I played a lot of baseball in my youth and since then I’ve watched literally thousands of high school, college, minor league, and major league games. If there is a game close by, I try to go; if it’s on TV or the computer, I watch it. I love the game and, thanks to the numerous on-line options, have watched almost every pitch of the Wave this season. Frankly, we haven’t played very well. That said, I recognize that a season can turn very quickly. For example, last year the LA Dodgers were on pace to win the most games ever in a single season when, all of a sudden, they lost 16 of 18, including 11 in a row. It happens. But we’ve now passed the half-way point of our season and sit at (12 -17 ). It would take a major turn around to even compete for a regional slot in the post season.

Based on my calculations and backed up by “Boyd’s World’s RPI Needs Report,” we need to win 33 games (33-23) to get into the top 50 from an RPI standpoint prior to the AAC tournament. That’s going 21-6 the rest of the year—a “tough putt” in anybody’s book. Moreover, we’d need to win at least twice in the AAC tourney to retain that relative RPI position. With what would have to be a strong second half of the season and a very good conference record, an RPI in the mid-40’s, even high 40’s, would probably get us in, though nothing is guaranteed at this point. Of course we’d have to play much better. Currently, we’re not playing well in any phase of the game.

Hitting: We’re hitting .251 as a team with only 13 HR’s. In the past 45 years we’ve only batted lower on two occasions-- .250 in 2013 and .226 in 2014. At our current rate of homers, we could finish with the third lowest total in over 40 years also. Beyond that, we’re on essentially the same strike out pace as last year’s record breaking season, without the power or average. We’ve also only got one .300 hitter thus far, Witherspoon at .311. Others, who were hitting in the .300’s for a while, have fallen into major slumps. Artigues is 5 for his last 35 (.143); Hoese is 2 for his last 22 (.091); Rowland is 3 for 26 and Gozzo is 6 for 38 (.115 and .158 respectively). Owen (.145) and Heinrich (.194) are in season-long slumps. On the positive side, both Jensen and Ty Johnson have been hitting well lately going 10 for 31 (.323) and 6 for 16 (.375) respectively. Mathews is 4 for his last 9 and Bedgood had two three-hit games (in 11 at bats) over the weekend against USF. But, since the Purdue series we’re hitting .218 as a team and if you take out the 16-hit anomaly against Long Beach, we’re hitting .198 over that stretch. We are hitting .367 when we put the first strike in play but our early season success has waned when batting with two strikes. We’re now only hitting .169 with 2 strikes thanks to striking out fully half of the time once we get to that count. We’d need great pitching to make up for this lack of hitting and we’re not getting anything close to that.

Pitching: Most regional teams have at least six pitchers they can generally count on: four starters and two relievers with a number of others who can grab innings here and there. If you don’t count Issa and Koppenhaver who have thrown a combine 2 2/3 innings, we have only two pitchers with ERA’s below 4.00, Roper (3.73) and Gillies (2.59). Having watched almost every pitch this season, I think Roper, Gillies, Pellerin, McAffer, Bates, and Bjorngjeld are our only pitchers with at least one “plus” pitch. Sadly, some of them can’t find the plate with it. Even in his rookie year, I didn’t think Massey had great stuff, but that year he had magnificent control—not just for balls and strikes, but placement within the strike zone. For whatever reason, that has long since left. Opponents are hitting .271 against us, but, as a group, Massey, Soleski, Johnson, White, Price, Campbell, and Cellucci are being hit around at a .357 clip. Our team ERA of 5.66 is matched by the same number in 2010 and only exceeded by last year’s 5.72. With the better teams we will be facing, that record (worst in 28 years) could be threatened. Also, between walks and hit batsmen, we’re on a pace to issues 366 “free passes,” second only to last year’s 377, the most in Tulane history. Something has to change.

Fielding: Our .976 fielding average belies a lot of generous scoring and some less than stellar efforts in the field. And, of course, it’s come down significantly from the early days of the season when we were fielding at .980+. I followed our guys in summer ball and Gozzo, Artigues, Hoese, and Galy all started their respective seasons at shortstop. All but Galy were moved to 2nd base after making far too many errors and not covering enough ground. Galy may still be our best defensive infielder but he hasn’t shown the ability to hit. Gozzo hasn’t been terrible by any means but for a team used to the two Cannizaros, Manzella, and Alemais, he doesn’t compare favorably. He also can’t hit like any of those guys. Artigues, bless his effort, is only a marginal second baseman. For a centerfielder, I think Witherspoon has been serviceable, but in my view, he’s really a corner outfielder out of position. Of course, I’m not sure we have any solid corner outfielders outside of Kobi Owen and Heinrich, who I think are both pretty good defensively. At catcher, Owen has been better than I expected and many of the stolen bases against him can be attributed to the pitchers. But as a team, we’re not much better than average defensively—not good enough considering our other failings.

Coaching: Many Tulane fans have been all over Coach Jewett for his “in game” decisions (or lack therof). I’m less critical. I suspect none of us, surely not me, knows all of the calculations involved in making a pitching change, for example. Clearly the coach must anticipate a new pitcher will do better than the one he considers replacing. But, what he may know and we don’t is how the reliever is throwing in the pen. As noted before, many of our pitchers get “lit up” on a regular basis. I’d certainly think twice before bringing any of them into a game. Leaving a guy in too long when he is still the best option may not be a bad decision. And, exactly how does one rearrange the deck chairs of our hitters when we’ve got less than a handful that can hit? It’s hard to win with lack of talent and we seem to have an overabundance of that.

Of course, the proof is in the winning. And we are not. Coach Jewett and staff have to be held accountable for that. I can forgive a bad recruiting year in the first cycle. That’s clearly tough. I thought this second year’s recruiting looked much better on paper especially before several of our better prospects, Braeden Barrett, Caden Doga, Andrew Gorham, and others, failed to turn up. As a group, our freshmen pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.91. Our transfers have an ERA of 5.36. On the offensive side our “new guy” transfers are hitting .231 and our freshmen are hitting .215. Despite oft-discussed and well-known limitations on this front, we’ve got to recruit better than that. And, to make matters worse, our returning players aren't performing all that well. Returning pitchers have an ERA of 5.68 as a group and our veteran hitters are batting .262. Those numbers won't cut it either. At the end of the year, Coach Jewett and his staff must be measured on their performance, just like everyone else who draws a paycheck in any walk of life. We'll see.

As to my initial question: Can the season be salvaged? I doubt it.

Roll Wave!!!

As I explained in the other thread, part of the spring game was a rumor to me as I had to write my story for The Advocate and file it by 9:45. I thought I would have to send before I got quotes, so I wrote an entire story without quotes, but when it ended early, I had to race down, get quotes and go back up to the press box, add the quotes and delete other stuff I'd written to make it fit the space they'd given me.

A few thoughts:

Darius Bradwell ran with his pad level too high on the third-and-short and fourth-and-short that got stopped, but I thought he got screwed out of a first down on the second one by the new down and yard markers that confused the offense about how many yards it needed. They thought they had gotten the first down. I don't think Bradwell was 100 percent healthy by the end of spring.

Corey Dauphine looked like he did last August--sensational. He was the third best running back in spring practice in my opinion, but what really matters for running backs is what happens in live drills. You can't coach the speed and acceleration he has.

Banks played well in my book. He's never going to hit every throw, but he started 6 of 8 and had the two big plays to Encalade. He also did not get a chance to show what he can do with his feet.

The defense was extremely aggressive. Clearly they had been waiting for the opportunity to hit people because there were some surprisingly hard hits for a spring game a few more times when they tried to deal a major blow and did not quite get there in time.

I expect this team to win as many as eight games, but I'd be more confident if Junior Diaz had stayed. Tulane really could not afford to lose one of its best linemen. Unless Bailey Granier is the real deal, and my intel has told me he may not be, Tulane will have a hole on an offensive line that already had some question marks.

My belief on the potential for eight wins based on the offensive playmakers and the coaching staff's ability--experienced senior quarterback, outstanding senior receiver and a staff that always gets the most out of its talent in the ground game. But this team is still not as talented from top to bottom as the average AAC team--small at some spots and lacking speed at others. The latest recruiting class will help in that department if it develops as expected, but it needs to be backed up by at least two more as good or better before Tulane is competing on a level playing field.

Tulane is thin at receiver. The three starters (Encalade, Mooney when healthy and Clewis) are the only trustworthy guys at this point. No one else consistently makes plays, and Clewis needs to be more consistent, too.

I liked what I saw from Jeffery Johnson last night. He made a difference on those two Bradwell running plays, doing what a dependable nose guard is supposed to do. Tulane allowed a whopping 5.6 yards per carry last year and lost its best interior lineman in Sean Wilson, so Johnson, who will be the real deal down the road, needs to get there quickly. Last night was a good start.

FRITZ

Did this one go a lot smoother than the last two spring games?

"Oh, it was a different format. We had a few guys out and we just don't have enough bodies to do a true, one team versus another in all phases and all that kind of stuff. I thought we got a lot of good work for situations that occurred that we're going to be able to teach from. There were some explosive plays on the offensive side of the ball but also the defense closed the door a few times when the offense had some opportunities to score some points."

Where are you at the end of spring?

"I think we're ahead of where we've been in the past just because we have so many veterans. It's a long way to go to the first game."

Were you pleased with the level of execution?

"We work on a lot of different situations during practice--red zone, goal line, 4-minute offense, 2-minute offense, all those different situations. We're getting better and the kids understand what we're looking for because they've been in the program for a period of time."

Dauphine had two explosive runs.

"Yeah, the track coach was out here. He's been running track. Him and Devin Glenn and Jaetavian Toles were three legs on the 4 X 100 and they are real close to the school record. I told coach Peterson he needs to grab that guy who tracked Corey down and run him instead of Corey (not sure what run he is talking about; Teamer barely got him on the near touchdown run). Yeah, he had some good plays."

What is your comfort level with Banks?

"It was a good situation for him down in the end zone. He had a safety (on an intentional grounding call when he threw the ball away with no one in the area), and that's something he has to learn from. You don't get to practice that situation very often. Now he'll know what to do."

Talk about the goal-line stand the defense had down here.

"Yeah, it would have been nice to punch it in. We have to know where the sticks are. We were having a little bit of confusion with the new down markers. It took a little while for that to get in synch and know exactly what the down and distance was, but I thought we ran high pads a couple of times when we should have lowered the pads."

"I have a couple of other things, too. I don't know if you know it or not, but we retired Devon Walker's No. 18 jersey in all sports here at Tulane. We did that today, so we're excited about that. He's an unbelievable representative of our university, and then we also announced we're going to have the 1998 team 20-year reunion in the second game against Nicholls, which is on Sept. 8, 9-8. We're excited about it. Coach Bowden is coming back. Coach Rodriguez is coming back. I'm sure a ton of the players (will be back). It was really neat. We have 120 or 130 former lettermen who came for an event we had, so that was good,"

It was a nice mild night with low humidity and a light southerly breeze. There were refs of course. They also had the new digital sideline markers which gave you the distance to go after each play.

