A very brisk night in Tempe. Media was allowed to watch the entire practice so a lot of info coming your way
Let's dive right into it with what everyone is interested in knowing. Taylor Kelly took charge of most of the quarterback drills. Chip Long and Chris Thomsen oversaw the offense in tempo period with Graham looking over their shoulder as well. Graham took a particularly big interest in what Kelly was doing with the QBs. This is uncharacteristic in that Graham usually only pays attention to the offense but he watched two full periods of drills with Kelly running things for about 20 minutes before moving on.
Manny Wilkins told me afterwords that Long and Thomsen were both involved today and Kelly led the QBs but they haven't been told who will coordinate the offense in the bowl game.
Green jerseys: Deonte Reynolds, Cam Smith, Nick Ralston, Armand Perry
Kody Kohl had a brace on his right knee and was using a crutch under his left shoulder. Remember he was injured during the Cal game.
Absent: Salamo Fiso, Jordan Simone
Renell Wren and George Lea were both over an hour late to practice but then participated. Probably just had a final to take or something
I counted all the assistant coaches present at practice so nobody has jumped over to Norvell's ship as of yet or showing any signs of doing so.
The team went through normal drills and stretching and then went through special teams. Jacom Brimhall caught most punts, DeAndre Scott and Gump Hayes were the primary gunners.
Then came tempo period:
1st team defense: Tashon Smallwood (Tiger), Demetrius Cherry (Nose), JoJo Wicker (DE), D.J. Calhoun (WILL), Antonio Longino (DEVIL), Christian Sam (SAM), Laiu Moeakiola (SPUR), Lloyd Carrington (corner), Kweishi Brown (corner), Kareem Orr (Safety) Solomon Means (safety)
Only departure from the norm is moving Sam from WILL to SAM without Fiso there and moving D.J. Calhoun to first team
1st team offense: Mike Bercovici (QB), Demario Richard (RB), Tim White (WR), D.J. Foster (WR), Devin Lucien (WR), Gary Chambers (WR), Evan Goodman (LT), Christian Westerman (LG), Nick Kelly (C), Vi Teofilo (RG), and Billy McGehee (RT)
Chip Long was helping (and I wouldn't read too much into this) but Thomsen was moving down the field with the offense holding the play sheet a majority of the drive. Offense certainly won but didn't score before the period was over. Gary Chambers had a few nice completions and Demario Richard broke a few runs.
The team then broke off into groups and coaches worked on individual skill work. Keith Patterson worked with linebackers on having an explosive first step. Quarterbacks and wide receivers also worked together with receivers running routes while covered by Brown or Carrington. Watching Carrington one on one with these receivers it becomes immediately apparent that his technique and skill is just on another level than everyone else. While Brown let up a few completions. Bryce Perkins and Brady White couldn't get a throw off against Carrington because his coverage was so perfect.
Running backs worked on pass protection while the defensive linemen did dummy work focusing on technique of swim and rip moves. They later worked with the offensive line on pass rushing technique. They would line up against each other but only one lineman would rush the "passer" and the offensive line didn't know who this would be so they couldn't gain an advantage. Predictably McGhee and Goodman struggled while Kelly, Cherry and Westerman held their own. Cherry/Kelly and Cherry/Teofilo were great battles to watch. They held the rusher back more times than not but Longino dominated the outside rush against Goodman.
Team then went back to a little more 11 on 11 where Bercovici was picked off by Christian Sam
The veterans then left and "newcomers" stayed and worked longer. Newcomers alone were actually a lot more intense since these players are working to move up the depth chart. Steven Miller and Connor Humphreys both looked like they were progressing well on the o-line. Jason Lewis and Jay Jay Wilson also saw some reps in the backfield. Fred Gammage, Eric Lauderdale and Jalen Harvey also stayed back to work with the newcomers. Highlight of the newcomers scrimmage was a Malik Lawal strip and fumble recovery.
Bryce Perkins and Manny Wilkins were working more with the twos and the threes ran more with Brady White. I was extremely impressed with Jay Jay Wilson. Definitely trucked over a few players on a couple of runs. Practice ended with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Wilkins to Terrell Chatman.
