A Poolsville contributor provides a first-hand account of the Arkansas Razorbacks' first day of football practice...
Finally it is that time of year again…
I went to the veterans practice yesterday (couldn’t make the newcomer one at 3 because of work, but hope to make it today). The veteran’s practice was supposed to start at 6:30, but when I arrived they had already started.
Frankly, I wanted to go to see one thing. Earlier in the day, a friend reported that his son had seen Mallett and Stumon (that day) in a convenience-type store, and the son reported Mallett had a noticeable limp. However, I did not notice any limp at practice. Mallett jogged between drills and looked OK. I didn’t see him do any sprinting or moving around the pocket a lot, but they are in shorts and shoulder pads so I
didn’t expect to see much.
One thing that is so different about college practices from my old-old high school days is that there is no conditioning work. They are either in drills or running plays. I guess when you are up there all summer working out, you don’t really need it because you are already there. I guess what I am saying is when they practice there isn’t a lot of “make-work” going on, if you get my drift.
Coach P’s practice still amazes me about how organized they are. Each of the managers carries a sheet and all the time they are consulting it. Between drills and when the team is getting their water breaks, these guys and girls are working and it has been lined out. Two of them were setting up cones for some drill and they were not haphazardly setting them down -- they were going by a diagram and measuring them out. Another thing is how much responsibility they give to the graduate assistants. Under Nutt, these guys might have been holding a dummy or throwing passes to the offensive backs. Under Coach P, they are given a coaching assignment and then are left alone to do it.
OK, when I walked in I passed by the running backs. Both Ronnie Wingo and Knile Davis have put on some muscle -- both guys looked chiseled. When they were running plays, you could also see a difference. Last year, both were a little tentative -- not now. All four of the backs hit the holes at full spend, and there weren't any pauses to hit a hole or decide what cut to make. I didn’t get up close to Broderick Green, but later at a distance he looked quicker (of course, until they get in pads, I will still wonder if he is ready to lower his shoulder and ht the hole hard). Dennis Johnson is still impressive -- in the touch scrimmage they had, he was the best runner inside because he is so short and low to the ground and he is just hard to find. We are going to be good in this area.
Mallett and Tyler both looked pretty sharp in their throws. Some were off, but for a 1st practice they looked better than I would have thought. Mallett threw some swing passes the backs that were perfect- just enough speed and touch. Tyler looked confident. I didn’t see him drop any snaps and as I stated plenty of times last year – he does a good job of spotting the open receiver. Neither QB ran any options that I saw.
Brandon Mitchell was not at the veterans practice -- at first Jerry (my cohort and contributor) and I were worried about this and then we decided he was at the newcomers practice (later confirmed by a local sports writer). Speaking of which, I thought they would practice first and then be there with the veterans, but I heard Coach P is going to have them practice on their own for the first few days and then move them in. I believe he thinks it will help them not be so intimidated and will know the offense or the defense better because they will get more time devoted to them -- that is another reason I want to go to the newcomers today. We also discussed the scout QB situation since Nick Petrino is no longer on the team and Jacoby Walker is out with his injured ACL, but the paper reported there was a kid, Brian (?) from a Catholic high school in Louisville I think that will do that.
Jerry arrived at practice before me and said they were already working on the punting. He said Dylan Breeding was killing the ball. I told him I will believe he is better when I see him do it under pressure. Clay Henry reported on Hawgs Illustrated that one of the freshmen was the best punter for the day. As a side note, I did not see Steve Cox’s son on the roster. He was supposed to walk on as a punter. I don’t know what the deal is there. I know they can invite only X amount of walk-ons to summer practices, and maybe they feel a punter doesn’t need to be at the official practices and he will be there when school starts. Or maybe there was an error and he was left off. Just don’t know. I plan to find out today. They practice punt receiving again later in practice and Dennis Johnson, Jarius Wright, Cobi Hamilton, and Joe Adams were catching punts and I saw each of them drop at least one. I hope one of the freshmen is better. I like the early season emphasis on this. Coach P was right there watching this.
Hard to tell much about the defense since no hitting was going on. However, both Elton Ford and Tramain Thomas had interceptions. Tyler and Mallett each threw one. Both bounced off the receivers first. Jerry Franklin (#34) looks huge as does Tenarius Wright (#43) and the kid who played tight end last year (#90). No fat boys on the defense. I've got to believe they are going to be better. I plan to spend more time this year on the defense.
All the receivers dropped balls in the drills, especially Cobi Hamilton, but once they scrimmaged (touch) with the D-backs, they made the catches. Joe Adams and Greg Childs looked very good. Chris Gragg, the TE from Warren, has put on some weight and has huge legs. If he stays healthy, I think he will catch a lot of balls. DJ Williams looks slimmer to me and moved really well.
Jerry and I sat on the west side of the practice field because at 6:30 if you sat on the east you would be staring directly into the sun. Unfortunately, the offense does most of their practicing on the east field so we were farther from the action. The other problem with sitting on the west is there are ants everywhere and you are beating them off the entire time. My wife is friends with Jeff Long’s secretary, and I had her get on Facebook and make a friendly suggestion that they get some agri-people to come down and spray that area. I am not holding my breath on that one, though.
Speaking of tight ends, on the first play from scrimmage, Austin Tate, a 6'6" RSFR from Harrison, caught the first pass. Why was he on the first team? Ended up he was playing fullback and got a number of reps doing this. Van Stumon was with the newcomers because of his DUI. Lance Ray (#82) WR RSFR from Florida, made some good catches, as did DeAnthony Curtis (#23).
Last point is that Coach P spent more time with the defense than I have seen before. I am not sure if he is taking more of an interest here or maybe wants to let Coach Garrett gain some authority with the offense.
Go Hogs!