I got there very early as usual. The kickers were on the field and kicking using a ball holder. Glover did the following:

from 35 he missed left-from the middle of the field
from 43 he missed left-from the middle
from 44 he made it from the right hash
from 45 he hit the right upright- no good
from 49- good from the middle
from 52 he hit the left upright-no good
from 54-good from the right hash
from 40-good from the middle
from 40-no good-from the middle
from 33 on the right hash-good

Neenan-
from 45-good from left hash
from 47 -good from middle
from 49-no good-left hash
from 53-good from right hash

The QB's came out and Dublin was snapping to Banks
Knighton was snapping to Ledford
Leglue was snapping to Daniels

The scrimmage started with the one's v. one's from the 25 going north:

Huderson ran for 3
Banks hit Ledee for 8
Huderson ran for 3
Huderson ran for 6 to the left side
Banks hit Clewis for 8
Harris sacked Banks for 2 yard loss
Banks pass batted own by Graham


The two's came out:
Ledford at QB from the 20 going south
Bradwell for 2 up the middle
Bradwell for 1 up the middle
Incomplete

Banks in from the 36 going north:

Banks scrambled and hit a well covered Encalade for 47 yards, Monroe on the coverage.
Banks incomplete to Toles on the left side of the end zone
Bradwell for 7 up the middle
Bradwell for 2 up the middle
Bradwell stuffed on 4th down

Daniels in from the 25 going south
Fumbled a handoff but the defense was called for offsides
Pass to Ledee for 7
Dauphine for 4
Dauphine for 9
Incomplete to Clewis
No gain
Daniels for 3

Banks in from the 9 going north
Banks threw it away
He hit Clewis for 8
Huderson for 5
Banks hit Encalade on a slant and Encalade took it to the house for a 78 yard TD

Ledford in starting at the 25 going south
Bradwell for 6 up the middle
Ledford ran left for 1
Bradwell ran for 8
Ledford ran for 14 to the left
Threw incomplete to the right
Ledford ran for 3
Pass blocked by De'Andre Williams


Banks in

Scrambled for 2
Glenn ran for 11 and Patrick Johnson laid a big hit on him
There was a gain of 3 and they announced change of quarters
Dauphine ran for 7 for a 1st down and was hurt
Incomplete to Encalade
Banks scrambled and threw to a wide open Huderson over the middle but he threw it too low and incomplete

I haven't included this till now but when series ended they would just bring out a snapper with the punter and a return man as the only 3 on t field. Block then shanked one under those circumstances. Some things never change.


Daniels in from the 30 going south

no gain on a run
incomplete to Toles
Daniels sacked by Vault

Banks in- ball on the 35 going north

Dauphine ran to the 12
Banks for no gain
Banks ran for 7
A play took it to the 2
Dauphine ran for a loss of 2
Dauphin
lost 2 more
Johnson sacked Banks
Glover made the FG

Hurst came in for a series
The noteworthy part of that series was De'Andre Williams went down with an injury after having a good camp- didn't look bad though

Banks came in - from the 11 going south
He threw it away under pressure from the end zone for a safety
They put the ball on the 20 and kept the same units out there
Incomplete to Clewis over the middle who was well covered but the pass hit him in the hands and should have been caught
Incomplete low to Toles
Sacked by Johnson

Ledford in- 30 going south

Hit Toles for 16
Glenn ran for 2
pass to Ferony for 6
defensive penalty for 15 yards
Ledford ran for 2
pass to Newman for 7
Bradwell for 0 tackled by Walton
Ledford then ran for a TD

Daniels came in - 25 going south
Threw incomplete to the left Billy Kilmer knuckleball
passed for 3
overthrew Glenn
overthrew an open Jones over the middle

The ones on the offensive line for the most part were from left to right - McCleod, Jackel,Dublin, Briggs and Johnson
The two's were Claybrook,Webb,Knighton,Bratcher and Devon Johnson

On defense it was Johnson ,Sample ,Williams and Kennedy on the line with Harris and Graham at LB. The corners were Lweis and Monroe, safeties were Hall and Teamer and Barge was the NB

Dauphine has blinding speed. He seems to get nicked up but if he stays healthy he's going to be fun to watch. Encalade picked up where he left off. Mooney and Robertson are out with injuries.

The defense made some plays but then gave up some big plays.

The kicking game wasn't displayed at all. I didn't take that as a good sign.

It's hard to judge things b/c we know WF hates having the team watched.

I was hoping for more from the offense . The line issues persist despite some interviews which indicated things were better.

There were encouraging things on both sides of the ball and discouraging things.

Chase Napoloen is gone.

He played in 13 games over two years with zero tackles. He worked some with the second-team in spring drills before disappearing.

I originally had Shenall being gone, too, in this thread, but that was bad information. He will return for preseason practice. I apologize for the misinformation.

After watching at least a part of all 13 spring practices to this point, here's what I have:

OFFENSE

QB

1) Banks
2) Ledford
3) Daniels

Comment: This is obvious at this point, but preseason camp will determine who backs up Banks, not spring practice.

RB

1) Bradwell
2) Dauphine/Huderson

Comment: Bradwell has been a consistent star all spring. Huderson has really come on.

WR

1) Encalade, Mooney, Clewis

2) Robertson, Toles, LeDee

Comment: With Robertson hobbled, no one outside of the top three was consistently good.

TE

1) Jones
2) Ardoin
3) Wallace

Comment: Jones and Ardoin are very capable

LT

1) McLeod
2) T. Johnson

Comment: A lot is riding on the performance of the left tackles in the fall.

LG

1) Jackel
2) Ben Bratcher

Comment: This is where Bailey Granier can help

C

1) Dublin
2) Knighton

Comment: Dublin is the better player and the better snapper than Briggs, in my opinion.

RG

1) Briggs
2) Webb

Comment: Briggs staying put would give the line continuity on the right side.

RT

1) Leglue
2) Claybrook

Comment: Leglue's play last fall did not match the nice comments about him.

DEFENSE

DE:

1) Kennedy
2) Woullard

Comment: I really like Kennedy play. Uses his assets very well.

NG

1) D. Williams
2) J. Johnson

Comment: Position will be decided in preseason practice.

DT

1) Sample
2) Wright

Comment: The coaches love everything about Sample.

RE/OLB

1) P. Johnson
2) Bryant

Comment: Wave needs better production at this spot than it got last year.

ILB

1) Harris
2) Vault

Comment: Vault has been hurt/invisible when I've watched compared to last August.

ILB

1) Graham
2) Moody

Comment: Graham makes plays. Good competition here.

NB

1) Barge
2) W. Harper

Comment: Coaches and teammates are very high on Barge. Backup could be Bryant.

CB

1) Lewis
2) Langham

Comment: Lewis needs to play like all-conference performer.

CB

1) Monroe
2) Keyes

Comment: Monroe has been with the first unit almost all spring.

SS

1) Hall
2) S. Harper

Comment: Hall has impressed all spring.

FS

1) Teamer
2) Kuerschen

Comment: Not sure what happened to Shenall. Will find out tonight.

First, a note about the spring game. With current forecasts calling for a 100 percent chance of rain on Saturday, there is a real chance the game will be moved to Friday, although nothing has been determined yet. I assume it would take place in the morning at the usual practice time since classes are in session.

Let's hope the forecast changes because this will be the only chance for fans to see the team in the spring, and not many would be able to make it on Friday morning.

Either way, Tulane will still have all 15 spring practices (remember when CJ bailed on a couple one year, saying they had gotten all the work they needed) because the regular practiced scheduled for Friday (practice No. 14) was moved up to tomorrow last night.

Today, I focused on the defense in an attempt to clear up some questions. They were mixing and matching a lot during the 11-on-11 work at the end of practice, but one player who stood out was Larry Bryant, who is being dual trained at nickelback and rush end/OLB. The coaches' excitement about him last preseason, when he got plenty of reps with the first-team D at rush end, did not turn into real production (nine tackles, one sack), but it is easy to see what they like about him. He's fast and he is sturdy (6-1, 205). Bryant is the second-team nickel behind Tirise Barge and a backup rush end, too. The trick is getting his athletic ability to translate to a specific position because he is a bit of a tweener.

"He's playing some nickel, he's playing some secondary, he's playing a little bit of some defensive end for us, too," Willie Fritz said. "He is so fast and explosive, we've got to find a spot for him on the field to get out there and play. He's got an opportunity to be a dominant kicking game player. He's shown flashes of being able to do that for us (blocked a punt in 2016 as a true freshman). We've got to get that out of him on defense, too."

I'd say nine of the 11 starting spots on defense are clear cut--Cam Sample and Robert Kennedy on the defensive line, Patrick Johnson at rush end, Zach Harris and Lawrence Graham at inside linebacker, Donnie Lewis at cornerback, Rod Teamer at free safety and P.J. Hall at strong safety. Jaylon Monroe has an edge on Thakarius Keyes at the other corner spot--Monroe actually practiced today at Donnie Lewis' boundary spot because Lewis was not there--but that competition is ongoing.

Nose guard is the closest competition, with Jeffery Johnson and DeAndre Williams the candidates. We all know what the coaches like about Johnson, but Williams has come on this spring after playing sparingly as a redshirt freshman.

"He's gotten quite a bit better," Fritz said. "That's one of the things you need to do a great job of. Recruiting is one piece of the puzzle. The other part is development of the guys when they get into your program. The good coaches really develop guys. They get better every week, every season, and I've seen that out of DeAndre."

Johnson has gotten more reps with the first-team unit, although they played with the first-team D at the same time for segments today. The experience Johnson is gaining this spring is invaluable. I feel like Williams has been more productive this spring, but that's understandable as Johnson makes the huge adjustment from high school to college one semester early.

"He's had growing pains, but he's a phenomenal kid," defensive line coach Kevin Peoples said. "He's a special human being. He has a lot of work to do, but he's talented enough to do and he has the work ethic to do it. He's adapted unbelievably. Both of those two kids--him and Davon Wright--are getting 15 practices under their belt, a semester under their belt and then will be here all summer, so hopefully they'll be more like redshirt freshmen than true freshmen in the fall. Without them being early graduates, it would be a real struggle to get those guys ready to play this year."

The other Johnson on the defensive line, true sophomore Patrick Johnson, has practiced with the first team at rush end from start to finish. He played in six games last fall, making six tackles, and should make a significant leap as a sophomore.

"Patrick's another one of those special kids to be able to come in and be able to play as a true freshman," Peoples said. "He's done a great job. He's a hard worker. It's night and day different from where he was six months ago."