Let's dive right into it with what everyone is interested in knowing. Taylor Kelly took charge of most of the quarterback drills. Chip Long and Chris Thomsen oversaw the offense in tempo period with Graham looking over their shoulder as well. Graham took a particularly big interest in what Kelly was doing with the QBs. This is uncharacteristic in that Graham usually only pays attention to the offense but he watched two full periods of drills with Kelly running things for about 20 minutes before moving on.
Manny Wilkins told me afterwords that Long and Thomsen were both involved today and Kelly led the QBs but they haven't been told who will coordinate the offense in the bowl game.
Green jerseys: Deonte Reynolds, Cam Smith, Nick Ralston, Armand Perry
Kody Kohl had a brace on his right knee and was using a crutch under his left shoulder. Remember he was injured during the Cal game.
Absent: Salamo Fiso, Jordan Simone
Renell Wren and George Lea were both over an hour late to practice but then participated. Probably just had a final to take or something
I counted all the assistant coaches present at practice so nobody has jumped over to Norvell's ship as of yet or showing any signs of doing so.
The team went through normal drills and stretching and then went through special teams. Jacom Brimhall caught most punts, DeAndre Scott and Gump Hayes were the primary gunners.
Then came tempo period:
1st team defense: Tashon Smallwood (Tiger), Demetrius Cherry (Nose), JoJo Wicker (DE), D.J. Calhoun (WILL), Antonio Longino (DEVIL), Christian Sam (SAM), Laiu Moeakiola (SPUR), Lloyd Carrington (corner), Kweishi Brown (corner), Kareem Orr (Safety) Solomon Means (safety)
Only departure from the norm is moving Sam from WILL to SAM without Fiso there and moving D.J. Calhoun to first team
1st team offense: Mike Bercovici (QB), Demario Richard (RB), Tim White (WR), D.J. Foster (WR), Devin Lucien (WR), Gary Chambers (WR), Evan Goodman (LT), Christian Westerman (LG), Nick Kelly (C), Vi Teofilo (RG), and Billy McGehee (RT)
Chip Long was helping (and I wouldn't read too much into this) but Thomsen was moving down the field with the offense holding the play sheet a majority of the drive. Offense certainly won but didn't score before the period was over. Gary Chambers had a few nice completions and Demario Richard broke a few runs.
The team then broke off into groups and coaches worked on individual skill work. Keith Patterson worked with linebackers on having an explosive first step. Quarterbacks and wide receivers also worked together with receivers running routes while covered by Brown or Carrington. Watching Carrington one on one with these receivers it becomes immediately apparent that his technique and skill is just on another level than everyone else. While Brown let up a few completions. Bryce Perkins and Brady White couldn't get a throw off against Carrington because his coverage was so perfect.
Running backs worked on pass protection while the defensive linemen did dummy work focusing on technique of swim and rip moves. They later worked with the offensive line on pass rushing technique. They would line up against each other but only one lineman would rush the "passer" and the offensive line didn't know who this would be so they couldn't gain an advantage. Predictably McGhee and Goodman struggled while Kelly, Cherry and Westerman held their own. Cherry/Kelly and Cherry/Teofilo were great battles to watch. They held the rusher back more times than not but Longino dominated the outside rush against Goodman.
Team then went back to a little more 11 on 11 where Bercovici was picked off by Christian Sam
The veterans then left and "newcomers" stayed and worked longer. Newcomers alone were actually a lot more intense since these players are working to move up the depth chart. Steven Miller and Connor Humphreys both looked like they were progressing well on the o-line. Jason Lewis and Jay Jay Wilson also saw some reps in the backfield. Fred Gammage, Eric Lauderdale and Jalen Harvey also stayed back to work with the newcomers. Highlight of the newcomers scrimmage was a Malik Lawal strip and fumble recovery.
Bryce Perkins and Manny Wilkins were working more with the twos and the threes ran more with Brady White. I was extremely impressed with Jay Jay Wilson. Definitely trucked over a few players on a couple of runs. Practice ended with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Wilkins to Terrell Chatman.
