--Unlike the previous days for spring practice, this was a beautiful one with the weather cooperating and sunshine. There were a lot more people in attendance today due to the coaches clinic and there were a number of talented recruits in attendance as well such as Gahanna (Oh.) Lincoln 2024 defensive end Elijah King, Athol Springs (N.Y.) St. Francis 2024 offensive lineman Marcus Harrison, Speedway (In.) 2024 offensive lineman Ajani Adedamola and Stockbridge (Ga.) 2024 defensive end Kamren Reese to name a few.
--No 11-on-11 today or really much if any tackling but we did get to see some thudding and pads popping at times inside run drills and pass pro/rush. As usual a lot of different people working in the various groups as the coaches continued to rotate players in different drills to get looks at them.
--Didn't see Nicco Marchiol out there today unless he was wearing a different number which meant that Garrett Greene got a lot more work in the period that was open to us. He did throw the ball well during the 7-on-7 portion with a deep ball to Devin Carter and a perfectly placed ball down the sideline to Jarel Williams right before he stepped out of bounds. It wasn't all perfect, but really thought he was connecting with his targets today for the most part.
--Several players were wearing different jerseys today so a little more confusing than usual.
--Things started with special teams work including some punting. Oliver Straw had a couple really well hit balls and really seems confident there.
--The first group out there with offensive line work today was from right to left Dylan Ray, Ja'Quay Hubbard, Brandon Yates, Tomas Rimac and Wyatt Milum on the inside run drill. Doug Nester and Zach Frazier were both off to the side today working with Mike Joseph.
--Spent some time watching the cornerbacks today and Andrew Wilson-Lamp has really filled out and seems to be playing with a lot of confidence on the field. He was already long, but now seems to have the strength part caught up. During drills, ShaDon Brown was all over his group about their eyes and their feet. Said multiple times that he wanted to make it a focal point to take their eyes to the football. Montre Miller is also longer than I expected.
--On the inside run, the first group out on defense was Sean Martin, Mike Lockhart, Eddie Vesterinen on the DL, Lee Kpogba (mike), Tray Lathan (will), Jared Bartlett (bandit), Lance Dixon (spear) at LB and Aubrey Burks at S. The group like the others also rotated some players in and a couple reps included the three true freshmen linebackers with Josiah Trotter, Ben Cutter and James Heard all getting work. The first unit out there on offense line was the same as the one listed above outside Nick Malone in for Ray at right tackle. The second team offensive line consisted of Johnny Williams, Maurice Hamilton, Charle Katarincic, Sully Weidman and Dylan Ray going left to right. The group working on defense coming in second was DaeDae Hawkins, Hammond Russell and Taurus Simmons on DL, Jairo Faverus (will), Tirek Austin-Cave (mike), Brayden Dudley (bandit) and Raleigh Collins (spear) at LB and then Keyshawn Cobb at safety.
--Speaking of Johnny Williams, the freshman did very well in his pass pro drills and basically ate up Lance Dixon on one rep. He is gigantic out there, has long arms and moves very well. He's going to need time to develop but in the future there's a lot to like about him.
--CJ Donaldson doesn't play around with blitz pickup. In one drill, they used medicine balls to simulate the contact and he basically obliterated it and it made a massive noise.
--The pass rush/pass pro drill was fun to watch since the quarterbacks were throwing the ball around with Greene getting the first crack and some extended reps as mentioned above and then Sean Boyle and down the line. The first unit that took the field (again not a depth chart) was Greene with a two back set of Tony Mathis and CJ Donaldson and then Kole Taylor, Cortez Braham and Devin Carter. Taylor is very tall at tight end and moves well enough that they could play him in the slot. Also saw CJ Donaldson going there at times as the coaches have said. On the defensive side, the first two corners out there were Andrew Wilson-Lamp and Montre Miller but again they moved players around.
--After that period we basically were given the boot but a solid look today and with the pads on it feels close to seeing some actual football in one of these sessions soon.
--No 11-on-11 today or really much if any tackling but we did get to see some thudding and pads popping at times inside run drills and pass pro/rush. As usual a lot of different people working in the various groups as the coaches continued to rotate players in different drills to get looks at them.
--Didn't see Nicco Marchiol out there today unless he was wearing a different number which meant that Garrett Greene got a lot more work in the period that was open to us. He did throw the ball well during the 7-on-7 portion with a deep ball to Devin Carter and a perfectly placed ball down the sideline to Jarel Williams right before he stepped out of bounds. It wasn't all perfect, but really thought he was connecting with his targets today for the most part.
--Several players were wearing different jerseys today so a little more confusing than usual.
--Things started with special teams work including some punting. Oliver Straw had a couple really well hit balls and really seems confident there.
--The first group out there with offensive line work today was from right to left Dylan Ray, Ja'Quay Hubbard, Brandon Yates, Tomas Rimac and Wyatt Milum on the inside run drill. Doug Nester and Zach Frazier were both off to the side today working with Mike Joseph.
--Spent some time watching the cornerbacks today and Andrew Wilson-Lamp has really filled out and seems to be playing with a lot of confidence on the field. He was already long, but now seems to have the strength part caught up. During drills, ShaDon Brown was all over his group about their eyes and their feet. Said multiple times that he wanted to make it a focal point to take their eyes to the football. Montre Miller is also longer than I expected.
--On the inside run, the first group out on defense was Sean Martin, Mike Lockhart, Eddie Vesterinen on the DL, Lee Kpogba (mike), Tray Lathan (will), Jared Bartlett (bandit), Lance Dixon (spear) at LB and Aubrey Burks at S. The group like the others also rotated some players in and a couple reps included the three true freshmen linebackers with Josiah Trotter, Ben Cutter and James Heard all getting work. The first unit out there on offense line was the same as the one listed above outside Nick Malone in for Ray at right tackle. The second team offensive line consisted of Johnny Williams, Maurice Hamilton, Charle Katarincic, Sully Weidman and Dylan Ray going left to right. The group working on defense coming in second was DaeDae Hawkins, Hammond Russell and Taurus Simmons on DL, Jairo Faverus (will), Tirek Austin-Cave (mike), Brayden Dudley (bandit) and Raleigh Collins (spear) at LB and then Keyshawn Cobb at safety.
--Speaking of Johnny Williams, the freshman did very well in his pass pro drills and basically ate up Lance Dixon on one rep. He is gigantic out there, has long arms and moves very well. He's going to need time to develop but in the future there's a lot to like about him.
--CJ Donaldson doesn't play around with blitz pickup. In one drill, they used medicine balls to simulate the contact and he basically obliterated it and it made a massive noise.
--The pass rush/pass pro drill was fun to watch since the quarterbacks were throwing the ball around with Greene getting the first crack and some extended reps as mentioned above and then Sean Boyle and down the line. The first unit that took the field (again not a depth chart) was Greene with a two back set of Tony Mathis and CJ Donaldson and then Kole Taylor, Cortez Braham and Devin Carter. Taylor is very tall at tight end and moves well enough that they could play him in the slot. Also saw CJ Donaldson going there at times as the coaches have said. On the defensive side, the first two corners out there were Andrew Wilson-Lamp and Montre Miller but again they moved players around.
--After that period we basically were given the boot but a solid look today and with the pads on it feels close to seeing some actual football in one of these sessions soon.