With so many young guys on the defensive line--the two-deep features six underclassmen--Peoples admitted his group had to improve before the fall.

"It's going to be a work in progress throughout the summer," he said. "But the meeting room is great. The work ethic's good. We're not there yet, but I think we'll get there."

Peoples has one of the toughest coaching tasks since Williams is the third oldest guy in his meeting room behind Kennedy and backup senior end Peter Woullard.

It's like the mother who has to raise three or four kids by herself," Peoples said. "She has to go out and get a job and find a way to do it. There's no excuses. You've got to get it done. We're going to be tested, and to pass the test we're going to have to work our (butts) off."

The two Harpers, Will and Sean, have not done much in two years, but they are pushing for playing time this spring. Will Harper, who went from 20 tackles as a true freshman to zero last fall, is practicing primarily at nickelback, alternating with Bryant at No. 2. Sean Harper, who played in 10 games as a true freshman and only three last year (no tackles either season), is working at strong safety. Sean Harper made a nice play, today, blitzing and batting down a Jonathan Banks pass.

Another interesting case study is Chase Kuerschen, whose experiment at linebacker is over. He played second-team free safety today after being virtually invisible as he tried to adjust to linebacker. It is a significant comedown for a guy who made 60 tackles as a true freshman--the fourth highest total on the team--but he was the victim of the coaches' decision to get more speed on the field. Back at his more comfortable spot, it will be interesting to see what he does in preseason practice.

"He's a smart guy," Fritz said. "He'll do a good job back there for us."

Fritz feels good about the defense.

"We're going to play with some young guys," Fritz said. "We had a lot of young guys that played last year. I feel good about it. We have some big bodies that can really move up front. Our linebackers can really run. Secondary wise we just have to make sure we're putting people in the right spot. One of the things we try to do in the secondary is start our best five guys instead of pigeon holing a guy that he has to play corner or whatever. Let's move him on back and play him in a different spot and get the five best guys out there.

"Rod Teamer's had a great spring. P.J. Hall has had an outstanding spring. Some of the other guys have a real good practice and then the next day maybe they aren't quite as good. We've just got to get the consistency on it, but we have a lot of guys that can run on defense. If you have enough size with a bunch of guys who can run and play hard and be physical, you've got a chance to have a very good defense.

"Robert Kennedy's back to full speed, which he wasn't last year, and he's a really good player. We think Cam Sample has a chance to be an outstanding player in this league. Jeffery Johnson should be going to his prom in two weeks, but he's got the size and the mass and the quickness to be able to play up front. Patrick Johnson is having a great spring."

OTHER NOTES

--Michael Scott is playing inside linebacker rather than defensive end, or at least that's where he lined up today.

--Missing in action were Taris Shenall, KJ Vault and Chase Napoleon. I will ask about their status after tomorrow's practice, but I have not seen Shenall all week. I'll check to find out what the injuries are to Shenall and Vault and find out Napoleon's status tomorrow.

--The offense had more than its usual share of false starts today, and offensive coordinator Doug Ruse had had enough. When John Leglue jumped on one play, he screamed that it happened too many times, although a little more colorfully that that. A little later, Corey Dauphine moved early and was forced to go to the sideline, with Fritz yelling out, "Wave don't beat the Wave."

--Corey Dublin was at center in the 11-on-11 drill again today.

--Devin Glenn exploded through a hole and received a pat and a word of encouragement from Fritz as he returned to the huddle. Fritz likes what he has seen from Glenn this spring.

--Stephon Huderson is running with much more confidence than last fall, when he was hesitant.

--The defense did not allow any big pass plays in the 11-on-11 work.

Fritz' overall assessment of today:

"It went pretty good. During the season you always have that carrot at the end of every week. We've got one this week, the spring game. We just want to continue in an upward trajectory."

The defense, which gave up a lot of big plays in Tulane's short scrimmage at the end of Saturday's practice at the Saints Indoor facility, bounced back in Monday's 11-on-11 team drills. It was not the same as Saturday, with no tackling allowed, but the offense did next to nothing until Jonathan Banks hooked up with Terren Encalade for a long touchdown on one of the final plays. Encalade beat Willie Langham to haul in the latest of a series of a long touchdown grabs he has made during the spring.

The defense had its way the rest of the time. The 11-on-11 started with wide receiver Jaetavian Toles dropping a well-covered pass from Banks on a slant and Jabril Clewis also failing to hold on to a pas on the exact same route the next play. Banks then missed walk-on receiver Rocky Ferony on the sideline.

Christian Daniels, who looked sharper than at any time in the spring on Saturday, was less impressive today. He airmailed a short sideline pass about five yards over his intended receiver's head on one play and had an option pitch dropped by Corey Dauphine on the next one. That was probably more on Dauphine, but their spacing did not appear right. Really the whole session was a series of incomplete passes against tight coverage until Encalade got open. Rod Teamer broke up one attempt for tight end Will Wallace with a nice play on the ball.

Lawrence Graham, my pick (guess?) for starting inside linebacker along with Zach Harris before spring drills started, continues to work with the first unit and had a really nice play today, knifing into the backfield on a blitz and taking down Corey Dauphine before he could get started on a run parallel to the line of scrimmage. Graham is quick.

After watching three weeks plus one day of spring drills, here is my prediction for Tulane's starting offensive line in the fall:

Keyshawn McLeod at LT
Dominique Briggs at LG or RG
Corey Dublin at C
Bailey Granier at LG or RG
John Leglue at RT.

I'm taking a flier on Granier, but my spies tell me he is more suited to guard than tackle, and that will be Tulane's bigger need assuming one of the starting guards from last year (Dublin or Briggs) wins the job at center instead of Hunter Knighton. I don't trust Briggs as a snapper, and Dublin is a better overall player anyway. Briggs has gotten more of the reps at center this spring, but Dublin practiced at center today for the second time in three practices and has been getting reps there periodically all spring.

The other starting guard right now is redshirt freshman Cameron Jackel from Shaw. Here's Willie Fritz on his progress:

"He's getting a lot better," Fritz said. "He's really improved since he got here. He's going to have a chance to be a good player for us. Is it going to be next year or is it going to be the year after? That's going to be decided by competition and how he keeps progressing. He's done a nice job."

My guess is he will be become a starter next year rather than this year, but there's no way to know for sure until Granier begins practicing next August.

The entire second-team offensive line today was Tyler Johnson at left tackle, walk-on Ben Bratcher at left guard, Knighton at center, Brian Webb at right guard and Joey Claybrook at right tackle, with Devon Johnson getting some reps there, too. As a whole, that's a shaky second group, but backups don't play on the offensive line unless a starter gets hurt.

Darius Bradwell, who sat out Saturday's scrimmage, returned to practice today, giving the offense its full complement of four backs along with Corey Dauphine, Stephon Huderson and Devin Glenn.

Senior cornerback Stephon Lofton, who had a good practice in the first week of drills, is out with an injury. Freshman cornerback Chris Joyce was on the exercise bike when I arrived and did not practice, and so was Darnell Mooney, who was held out but did not appear to have a significant injury. The wide receiver corps is thin right now because Jacob Robertson remained out and D.J. Owens did not practice. Meanwhile, Brian Newman, who had a sensational practice right before spring break, has not made a single play while I've been watching in the last few workouts. Dane Ledford overthrew him on a sideline route the one time I saw him targeted today.

Jeffery Johnson was back with the first unit on the defensive front, surrounded by the usual suspects. Davon Wright is working with the second team.

The musical selection during 11 on 11 was a little different today, skewing towards the coaches' taste rather than the players. Fritz even joked after practice that when Johnny Cash's Walk the Line played, it likely was more of a distraction to him than the players. A TV reporter asked him if the loud music was an attempt to loosen up practice--you show me a football coach who wants to loosen up practices, and I'll show you one unusual coach--so Fritz explained again that he plays the music to create a distraction similar to what they deal with in games.

They also played Willie Nelson's On the Road Again, Heart's Barricuda and Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry, Be Happy as part of the early selections, breaking from the hip-hop selection that been playing most of the time this spring.

"We do it at the end of practice in the team periods during the spring and during preseason camp we might do it during a passing period, and we do it during stretching every day, too," Fritz said. "Really we're just trying to give as much distractions as we can out there. Like when we're doing Johnny Cash, that distracts me. I like listening to Johnny Cash. The other stuff I don't even listen to, so it doesn't distract me a bit, but it distracts some of these guys. You have to concentrate on the task at hand, and that's the main purpose--communication being loud, hand signals, all those kind of things. We're not doing it to be loosey goosey. We're doing it to get better as a team."

When they did the tackling drills today, nearly the entire team took part. The offensive players were at one end of the field tackling donuts. The linebackers and defensive backs tackled donuts in the middle of the field working on right-shoulder technique, and the defensive tackles had to deal with a rolling ball into their legs before tackling a donut. Only the offensive linemen did not participate, practicing on the outside practice field before the 11-on-11 work at the end.

When the staff addressed the team in the middle of the field at the end of practice, one of them told reminded the players to "turn the showers off" after finishing in the locker room. Yep, college kids.

Fritz yelled "be a good teammate," don't be a selfish son of a gun" as the players shook hands, a daily practice ritual under his watch.

Here's more from Fritz, who got a lot of general questions from the reporter who was at practice for the first time this spring:

On Banks:

"He's done a nice job. I think he's got a good handle on the offense. When you go from high school to junior college or junior college to college, there's a learning curve. We were able to spend more time with him, we were able to do more things. In particular, he's always had great fundamentals and technique in drills. Now he's doing it in practice. I really see his feet and his lower body and his upper body working in correlation with each other when he's throwing. He just has a lot better handle of the offense. He's doing a very nice job."

On the running backs:

"We've got some good backs. Huderson has had a great spring. Corey Daughine has done some good things. Bradwell has done some good things. Jet Glenn had a good scrimmage Saturday, some good runs and good catches. That will be another area of strength for us. They are talented guys."

On the defense winning the day:

"We do quick whistles and we're not tackling to the ground. Therefore it's kind of hard to tell exactly what's going on. Even this Saturday when we scrimmage, it's not going to be a real game. The quarterback's not going to be live. They've got to be able to carry that over into games, but we're working on a whole lot of fundamentals in between the end of the play and the beginning of the play."

Tulane had a short situational scrimmage at the end of practice Saturday at the Saints indoor facility, and the offense made a lot of big plays.

It had already started by the time I was admitted, but the first pass I saw was an overthrown sideline pass from Jonathan Banks to Darnell Mooney that was one of the few down moments for Banks. He took off on a long run shortly afterward, although take those with a grain of salt since quarterbacks are not allowed to be touched. He hit Stephon Huderson with a short pass that Huderson converted into a larger gain with a sweet move, then failed to connect with Mooney deep on a play in which Jaylon Monroe had good coverage. None of the cornerbacks vying for the open starting job has looked great, but Monroe has been a little better in my view than Thakarius Keyes, who had a rough time today.

