique continues to make some strong runs. He looks more decisive with his cuts this year.
Rodney Scott and Tim Simon: both still look very good. It's unfortunate for Simon that his style is so similar to Bolden's. Not say that he's as good, but they have a similar running style, which makes it really unlikely he'll see time this year. He showed the ability to make himself smaller and squeeze past tacklers today. He squared up and really popped a DB at the end of a long run. Simon continues to feel the wrath of the defense in retalliation for his big hit the other day. Despite this, he's still doing well.
Ben Benedetto, walk-on DT-turned fullback, knocked the ever-loving shit out of a couple guys after a catch he made today for a short gain. Unlikely to play this year with Hartmann and Davis there, but with that play, he made some people take notice. The sideline went crazy.
The young receivers were very good. Pat Patterson: remember when I said that Pat wouldn't be the 3rd guy this year? I was probably wrong. He's amazing. He had some really great catches today, including a deep ball over one of the freshman corners, where he made a leaping grab, shook off the corner, and high-stepped into the endzone.
Jesse Grandy had a ridiculous score on a reverse. It seemed like the D was about to run him out of bounds after a decent gain, but then he made an electrifying cutback and took it the rest of the way. If he can prove that he can hold onto the ball and understand the offense, he could very well play this year. McCluster is, of course, the total package when it comes to scat backs, but Grandy has speed that even McCluster can't equal.
Andrew Harris wasn't too good today. Melvin also turned in a mediocre day. Summers and Breaux were about average.
Sowell looked pretty good today, playing well even against Kentrell Lockett.
Massie moved around some on the line today, taking some snaps at both tackle spots. His first step and technique still need a lot of work. Alex Williams gave him a lot of trouble with his quickness and moves.
Brandon Green looks better than I expected at right guard. He's short, but very stout and aggressive. Rishaw may have more trouble earning his job back than I realized.
Gerald Rivers and Alex Williams both looked good today taking 2nd and 3rd team snaps. Those guys are both really athletic.
I didn't watch the linebackers much today, but noticed Kight still getting 2nd team reps.
Brumfield was back out today after spending a couple of days nursing an injured hamstring (I think).
The defensive backs lost some of their dominance today when the offense was allowed to open things up a bit. Still, they look like they'll be much improved over last year.
We watched Darius Barksdale at safety some today. He wants to make big hits, and today it cost him; he got lured in too fast on an outside run by Tim Simon, and ended up overpursuing and getting left in the dust.
Shene was money on his field goals today. He's an undervalued player, and his consistancy could be a big advantage for us against Bama or LSU.
That's about all we recorded today. The sun was frying our brains, I think. About to go grab a beer and a nap. Have a great weekend.