Minor injuries to cornerbacks Jadon Canady and Lance Robinson in Tulane's closed practice at the Saints indoor facility on Thursday prompted an alteration in Saturday morning's scrimmage, which turned into a regular practice for the first hour before a total of six plays of anything close to a full scrimmage (even then, the whistle blew before the tackle sometimes) between the first-team offense and first-team offense and a simulated scrimmage (no full tackling) that lasted another 44 plays or so. Neither injury is serious. Canady did not have a helmet but was walking around comfortably, and Robinson actually participated in some of the drills after going down with what I have heard some worried might be a more significant issue at the time. Neither one will be out long, but it definitely affected the scrimmage because Willie Fritz did not want to overwork the available cornerbacks and risk more injuries.
First, I'll get to the depth charts, which were easier to compile with the starters on defense wearing their jersey numbers instead of the First Wave of Defense numberless jerseys. Darius Hodges and Carlos Hatcher, who is back after taking a week off to rest his rehabilitated knee, were the outside guys on the first unit today, with Adonis Friloux and Eric HIcks on the inside. They have been changing these guys around quite a bit in the preseason, so I would not read much into Patrick Jenkins working with the second team today. He was next to Elijah Champaigne on the inside in the limited snaps he took, with Isaiah Boyd replacing him later. Devean Deal and Armoni Dixon on the outside for the second unit. The third unit had Parker Peterson, Tylo Phillips, Michael Lunz and walk-on Matthew Remondet rotating on the outside, with Gerrod Henderson and Maxi Baudoin on the inside. Angelo Anderson was held out of the 11-on-11 but was in uniform, and I did not see Keith Cooper, Jamer or Isaiah Boyd, either. Noah Taliancich, who got dinged in practice earlier this week, participated on special teams.
Nick Anderson and Dorian Williams were the first-team linebackers of course, with Jesus Machado and Corey Platt on the second unit. The Wave does not need a ton of depth at that position because Anderson and Williams are so good, but Machado is a player, and Platt looks good, too. Taylor Love and Mandel Eugene were on the third team.
Lummie Young looks like he will be the second starting safety alongside Nick Brooks, with Macon Clark getting his reps at nickelback today. Clark, the Wave's leading tackler a year ago, certainly is capable of playing safety, but I think that's the way they will start the year. Young has looked very good in camp. DJ Douglas and Bailey Despanie are the backup safeties.
With Canady and Robinson sidelined, Jarius Monroe, who has gotten a ton of reps with the first unit already in camp, stayed there. Shi'Keem Laister was the other corner, with Cadien Robinson and Rishi Rattan running second team. Tyrek Presley and Kiland Harrison also are out with injuries, and Rayshawn Pleasant is gone for the. year, so it easy to see why Fritz backed off a full-fledged scrimmage. T.J. Huggins is the other other available scholarship corner, and he just moved from wide receiver at the end of spring drills.
Clark was the first-team nickelback, with Kentrell Webb second. The third-team nickel was walk-on Chadwick Bailey.
The offense had zero changes from the norm, although I forgot to check if Kanan Ray, who dressed out, played in the scrimmage. I was focusing more on the defensive depth chart since it was a rare opportunity to see everyone's number. The starting guards remained Prince Pines and Trey Tuggle with Josh Remetich and Caleb Thomas still sidelined. Justin Ibieta continued to work with the second unit ahead of Kai Horton, who got second-team reps at the beginning of camp but not as many since the first week.
The day started with a live field goal drill. Graham Dable, who is a left-footed kicker, banged one no good off the right upright from 36 yards on the first attempt. he then connected from 40 yards in the middle of the field. Kriston Esnard was next, and he sent one wide right from the left hash from 42 yards before hitting a 40-yarder from the right hash that was near the top of the uprights when it sailed through. If he could ever consistently kick straight, his leg strength is monstrous. By my count (with some observers' help for the days I was not there in time to see it), he is 6 for his last 7, which is far better than in any stretch of his time at Tulane. Valentino Ambrosio was next, hitting a 30-yarder from the right hash, a 36-yarder from the left hash and a 40-yarder from the middle before missing wide right from 42 yards on the right hash. Esnard went back in for a final kick and hit one from 40 yards in the middle.