Huderson looked outstanding, taking a play action fake and running a wheel route to haul in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Banks. He beat linebacker Zach Harris by a few yards, and Banks laid it in perfectly.

Next was Christian Daniels, who looked sharper than any time in the spring, replacing the wobblers he threw for most of the first three weeks with spirals. Spies told me he made a beautiful deep throw before I arrived, and after missing a receiver in the back of the end zone, he hooked up with Kevin LeDee on a textbook fade route in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown, beating Keyes. LeDee almost ran out of room, but the referee signaled he got a foot in before running out the back of the end zone near a wall. I had not seen Daniels make a throw like that all spring.

I was talking to Tanzel Smart during Dane Ledford's first series and did not see what happened. Smart said he had not met Ndamukong Suh yet but was looking forward to all the newcomers the Los Angeles Rams have added in pursuit of the Super Bowl.

Banks was back out there when I started watching again, and he avoided pressure by scrambling toward the sideline before completing a short pass. He then threw incomplete when Keyes broke up the play, and his series was over.

Ledford went in and handed off to Devin Glenn for a short gain up the middle. He then threw for LeDee, who almost made a leaping catch with Monroe covering but could not bring it down. Corey Dauphine, back from his injury scare earlier in the week, carried for a short gain up the middle. Keyes then blitzed from his corner spot and tackled Andrew Zuckerman from behind in the backfield before he could get started. Zuckerman caught a pass on the next play and avoided a tackle by safety Sean Harper.

Banks went back in and bobbled a low snap from Dominique Briggs (and that's why I don't think Briggs should be the center; he had that problem last spring, too) before gathering himself and throwing a frozen rope to Terren Encalade deep down the sideline. It was a gorgeous bit of composure by Banks, who was sacked by Robert Kennedy (doubtful he actually would have gone down if he were live) on the next play before hitting Mooney on a quick out. On the next play, he found a streaking Encalade for a 35-yard touchdown down the sideline, again beating Keyes.

Ledford returned and hit tight end Will Wallace for a decent gain on Monroe before connecting with Rocky Ferony inside on back-to-back plays. He threw the ball away under pressure before trying to connect with Jaetavian Toles, who appeared to be open. Nope. Strong safety P.J. Hall, my feature guy for the Advocate in Sunday's paper, broke on the ball and swatted it to the ground, finishing off a strong day in which he also made a couple of nice tackles. Toles got creamed earlier after making a catch, but I did not see who hit him. It may have been Hall.

My takeways from the day: Banks is the real deal. He won't make the right throw on every play, but he is a playmaker with a lot of ability who will be much more confident now that he is playing a second year in an offensive system for the first time in his college career. Encalade is a weapon, and Mooney is a solid second option. The cornerback spot opposite Donnie Lewis is a concern, and I'm still not convinced Lewis will be the shutdown corner his teammates believe he will be, although he was fine today.

The rest is hard to judge. The offensive line appeared to play well, but let's see what happens next Saturday in the spring game. Losing Junior Diaz was a blow because, as Willie Fritz said after the practice. 99.9 percent of the snaps need to be perfect and that has not been the case without Diaz. Today, Briggs was the starting center, with Dublin back at left guard.

Of the defensive linemen, Robert Kennedy appeared to be the most active, but with quarterbacks not being hit, it's unclear who and who cannot finish the play.

De'Andre Williams was the first-team nose guard, with Jeffery Johnson and Davon Wright getting work on the second team. The rest of the cast remained the same on the first-team defense, with Monroe ahead of Keyes, athough Quentin Brown got some reps at linebacker with the first team, something I had not noticed before.

Will Harper appears to be the backup nickelback behind Tirise Barge. Marvin Moody and Michael Scott were the backup linebackers. Torri Singletary and Nick Kubiet got reps with the second-team defense along with Peter Woullard, who had missed the first three practices of the week with an injury.

I did not see KJ Vault or Chris Joyce, and Fritz said Wilie Langham, the third candidate at the open corner spot, missed the scrimmage. Jacob Robertson remains out with an injury, too. Darius Bradwell sat out, too. He was limping a bit with a leg injury while practicing Thursday. His absence created some opportunities for Glenn, who is a team favorite. Everyone wants to see him do well because he is such a hard worker, but I'm not sure he will stay at running back when the freshmen arrive in the fall and he has never become comfortable as a receiver.

Tanzel Smart, Dontrell Hilliard and Derrick Strozier were among those in attendance, along with some recruits I will list in a separate post.

I will have quotes from Fritz a little later.

In addition to the former players who were in attendance at Saturday's practice at the Saints indoor scrimmage, Tulane welcomed 10 unofficial visitors, ranging from big names to lesser-known guys. Here is the list:

1) Michael Hollins, 5-10, 205-pound RB from University High in Baton Rouge.

Notable: rated 3 stars, had offer from Alabama but it does not correlate to his other offers (Arkansas State, Army, Lat Tech, ULL) or rating.

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2) Jax Harrington, a 6-5, 285-pound OT from Erath

Notable: No stars yet, offers from Kansas and some Louisiana schools.

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3) Lance Legendre, a 6-3, 206-pound dual threat QB from Warren Easton

Notable: rated 4 stars, committed to Kansas in February.

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4) Austin Jones, a 5-9, 150-pound CB from McDonogh

Notable: not in Rivals database but 247Sports has him with offers from Tulane and Indiana


5) Kiaeem Green, a 6-3, 206-pound ATH from Warren Easton

Notable: No stars, committed to LA Tech last weekend, Rivals lists as WR.

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6) Matt Anderson, a 6-6, 250-pound OT from Leesville

Notable: Not in Rivals database, 247Sports has offers from ULL, Nicholls and Texas State


7) Dajon Richard, a 5-9, 175-pound ATH from Patterson

Notable: No stars, listed as RB by Rivals, No D1 offers as of yet.

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8) Ralph Jones, a 6-0 DB from Belle Chasse

Notable: No stars, listed as ATH by Rivals but Tulane considers him DB, offer from McNeese

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9) Dante Wright, a a 5-9, 160-pound WR from Navarre High in Florida.

Notable: No stars, offers from South Alabama and Southern Miss. Made the 4-hour drive.

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10) B.J. Lockhart, a 5-8, 185-pound ATH from Walker.

Notable: Not in Rivals database.

Here is the entire transcript from Travis Jewett immediately after Tulane's excruciating 3-2 loss to UNO on Tuesday. I was on deadline and did not have much time before racing up to throw in quotes for a 9:45 p.m. deadline for the Advocate's print edition (which made for a mediocre story, exacerbated by the fact UNO's coach and right fielder went up to the press box to do a radio interview and were slow to get back to the field.)

But enough about my difficulties. Jewett was in a ripping mode (which will anger some who point the finger at him) reflecting the frustration that was starting to boil over. I asked two questions, and he talked and talked and talked.

Do you feel snake bit after watching their right fielder make a sensational play to rob you of the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth?

“That happens to us all year long, but that’s not the problem. You have to just keep hitting the ball hard. The problem is when we do get a runner to third base with less than two outs, I want to bunt, and then I get the count in the favor and I back it off because the kids want to hit and then I think we’re going to get something to hit and then we swing at the ball over our head and we don’t make contact and it thwarts the inning.

"Or we take the one pitch in a situation where you have to look for something up and elevated out over the plate. That’s your fly ball zone. That’s what Artigues does. He hits fly balls to right field, and he swings at the first little soft curve ball down and in and the only place you can hit the ball in the yard that you’re not going to score is on the ground to the third baseman.

“We get the situation there at the end where I’m not going to watch the tappy tap ground ball, the strikeout, which we do really good or hit into a double play. I think I have a kid who has some conviction to what he’s doing to just put a team at-bat and put a safety bunt down. Game over. Their first baseman’s anchored into the base so any bunt down on the ground to that side, we take the lead going into the ninth inning.

“It’s not the pitch call. It’s the execution of the pitch. It’s not whether the play is right or wrong. It’s the execution of the play. Poor execution. Poor execution. And when you do that, you get what you get. Disappointed to say the least.”

The bullpen has struggled for most of the year but did not tonight. When you get that kind of performance, is that a game you should be able to win?

“We can’t find a way to get one more than them. It’s an in and out. It’s not consistent baseball. It’s either that (the pitching)’s not good and the offense scores some runs or it’s the reverse. What’s going on doesn’t add up to winning baseball, but I would say (Ross) Massey came out and settled the game. He was fine. He gave up the one double but everything else was just kind of soft and eyes finding holes. Between (Will) McAffer and Trent (Johnson), you don’t see that from McAffer or anyone else pitching too much. It was a perfect inning. Nine pitches and three strikeouts. That was good to see him do that. We wanted to lengthen him out.

“I would like to see Bates, too. I put him in the game. It’s just right on right coming down the pipe with a drawn in infield and have like the eye of the tiger. You are coming in this game to punch this guy out. It needs to be thrown hard. It needs to be convicted. It doesn’t need to be goosed and steered. You gotta just go for it. I didn’t see that look on his body language or his face today, so that’s disappointing. A wild pitch, they take the lead, they bring their closer in and what was the last inning—a 10 flight popup to left field, which we can do, and a strikeout, a strikeout. I don’t know.

“I do know this, there’s a difference between swinging and hitting. We’ve got to figure out the median between the two. Swinging’s one thing, but hitting is another. We’ve got to start hitting now. Any time we have any kind of success—we’re going to hit a home run here and there—but for the most part our success has been more hard on the line, from low ground to line drive. I don’t know. I can’t seem to drive that point home, so I’m going to have to try to figure something out. Something’s got to change.”

Tulane called an audible yesterday afternoon and moved practice to Thursday instead of Friday due to the possibility of dicey weather. I made it for the last 30 minutes today, and the most important thing I saw was running back Corey Dauphine in uniform. He did not practice, but he was walking around fine with no brace, and Willie Fritz said he hoped to have him back Saturday. Whether that's the case or not, it clearly will not be a long-term injury.

"He's going to be fine," Fritz said.

This was the lightest practice I've seen in the spring, with no 11-on-11 work at the end. Instead, they had a 7-on-7 drill while the offensive and defensive linemen continued to practice on the auxilary field outside the stadium. Dane Ledford and Christian Daniels took almost all of the reps, and Ledford was sharp.

On his first throw, he floated a nice ball on an out route over the cornerback and in front of the safety to Jabril Clewis for about a 20-yard gain. On the next play, he hit Terren Encalade for a touchdown on a post pattern. I did not catch the number of the guy Encalade beat, but the pass hit him in stride in the end zone.

Cornerback Willie Langham knocked down Ledford's next pass just as it reached walk-on tight end Connor Prouet, but he found tight end Charles Jones with a quick hitter one play later.

"He (Ledford) looked pretty good the few practices and then he faded a little bit, but he's come back strong and is ascending now," Willie Fritz said.

That dovetails with my opinion. Fritz also was high on Christian Daniels, which does not, but then again, it's hard to expect a high school senior to come in and be a world-beater right away before the rest of his classmates even go to their prom. Daniels threw wide of walk-one wide receiver Brian Newman on his first throw, hit Rocky Ferony over the middle, had a rare drop from Kevin LeDee after hitting him on the sideline and had a pass knocked down for Clewis. At this point, Daniels does not have a lot of accuracy or velocity on his throws, but he is a good athlete.

"We're very excited with him," Fritz said. "For a high school senior he's doing a nice job picking things up. This is quite a bit of a different offense than what he ran in high school."

Geron Etherly got some work on offense during the 7-on-7 drill because of a body shortage. He joked with the other kickers at the end, "I think I juked Donnie (Lewis). They are going to give me Number 5 (Encalade's number)."

After the 7-on-7 drill, the offense and defense had separate drills, with the quarterbacks throwing to the wide receivers against no defenders. Terren Encalade dropped a pass in that segment, but I have noticed fewer drops overall this spring. Darnell Mooney has missed a couple of critical ones, but until LeDee dropped the one in the 7-on-7 drill, I had not seen a wideout blow an easy opportunity other than Mooney. LeDee rebounded from his drop with an outstanding leaping catch in the end zone during the passing drill.

While that was going on, the defensive players lined up in two separate lines 10 yards apart. One defender had to take an angle on the other one and get to him, with Fritz repeatedly yelling "aingle beats speed."

Just as I was expecting them to start the 11-on-11 work, Fritz whistled the end of practice. Offensive tackle Tyler Johnson and wide receiver Jacob Robertson remained out.

Fritz had said they would have scrimmage-like activity in Saturday morning's practice before spreak break, but he backed off a bit today.

"We're going to look and see because of depth," he said. "There's a couple of spots where we're thin. We'd like to. We have a bunch of young guys that are playing fast, and I'd like to see if they are really finishing those plays or not. We have some good competition at the linebacker position and in the secondary, so it would be nice to at least do a couple dozen, three dozen plays with some live tackling without the quarterback obviously."

AD Troy Dannen attended practice today. Nola.com was at practice today, so Fritz was asked to recap the performance of several groups.

How do you feel about spring practice overall?

"We're in a pretty good place," Fritz said. "We've got some competition at some positions. It's not clearcut at quite a few spots who's 1, who's 2 and who's 3. That's good. Guys are jockeying for position. Who is second team and who is third team? Who is going to start on the kicking game. It's not the final test, but it's a pretty important quiz here in spring ball to see who's going to be playing the most for us."

Where are you offensively?

"We're way ahead. We've got everything in, not everything but probably about 80 percent of our offense. Jonathan Banks has great command of it right now. The thing I'm impressed is he's always had good mechanics, but he has good mechanics now when we're doing team stuff. That's where I've seen the progression. He knows where he's going with the ball. He picked up where he left off those last three or four games last year."

What about your backfield? You lost some key guys but there seems to be a lot of talent back there?

"We feel like we've got an opportunity to be as good or better than last season. We're losing some good players obviously in Dontrell (Hilliard) and Sherman (Badie), but Bradwell has a chance to be a prime time back. Corey Dauphine, (Stephon) Huderson really had a great practice yesterday. We didn't do as much offense and defense today but he really looked good yesterday and we have three freshmen coming in who I think are really good backs."

Tulane had what might turn out to be its first significant injury of the spring near the end of a chilly, windy practice No. 9 this morning when a defender whose number I did not catch ran up the back of Corey Dauphine as he looked for a hole and ended up falling on his right leg and pinning it. I cringed when I saw the play developing but did not expect it to turn out that bad. Dauphine was in obvious pain as trainers flexed his right knee on the ground, and practice moved to the other end of the field while they administered to him. He got up and walked gingerly to the training table and was eventually taken to the training room.

It is unclear whether the injury is serious or minor at this point. I could see it going either way. He did not need any assistance as he walked off the field, but that can be misleading depending on the injury.

"Hopefully he's OK," said coach Willie Fritz, who had nothing more to offer since he was busy conducting the rest of practice.

Wide receiver Jacob Robertson remains out with an injury along with offensive tackle Tyler Johnson and and defensive end Peter Woullard. Fritz said he expected them to be back before the end of spring but All three of them were at practice and walking unencumbered but were not dressed out.

Fritz was a little disappointed Robertson, who started twice as a true freshman and caught 11 passes, has not been able to return after getting a week off for spring break.

"We were hoping he'd be back," he said. "We've got to figure out a way to keep him healthy. We've had a tough time keeping him healthy for long stints."

Practice began about 30 minutes late due to rain but ended at the usual 10:30 time. When I arrived, it was so windy a medicine ball was rolling back and forth on the road next to the auxilary practice field outside the stadium.

"We had to adapt and improvise a little bit because of the conditions, so it was a little bit different," Willie Fritz said. "But overall we got some good work in."

Tulane's experimentation in the secondary this spring appears to have produced a positive combination with Rod Teamer moving to free safety and P.J. Hall playing strong safety. At least that's the impression defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Jack Curtis gave after Wednesday's workout.

The move is all about getting more speed and more coverage ability on the field to match the modern game. Chase Kuerschen was a solid tackler last year but Tulane's lack of speed at the back end was exposed, particularly with Teamer playing on basically one leg after getting hurt in the Navy game. Hall (5-11, 190) does not look like a traditional strong safety, but the game is changing. He finished his true sophomore year with 18 tackles.

"P.J.'s probably our most versatile player back there," Curtis said. "He's a utility guy. P.J. can play corner, nickel, strong, free. He can play them all, and he's extremely intelligent in our defense and knows what everybody's doing. He's had an excellent spring. He's going to be real hard to get out of that strong safety position. He's having a fantastic spring."

Memphis and SMU in particular exposed Tulane's secondary last year, combining for 673 passing yards and seven touchdowns. Hall actually started at strong safety against Memphis and struggled in his new role, but he has gained experience since then and just about every team came up empty trying to stop the Tigers' prolific offense.

The reason Hall earned his only start against Memphis still stands.

"He has more of the corner movements and skill set," Curtis said. "Some of the things that we're doing put that strong safety on the slot receiver in man-to-man type of scheme. He's done real well. I don't want to say he's been a surprise, but I'm real pleased with where he's at."

Fritz praised Hall, too.

"He's really smart," he said. "He has good instincts. You throw these guys into the fire as freshmen, but he seems to be getting better every day. I told him before practice he's really looking good."

Catching runners once they reached the open field proved to be as big or an even bigger issue for the safeties as covering receivers. That's another reason to get more speed in the back end.

"If we have someone that pops a run, we have to have some more erasers back there, somebody with some speed that can make that open-field tackle and not let an 8-to 10-yard play turn into a 30- or 40-yard gain," Curtis said. "It's a big emphasis to get more speed out there and not give up the longer runs."

Teamer missed two games with his leg injury a year ago, finishing with 48 tackles, 10 fewer than he had as a sophomore. He returned a fumble for a touchdown against Navy but did not have the same explosion after getting hurt in the same game. That was never more evident than on SMU's go-ahead TD in the fourth quarter, when he appeared frozen in the end zone after Trey Quinn made a sharp cut and could only watch him make an easy grab.

Teamer has started 22 times at strong safety under Willie Fritz, but free safety could be a better spot for him because it does not require one-one-one coverage skills, which are not his forte. He likes to hit, as he did today in practice with a hard shot to running back Darius Bradwell that was a little uncalled for (they weren't in full pads) but sent a message.

"He's playing well," Curtis said. "It's a more natural position for him. He will be a little more involved in getting into the box and playing closer to the ball at times. He's doing real well. He can play a couple of positions as well, too, but he's really feeling at home at that free safety position."

The big mystery remains who will win the cornerback spot opposite Donnie Lewis. Lewis will replace Parry Nickerson on the boundary, but the field corner race remains wide open. Sophomore Jaylon Monroe, who played in nine games a year ago primarily on special teams, has gotten the most reps with the first unit because Thakarius Keyes has been double-trained at safety, but no one is the clear frontrunner. True freshman Chris Joyce, an early enrollee, missed most of the first two weeks of spring drills while recovering from a hamstring injury. Redshirt freshman Willie Langham, another possibility, has spent time at safety, too. I haven't heard much about senior career reserve Stephon Lofton since the first week, when he made some plays. Freshman Damien Tate will join the mix when he arrives this summer.

"Parry was so good, and we've got to find somebody to replace him," Curtis said. "We have some young guys that are going to come in (during the summer). We have a number of guys who are going to be able to play. I don't know if one can lock it down. I don't see one person taking over the position yet, but a lot are going to get a chance to play.

"Donnie is being more disciplined. He's made some great plays through his career and has seen a lot of football. We're expecting a lot of big things out of him."

Tirise Barge has gotten just about all the reps with the first-team defense at nickelback. Barring someone changing positions, he's a near certainty to begin the year as a starter.

"Tirise loves football," Curtis said. "He brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the field. He's really one of our more physical tacklers. He's a lot more comfortable in understanding the scheme and feels more confident in what he's doing."

OTHER PRACTICE NOTES

Fritz was unhappy with the defense for allowing a short completion from Dane Ledford to Jaetavian Toles during a down-and-distance situational drill. "You have to know the down and disdtance before the play, not after the play," he yelled.

Christian Daniels dropped a shotgun snap, then threw a panicky duck on one play, but he showed enough savvy later to get two defenders to jump offside with a hard count. He's definitely quick, but at this point, he still has to work on every other part of his game.

Corey Dublin was the center with the first-team offense at the end of practice for every rep, with Dominique Briggs replacing him at left guard. I prefer that combo, but we'll see how it develops.

For the second straight practice, Jeffery Johnson was neutralized on most of his reps. He has the physical ability but also looks like a guy who still could be in high school. De'Andre Williams was more active when he got in there, chasing Ledford while applying good pressure on one play.

During the 11-on-11 work, a high percentage of plays were runs, which helps the team prepare but does nothing for me when they are not tackling drills.

I was there today but won't have a write-up until around 11 a.m. tomorrow. Talked to Cameron Sample, who has been Tulane's best defensive lineman in the spring, and Jonathan Banks as well as Fritz, who had his birthday today.

Jeffery Johnson practiced with the first-team defense today. Plenty more tomorrow.

anyone got any info on how our guys did at pro day?