Next, they worked on punts. The first one I saw was a booming 52-yarder from Casey Glover, confirming my generally high opinion of him. But then he hit a low one that bounced after 34 yards and was caught on the bounce by by the punt returner (I think it was Jha'Quan Jackson, who alternated with Shae Wyatt) for what would have been a nice return if the drill had been live. Glover also sent one out of bounds for only 35 yards, so that was two very poor punts. He ended with a better effort of about 45 yards. He is going to be the punter. The question is how much of a drop-off will it be from Ryan Wright, who had an outstanding senior year.
They did a red zone drill with quarterback Garrett Mmahat handing off on every play. While the scholarship quarterbacks and receivers worked on the other side of the field, the offensive line was the starting unit and then the second unit and then the third unit going against their counterparts on defense. But since full tackling was not allowed, I did not glean much from the drill. In the one-on-one drills on the other end of the field, Reggie Brown ran right past Rattan for a long catch. Rattan would have a rough day.
Next, they went to 7 on 7. On the first play, Horton completed a deep ball to Dea Dea McDougle, who got behind Laister. Horton then threw behind Lawrence Keys, who was open. Ibieta then completed a pass to Keys but threw it slightly behind him, forcing him to slow down, and Young intercepted his next throw. Those are the plays Ibieta has to learn to avoid. Young said he knew what was coming. Webb broke up a Pratt deep ball down the sideline, and Pratt bounced a throw to Wyatt. That was an uncharacteristic throw for him this camp. The depth chart on 7 on 7 was exactly the same for the linebackers, corners and safeties as it would be later in the 11 on 11.
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When the scrimmage started around 1O:10, Tyjae Spears bounced outside for what might have been a huge gain if full tackling were permitted. He was whistled down for a 7-yard gain, but I'm not sure he would have gone down that easily if they had to get him to the ground. Pratt completed a short pass to Phat Watts for a first down, double pumped before overthrowing Wyatt deep, handed off to Cam Carroll for nothing up the middle, pulled the ball down when he could not find anyone open and ran and finally completed a short pass to Iverson Celestine. The down and distance kept changing with no relation to what happened on the previous play.
Ibieta went in with the second-teamers and executed a pitch that might have been a lateral and completed a short pass to Bryce Bohanon. Horton threw a quick one to Celestine and made a nice pass to tight end Alex Bauman.
Pratt went back in, and the highlight of that series was a pass to Deuce Watts where he hit him in stride, allowing him to gain 20-plus yards. His last throw was a little too high for Keys on the sideline.
Ibieta's second stint produced the longest play of the day--a strike to Keys for a 58-yard score against Rattan, who could not keep up with Keys. Horton could have had an 80-yard touchdown on the next play, but his throw went through the fingertips of Chris Brazzell, who had gotten open deep and should have made the grab. The first half of the scrimmage ended one play later with a five-minute break.
At the start of the next session, Horton flirted with an interception a little later when Laister deflected his pass to Brazzell, and he ran out of luck when Love outfought Brown for a ball over the middle and an interception.
Carson Haggard finally tog his opportunity and hit Bohanon over the middle for about 20 yards. He almost connected with Jalen Rogers on the sideline, but Rogers could not hold on as he slid to the ground. On the next play, Blake Gunter made a nice catch for 17 yards, and the series ended when Horton, who had gone back in, handed off to walk-on Lucas Barisas for a 23-yard touchdown.
At this point, it was almost exclusively walk-ons and freshmen playing, and Mahki Hughes took full advantage. No one could tackle him as he ran for 33 yards with power on one run. Robinson intercepted a Horton deep ball to walk-on Trevor Evans. After a series of plays with three quarterbacks rotating (Mmahat, Horton, Haggard that did not amount to much, Haggard threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Desjardins, who was open comfortably. Hughes then ran through people on back-to-back nice runs, and they called it a day.
I did not get a whole lot out of this scrimmage. They are looking for depth in the secondary more than anywhere else, and with all the injuries, the guys who played got a chance to show what they could do. Overall, it was a crisper scrimmage than what I saw last preseason, when the final one produced almost no good moments for the offense.
I have been really impressed with Keys all preseason and have liked what I have seen from Young, too. Those were my two interview requests along with Fritz.
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