Tulane's practice ended 30 minutes earlier than scheduled today at 10 a.m, but fortunately I was there by 9:30 and caught the entire 11-on-11 drills that finished the day in what is basically the midpoint of spring drills. The Green Wave will be off all of next week for spring break, returning to Yulman Stadium for a Monday afternoon workout on April 2, the day after Easter.

Seven practices are in the books, and eight more remain, including the spring game.

Willie Fritz confirmed two players still listed on the roster no longer are on the team. Running back Miles Strickland is gone, which I figured was the case when Fritz failed to mention him in our pre-spring interview when he talked about the running backs. But I thought I saw him on the first day of practice.

Also, defensive tackle Braynon Edwards is history. HIs departure leaves Tulane with even less depth at a thin position, but I believe it is a positive development for the team. Long-time followers of my practice reports know I have been skeptical about severely overweight players ever becoming disciplined enough to be consistent contributors, and Edwards, who slimmed down last spring, was toast in my mind when he regained some of the weight last fall. He had only six tackles as a junior, and Tulane needed more from him. I'm guessing the arrival of Davon Wright and Jeffery Johnson and their immediate ascension ahead of him on the depth chart convinced him to leave.

My lasting memory of Edwards will be a goal line scrimmage under CJ in August of 2015 when he stuffed a fourth-down play at the end and his teammates mobbed him in celebration along with a couple of the position coaches. I asked CJ about Edwards' potential a couple minutes later, and Johnson said he was concerned about Edwards staying alive if he did not lose weight and basically dismissed his chance for significant playing time. The disconnect among the coaches was one notable feature, but CJ was right. Unless Edwards had consistently shown the work ethic that allowed him to get in passable shape last spring, he was a detriment to the team and a bad example for his teammates. I'm not ripping him personally. He seemed like a nice guy, but whatever demon or laziness caused him to get out of shape was not going away for long.

Without Edwards. Tulane has four scholarship tackles in the spring--DeAndre Williams, Cameron Sample and the two freshmen. Robert Kennedy got some reps inside today, but he is primarily an end. Jamiran James will arrive in the summer, but the pressure will be on Johnson and Wright to develop quickly. Four tackles need to play every game.

As for Strickland, who would have been a redshirt sophomore, he simply could not stay healthy. Fritz used to praise his speed, but he rarely got to show it. His three carries near the end of the blowout of Tulsa last year were the only ones of his career.

The star of practice today was walk-on wide receiver Brian Newman, who has made a quick recovery from a devastating knee injury last August and will get a shot to contribute this fall in his final year of eligibility. As he did in practice earlier last August, he just makes plays. Today. he hauled in a deep ball from Jonathan Banks on a post pattern, laying out to catch it in front of cornerback Donnie Lewis.

Newman is listed at 5-8, but he says he is 5-9. Either way, he plays bigger than his size, and on a team looking for productive wideouts to complement Terren Encalade, Darnell Mooney and Jabril Clewis, Newman is in the mix. He is fast, runs good routes and has good hands.

To prove his long catch was no fluke, he caught another pass from Banks for about 25 yards on a deep out pattern, making a sharp cut to get separation before grabbing it just inside the sideline. Those two plays were better than anything Kevin LeDee, Jaetavian Toles or Jacob Robertson have produced in spring drills.

It's a remarkable deal because Newman ruptured his ACL as well as his medial and lateral meniscus while covering a punt at the Saints indoor facility last Aug. 17. He moved to his left and said he felt two pops without any contact, so he knew it was bad even though he was able to walk around the rest of the day. The diagnosis was even worse, but he knew he had only one more year of eligibility remaining after last year, so he began his recovery process immediately.

"I started the rehab the day after my surgery, so not even a full 24 hours after it," Newman said. "It's been tough. I go in there three or four hours a day on top of workouts and practice, but the training staff here has been phenomenal. I'm way ahead of schedule. Once we got over Christmas break, it just started to look like the horizon was shrinking and shrinking a little bit more. Basically a couple of days before the first day of spring, it was all right, it's go time."

His size is a detriment, and there's no way around it, but he doesn't play small.

"I can move around, and probably my best advantage is I'm pretty cerebral," he said. "I like picking apart defenses, getting defenders where they don't want to be and I want them to be. And I work hard. I'm not going to overpower anybody with size or anything like that, but I'll outwork anybody."

Newman spent two years on scholarship at Division II Hillsdale College in Michigan, but he had a dream of playing Division I football, so he transferred to Tulane and walked on in 2016 under Fritz. He sat out the first year under transfer rules, practicing on the scout team against the starting defense. and his confidence grew as he began making plays.

"My first year I felt like I paid some dues going through scout team, so the next year I thought it was my chance to make it happen," he said. "Then I blew it out, but it was right on to the next thing. There's no time to focus on that. I just came up with a game plan and entered the rehab program immediately after that."

The process worked.

"I think he's all the way back," Fritz said. "He sure looks like it. He's been so dlligent in his rehab. The whole training staff has done an excellent job with him. He's going to play for us. He is a very savvy player."

Newman is happy to be back out there.

"It just feels good to contribute to the team." he said. "It's pretty tough not being able to walk for half a season and just sitting down and watching the guys go out there and do their thing. Just to get out there and get into the groove of things ands start working on the craft is awesome."

But don't get him wrong. He has bigger goals than just being a member of the team. He wants to contribute on game days.

"Honestly, I'll do anything I can do," he said. "Special teams, returning kicks, punts, blocking, anything they need me to, I'll hop in there and do it."

NOTES

--On the first play of the 11-on-11 work, which began with the offense at its own 10-yard line, Banks hit Encalade deep down the sideline. Lewis had good coverage but did not play the ball well, with Encalade making a heck of a diving catch on the sideline while Lewis was actually about two yards downfield in front of him. Lewis was the cover guy on the two biggest gains, which is a concern given his history and how much Tulane needs him to play well without Parry Nickerson.

--Darnell Mooney almost made a great catch in the corner of the end zone on a fade, but the ball bounced off his chest after he made a leaping attempt for a Banks pass after beating Jaylon Monroe.

--Thakarius Keyes almost had an interception of a deep pass for Encalade from Banks, but Encalade broke it up.

--Dominique Briggs took the snaps with the first team at center. Hunter Knighton worked with the second team.

--When Cameron Jackel jumped early on a play, he had to take himself out and do push-ups as punishment.

--Tulane could have another kicker in the fall along with the preferred walk-on who is coming in. Davis Walker, from the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, attended practice today and is heavily considering the Wave as a walk-on. His other opportunity is East Carolina. His father told me he played only one year of high school football after focusing on soccer before then and could become Tulane's kickoff specialist. He said he was All-Metro as a senior in high school.

--Tulane will hold scrimmages, or the closest thing to it, on April 7 and again for the April 14 spring game. Fritz said they would have live tackling on those days, with only the quarterbacks off limits to hits.

This has nothing to do with how I think Tulane will do in the fall--I really like the Wave's chance to go to a bowl game if Banks stays healthy--but I drew a blank when Athlon's magazine asked me for suggestions for first-team All-AAC.

Who would you guys pick? I sent in several names because they also have a second and third team, but I would not be surprised if Tulane gets zero first-team selections at AAC Media Day.

Just about all of the signs are negative heading into Tulane's series at USF that start tonight, but you never know for sure until they play the games. If the Green Wave wins the series, it will still have life despite being under .500 for the year.

The key game is tonight. On paper this is one Tulane almost certainly will lose. USF has a dominant left-hander, and the Wave has struggled against mediocre lefties. Kaleb Roper had his worst performance of the year in his last road start (six runs in two innings at Long Beach State) and did not inspire much confidence while beating Cincinnati last Friday, walking six in six innings. This one has all the makings of a 7-1 loss, but if Tulane wins, it will set up well for the rest of the weekend. Ben White is no sure thing on Friday, but at least he throws strikes. Keagan Gillies has been terrific at the back end of the rotation, and he has impeccable control.

My prediction is South Florida taking 2 of 3, but it is still early enough in the season for a turnaround. Kody Hoese has to perform better than he has in the last few games batting behind Grant Witherspoon, who is having a terrific year despite opponents pitching around him. The top of the order is potentially quite good with Artigues, Witherspoon, Hoese and Trevor Jensen.

Tulane is 7-2 against USF in AAC series, winning 2 of 3 at Turchin Stadium in 2015 and 2017 and sweeping the Bulls in Tampa in 2016. I doubt that means much this year, but for whatever reason, the Wave has played well against USF.

But the pitchers have to throw strikes. Incredibly, Tulane is walking batters as almost the same rate as last year's historically bad level, and just about everyone in the bullpen is struggling. It's to the point that Travis Jewett singled out Ross Massey for having lively stuff against Southeastern on Tuesday when he gave up three hits in one inning. I guess it was that he did not walk anyone.

It was more glorious weather for Tulane's first spring practice that actually took place in the spring, with a mild, almost chilly temperature this morning for workout No. 6 at Yulman Stadium. I had to wear a jacket to be comfortable, and I took inventory of the entire roster during individual drills.

Players not participating were running back Miles Strickland, who may be gone, injured safeties Taris Shenall and Chase Napoleon, injured wide receivers Jacob Robertson and D.J. Owens, defensive tackle Braynon Edwards and freshman cornerback Chris Joyce. Joyce and Robertson took part in conditioning drills with a trainer and did not appear to be seriously hurt. The other guys I did not see, but I saw Owens not dressed at the Saturday practice at the Saints facility.

Devin Glenn is back with the running backs for now. It is his preferred position, but he has bounced between RB and WR for the last two years without having much success in games other than on special teams.

Miles Lapeyre, the walk-on QB from Newman, is practicing with the receivers. The only four QBs are Jonathan Banks, Dane Ledford, Christian Daniels and walk-on P.J. Hurst.

Michael Scott and Torri Singletary are being double-trained at linebacker.

Willie Fritz is very much a hands-on coach. He used his microphone extensively today, giving commentary on 7-on-7 drills. When linebacker Marvin Moody stepped in front of a Jonathan Banks pass but dropped an easy interception, Fritz yelled, "squeeze it, squeeze it. Make a good play a great play."

Banks made two gorgeous throws in 11-on-11 work at the end of the practice. lofting a perfect rainbow to Terren Encalade for a touchdown on a go route. Without question, Banks looks better in practice than any Tulane QB since Tanner Lee in 2014 in 2015, and while Lee rarely translated his practice form to games, Banks has better coaches with a system that is understandable rather than whatever it was (I never was quite sure) Tulane ran under CJ and Eric Price.

Banks' second beautiful pass, another perfectly measured rainbow, was dropped by Darnell Mooney in the corner of the end zone. Mooney, who usually has sure hands, took some razzing after that one.

Fritz injected a distraction into the 11-on-11 work, having music played over the loudspeaker to simulate the atmosphere players would experience in games rather than the sterile atmosphere of practice. It distracted me for sure, but the players appeared fine, and it is no longer the hillbilly music that used to blare in Fritz' first season.

As you would expect, the gap between Banks and his backups--Ledford and Daniels--is gargantuan. Daniels, who has been up and down in the spring, had a rough ending, missing a basic sideline throw by several yards. He simply is not ready yet, but he has nine more practices in the spring and all of preseason camp to get there. Ledford is more consistent than Daniels but nowhere near as sharp as Banks, who guided the offense up and down the field. He was not perfect, overthrowing Encalade by a few yards on another deep route, but he was on target on most of his throws, including several slants. Encalade dropped a pass from Ledford near the end of the scrimmage, and although it was not an easy catch because it was too far in front of him, it is one he can make.

The running backs had good holes during the 11-on-11 drill, with Stephon Huderson having a good day, but I have a hard time praising them too much when tackling is not allowed. Corey Dauphine has not stood out as much this spring as he did last August, but I'll wait until a scrimmage before reading anything into it.

Charles Jones engulfed Larry Bryant on one play. I had not noticed Bryant on the two-deep depth chart at earlier 11-on-11 sessions, but he was in there today and could not get off Jones' block for the entire five seconds of one running play at his usual rush end spot.

Depth charts in the spring are often scary at some spots since the incoming class has not arrived yet. At Tulane, it is the offensive line. The second unit today was Joey Claybrook at left tackle, walk-on Ben Bratcher at left guard, Hunter Knighton at center, Brian Webb at right guard and Devon Johnson at right tackle.

Practiced ended earlier than usual at 10:20 a.m.

WILLIE FRITZ

The offense was celebrating at the end of practice. Did they win the day?

"Oh, we had some big plays. We did a good job and had some creases and seams. Huderson had a good day. He had a couple of jump cuts for big gainers. It's kind of hard to tell sometimes. We were trying not to tackle and hit guys at angles because you end up going into somebody's knee. They might have made the play when maybe it looks like they didn't. That's just learning how to practice full speed, staying on our feet and all those kind of things. We threw a little distraction in there with the music today. We're trying to give them a whole lot of things to be thinking about, and they did a good job there."

What are your thoughts on Banks today?

"He threw a couple of nice ones. Darnell should have had the one over there in the corner, and he threw a really nice ball to Terren."

How long have you known (new secondary coach) J.J. McCleskey?

"Not very long. I have a real close friend of mine who knows J.J. well. They played together with the Cardinals. I try not to hire anybody I don't have some kind of personal contact with or I have a friend who knows them well, and that was the case with J.J. He knows a lot of people in New Orleans. He has a lot of energy, and we're a high-energy staff, so he fits in with us in that regard. Plus, he's also a good role model for our kids. We have a lot of guys who'd like to play at the next level, and he probably took one of the more difficult paths to play Division I college football. He was a walk-on at Tennessee and then hooked on as a free agent with the Cardinals and the Saints. Those guys can learn from those things."

Has he passed along that story to the players?

"When I hired him, I made sure I told our guys that. That was his story. There are a lot of guys who make it as free agents, but not many guys make it in the NFL who start as a walk-on. That's very rare. It's an interesting story."

I talked to him after Wednesday's practice.

How much of a weapon can Darius Bradwell be if he puts it together?

"He's going to be a very big-time weapon. He's still learning the transition coming from quarterback. He's going to be viable option for us being able to use his power, and he has some speed for his body weight. He'll be able to make guys miss, run with power and run with speed at the same time."

What was the hardest part of the adjustment for him?

"I would think the technique part of it, just trying to transition his body from the techniques from the quarterback position to now, what we're doing at running back and him feeling what he needs to do in certain situations. He's cerebral. He knows what everybody has to do. He knows what he is supposed to be doing. The important thing for him is just the feel for when and where he needs to use certain drills and stuff and skills that we're teaching. Once he gets the feel of that, he'll be really good. And he's getting it down as the days go on because he went through it all last fall and now he's going through it in the spring."

Is the lightbulb coming on?

"Exactly, exactly. You can see the lightbulb coming on. You can see him being in the right spot and you can see his confidence continue to sore from getting better and better each day."

There aren't many running backs that weight 230 pounds.

"That's big for us because at that body type and that size, it gives you that one extra yards. Where there's a 3-yard gain, he'll give you 4 or 5. And him learning how to run behind his pads is important also because at times he still goes back to his old ways of actually running, but he's doing a nice job of transitioning and getting it all done. He has a great approach. He's really going to be a force for us."

How about Stephon Huderson?

"Huderson is doing well. He's been playing running back and he's just trying to get everything down from what we're doing here at Tulane. He is going to help us. He is going to give us depth, and he can be a guy, too, because he can block and do a lot of things that people think he can't do. He's a physical kid and he's a tough kid. He runs hard."

And Corey Dauphine?

"Dauphine will help us out also because once he gets going and gets his speed going, and he's not a little guy either. He's about 210, 215 and he can pound up in there and give us those tough yards also."

Is there any rust that has to be wiped off when he has not played in a game since 2016?

"Not really. The good thing is he practiced all year. It's just the fact of understanding now I can go play, so I really have to learn what's going on and I really have to be on top of it. The pressure adds up. He has to know what's going on and be a guy on the depth chart."

Dontrell HIlliard is a big loss, but I don't see a lot of concern about replacing him because of what you have back. Is that accurate?

"Dontrell is Dontrell. Him and Sherman did a nice job. They made a lot of plays last year, and the guys that are here were here when they were here, so they know the plays that they made and they know what we ask of that position. We're not worried about it. We're just going to play one play at a time and take care of the ball and make the plays when they come to us."

I am hearing that Frazier will declare for the NBA draft in the next few days but will not hire an agent, which is smart. His performance at the pre-draft camp in Chicago May 16-20 could determine his future.

Players have until April 22 to submit their names for the draft and can wait all the way until June 11 at 5 p.m. Eastern time to pull their name out, so this could be a long process.

I don't see Frazier as a first-round pick or an NBA player in his first year. I see him as a second-round pick and G League guy at the start. But my opinion doesn't matter. It's all about what the NBA teams think.

Colin Slater announced yesterday he is transferring. Although he had a couple of good games this year, notably at Tulsa when Ona Embo was out with a hand injury, he played poorly most nights and is not a good fit with Dunleavy, who prefers bigger guards. I feel like Slater underachieved in his two years at Tulane. He loves the area, so I would expect him to transfer to a Southland Conference team and would not be surprised if he averages double figures there. The physicality of the AAC was a little too much for him, but he has game.

It was a beautiful time to practice this morning with mild temperatures, and Tulane made the most of it with a two-hour workout that ended at 10:25, the earliest finish time for the spring to this point.

I really believe Charles Jones can have a big year. Tight ends have not figured heavily in Willie Fritz' offenses in the past, and Jones has teased us in the past with big plays while failing to be consistent in carrying out his assignments and failing to back up good weeks of practice, but he is a senior now and should be ready to realize his ability. Eight of his 13 catches a year ago came in the last five games, and he had two touchdown receptions at Memphis. Today, he was part of the play of the day. racing by cornerback Stephon Lofton, who appeared frozen in the turf, to haul in a long touchdown pass from Christian Daniels in the 11-on-11 drill at the end of practice. The play capped off a nice drive for Daniels, who set up the TD with a completion to Jabril Clewis on a slant, although Clewis had to reach behind him to snag the ball

Dane Ledford did not fare as well, throwing an interception that was tipped by one defender to Rod Teamer. Teamer had an active today, partly because he got in a fight with offensive lineman Corey Dublin that forced teammates and coaches to come over to separate them. I would not have expected either of them to be involved in a scuffle, but maybe it was the renewal of the Catholic Leauge rivalry between Brother Martin (Teamer) and Jesuit (Dublin). It did not escalate much and was pretty tame, but both players were hot and Fritz does not tolerate fighting.

Darius Bradwell continued to look impressive, although as always I never try to read too much into running plays when there is no live tackling. He has gotten really big--235 pounds--and will be a load to tackle when he gets his feet moving.

Dominique Briggs was at center with the first unit today along with Keyshawn McLeod at left tackle, Dublin at left guard, John Leglue at right guard and Devon Johnson at right tackle. That's right. Leglue was at guard as the coaches continue to double-train the offensive linemen and search for the most effective combinations.

The second-team line had Joey Claybrook at left tackle, walk-on Ben Bratcher at left guard, Hunter Knighton at center, Brian Webb at right guard and Tyler Johnson at right tackle. I did not see Cameron Jackel practicing but could have missed him.

Ever since Fritz talked about Jonathan Banks needing to throw the ball away when plays were not available, I have noticed Banks chucking the ball to the sideline when no one was open. As long as he does not take it too far, that is a good thing, but I definitely thought Glen Cuiellette bailed out on plays too early two years ago and sailed the ball out of bounds instead of waiting a little longer to see if something developed.

Barring an injury, write down Tirise Barge as the starting nickelback. He has been practicing with the first unit all spring and looks the part. He can cover, tackle and blitz.

P.J. Hall got reps at cornerback today opposite Donnie Lewis. They have plenty of decisions to make in the secondary and a lot of different combinations, so look for them to continue to experiment back there. The starting safeties in the 11-on-11 work were Teamer and Willie Langham while Taris Shenall and Will Harper remain out with injuries.

The starting D-line remained unchanged from last week, with De"Ande Williams and Cameron Sample inside and Robert Kennedy and Patrick Johnson outside. The backups were Peter Woullard and Torri Singletary outside true freshmen Davon Wright and Jeffery Johnson inside. I will be surprised if Kennedy and Johnson are not the opening-day starters at end unless they use the 3-4 look and go with Larry Bryant. The tackle spot is wide open and will hinge who outperforms the others. I'd have to see a scrimmage to make a concrete evaluation there.

Tulane's three best wide receivers clearly are Terren Encalade, Darnell Mooney and Jabril Clewis, the starters from last year. I believe they have the potential to be the best trio the Wave has had in a while. After them, Kevin LeDee has made the most plays in the spring, but they need guys to step up from the second unit. I have not seen consistent production from Jaetavian Toles, Jacob Robertson and Devin Glenn, and D.J. Owens is not practicing.

WILLIE FRITZ

Did it get a little testy today at practice?

"No, it was all right. I don't pay any attention to that stuff (fights). They happen from time to time, we break it up, let's move on and go. I tell these guys I had a team (Blinn College) win 26 in a row and we never had a fight that whole time, so it doesn't really help you out. Somebody gets hurt. Feelings get hurt and all that, but it doesn't show you're a tough guy."

How did you feel about the energy at practice today?

"We were all right. Sometimes you take the weekend off and then have to start back up. We'll have a better on on Wednesday."

Does Bradwell weighh 235 now?

"Yes, 235. He's got great strength. He's one of the strongest guys on the team, too. He's a big dude, but the great thing about him is he has good speed and very nimble feet."

When you spread it out and then hand it to a guy who's that big, how much of a dilemma is it for the defense?

"Most of the time he's got pretty good vision. Sometimes on fourth-and-1 he starts thinking about running into the back of people. He needs to keep his vision. He's going to run through arm tackles."

"Well, it gets you where we have bodies on bodies and they can't pack the box. The thing we're trying to do is be two-dimensional. Throw it if they're packing the box and run it if they're not. We're getting towards that right now.

What do like about Tirise Barge?

"He loves football. He loves to practice. He really came on at the end of the year in the kicking game. We played him quite a bit against SMU and he really had a good game against them. We probably should have tried to play him a little bit earlier. He's an explosive player. He can make big plays for you."

When do you think some of the injured safeties will be back?

"The thing we're trying to be careful of is letting a guy finish this week and maybe not play so he has another week off and is able to go for the last eight practices."

Because of a conflict, I only saw about the last 15 minutes of practice Thursday after they rescheduled it from Friday, but I caught the last half-hour today (the maximum allowed when they work out at the Saints indoor facility).

Corey Dublin was taking reps with the first team at center today, In a perfect world, I believe that is the best solution to fill the void created by Junior Diaz' unexpected departure. Dublin is a good player, and I would expect him to be able to adjust. I did not think Hunter Knighton was starter quality last year, and Dominique Briggs had major snapping issues in the preseason. It would be easier to find a second guard than a center in my opinion, so I hope Dublin can get the job done at center, but his move there would create question marks at both guard spots. Hey, that's what spring practice is for--to experiment and find the best possible combination.

They were mixing and matching on the offensive line today. The first-team tackles were Keyshawn McLeod on the left side and John Leglue on the right side. With Dominique Briggs working as the second-team center for the portion of practice I saw, the guards were Devon Johnson, Brian Webb, Knighton and Cameron Jackel as they try to find which guys are capable of stepping up and contributing. It was the second straight practice where Johnson got reps with the first unit--he did it Thursday when Briggs worked as the first-team center. The backup tackles were Joey Claybrook on the left side and Tyler Johnson on the right side.

They are also experimenting with different combinations on defense. Believe it or not, but Stephon Lofton has made as many plays at cornerback when I've been watching as anyone. He has not done much of anything in his first four years at Tulane, but he made a terrific breakup over the middle in the two-minute drill, diving at the perfect time to knock the ball away. I don't know whether he is a legitimate candidate for the spot opposite Donnie Lewis, but it bears watching. He practiced with the second team today while Jaylon Monroe, the favorite for the job, worked with the first unit. Thakarius Keyes and Willie Langham got time at safety to fill a shortage there, but Fritz said he still considered them cornerbacks first.

The first-team defensive line was Robert Kennedy and Patrick Johnson at end, with Johnson playing that hybrid OLB/end role, and Cameron Sample and DeAndre Williams inside. The second-team line had true freshmen Jeffery Johnson and Davon Wright on the inside with Michael Scott and Peter Woullard outside. Scott got manhandled on a running play, allowing a big gain as he failed to get off a block.

The first-team linebackers were Zach Harris and Lawrence Graham. Behind them were KJ Vault and Marvin Moody.

The first-team nickelback was Tirise Barge, with Rod Teamer at free safety and P.J Hall at strong safety. Behind them were Keyes and Langham. I did not see Sean Harper practicing, so he may be hurt. Taris Shenall also did not practice. I will get an update on the injured players Monday. I did not catch who the backup nickelback was, but it might have been Will Harper, who I did not see practicing but who made some good plays earlier this week. He lined up at nickelback at the end of Thursday's practice.

Christian Daniels threw better than he had Wednesday or Thursday in the two-minute drill, but he still threw behind Charles Jones on one play when he was open. Jones and Kendall Ardoin got plenty of reps with the first unit. Tulane has run very little two-tight end formations under Fritz, but he always is looking for ways to get his better players on the field.

Daniels tried to connect with walk-on wideout Rocky Ferony deep, but he was not open.

Jonathan Banks hit Jaetavian Toles on a slant and Darius Bradwell on the outside in consecutive plays. He scrambled for a gain, which is easy to do when you know you are not allowed to be hit, before throwing incomplete deep in the end zone for Terren Encalade, who was well covered. He then hit Jabrill Clewis for a nice gain after scrambling to his right, connected with Encalade on a slant and threw the ball away on purpose, actually hitting the wall on the side of the practice field on the fly.

Fritz loves getting the opportunity to practice at the Saints facility.

'It's always good to have it out here," he said. "We appreciate the Saints allowing us to come out here. It's awesome. We had a good workout today. We got a lot of reps in and everybody got action. It's just repetition, repetition, repetition. I'm excited about it."

They have limited time after the practices out there because they are rushing to get on the buses back to campus, but I asked him a few more questions.

Stephon Lofton appears to be playing better than ever before. Do you feel that way?

"He knows what he's doing and is playing with more confidence and is pulling the trigger quicker. He needs to keep developing, but he's doing a much better job here. You're correct."

How tight is the competition for the spot opposite Donnie Lewis?

"Pretty tight. We've got some guys who can do it out there. We're a little short-handed at safety, so we're playing Thakarius Keyes and Willie Langham at some safety, but both of those guys are probably more suited for corner. And then we're going to have to have some freshmen come in and be able to play for us, too."

How is Christian Daniels developing?

"Pretty good. Every once in a while he gets swimming a little bit. We inserted a lot of stuff for the first seven practices and we're going to slow down a little bit, but he's getting better every day."

Tulane had a lot of recruits watching practice today, making the facillty crowded on the sideline.

Here is the list:

1) Greg Brooks, a 5-11, 170-pound 3-star CB from West Jefferson who is rated the No. 60 CB prospect in the country by Rivals.com and the No. 18 prospect at any position in Louisiana.

Interest: He has 12 offers, including Kansas, Kansas State and Ole Miss.

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2) Treun Pace, a 5-11, 180-pound CB from Pelham High in Georgia who is unrated by Rivals.com

Interest: He has offers from Troy, Georgia Southern and Kentucky and some interest from Tennessee.

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3) Quinton Torbor, a 6-2, 180-pound 3-star RB from Destrehan who is rated the No. 44 RB in the country and the No. 21 prospect in the state.

Interest: Has offers from Auburn and Georgia among others.

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4) Caleb Etienne, a 6-6, 291-pound 3-star OT from Warren Easton rated the No. 25 prospect in Louisiana.

Interest: Has offers from Kansas, Oregon, Oregon State and Tennessee.

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5) Sedrick Van Pran, a 6-4, 285-pound unrated 2020 center from Warren Easton.

Interest: Has offers from Kansas and Louisiana Tech.

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6) B.J. Lockhard, a 5-8, 185-pound safety from Walker who is not in the Rivals database.


7) Dylan Rathcke, a 6-5, 290-pound 3-star prospect from University Lab in Baton Rouge who is the No. 22 prospect in Louisiana.

Interest: Has offers from USM, ULL and ULM


8) Brandon Legendre, a 5-9, 180-pound unrated ATH from E.D. White in Thibodaux

Interest: Has offers from West Virginia and Kentucky among others.

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9) Bertrant Carrell, a 6-1, 187-pound unrated safety from Madison Prep in Baton Rouge.

Interest: Arizona has offered him.

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10) Darius Washington, a 6-3, 290-pound unrated OT from West Florida Tech in Pensacola, Fla.

Interest: Has offers from Nebraska, Louisville, Maryland and Cincinnati.

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I focused on the quarterbacks at practice today because Tulane was perilously thin behind starter Jonathan Banks entering spring drills, with true freshman Christian Daniels and quarterback-turned wide receiver-turned quarterback again Dane Ledford the only other scholarship options.

My first impression: Ledford is more impressive than I expected. He certainly has to improve before he is a viable option to help Tulane win games in case of a Banks injury, but the basic tools are there. He is the most likely guy to be the No. 2 QB because it is incredibly hard for a true freshman like Daniels to come out of lower-level high school football and be ready right away.

The initial concern with Ledford is if the coaches decided to move him away from quarterback, as they did early last year. he cannot be a big-time prospect. There's some merit to that--he was judged fourth best behind Banks, Johnathan Brantley and fellow true freshman Khalil McClain--but it was very early in his career.

In seven-on-seven drills today, Ledford was the most impressive of the three QBs. Each took turns having five reps in a row, with the ball at the defense's 40-yard line for each snap and Willie Fritz hollering out the down and distance to replicate. Ledford was on the money with a pass to Kevin LeDee, who still has skinny legs but is showing a knack for getting open this week, and to Darnell Mooney in his first segment.

Daniels struggled. His head clearly was spinning. He missed Brian Newman badly over the middle, throwing behind him. He led Jacob Robertson perfectly on an outside route, but he held on to the ball for so long before scrambling and hitting him, he would have been sacked for sure in a live drill. He held the ball too along again before hitting Terren Encalade and ended his segment by overthrowing walk-on Rocky Ferony deep.

When Banks got his turn, he hit Jabril Clewis on an out route but put a little too much air under the throw, which would have allowed a defender to possibly step in front of it or drill Clewis in a live drill.
He completed a pass to tight end Will Wallace on a short out route, threw incomplete deep into the end zone for Mooney and had a miscommunication with Jaetavian Toles, throwing deep when Toles broke off his route.

Ledford returned for a second stint and hit Mooney on a quick out Encalade on a quick out and connected with Darius Bradwell on the sideline, all on third-and-6. Ledford was throwing quicker than Banks or Daniels, seeing what was there and firing. He finished his segment by finding Charles Jones along the sideline on second-and-7.

Daniels had one final throw, and he again held the ball tool long before throwing, allowing Patrick Johnson to knock it down after dropping into coverage.

I'd like to give more thorough coverage of the 11-on-11 drill that ended practice, but I had a conversation with the new sports information director that should bear fruit down the road. He set a policy of allowing reporters in for the last 30 minutes of practice, but I received permission to get their earlier and was explaining to him that the coaches knew I would not burn them. He was the football SID at Miami before coming to Tulane and is used to a much more restrictive environment, but our conversation was cordial. Unfortunately, it kept me from charting the 11-on-11 work.

Mooney had a good day, catching a a nice pass from Daniels on a slant and one from Banks on the sideline. Ledford did not appear to be as sharp in 11-on-11 work. He had a receiver open deep and threw his pass too high, allowing a defensive back to get there in time to break it up.

"He's doing a good job for us," Fritz said. "We had such a line at quarterback last year that we wanted to play him some place, and unfortunately he got hurt, which may end up being a blessing in disguise, but he's doing a really nice job. He's very smart and he's an excellent athlete. He was a 23-foot long jumper in high school and he's got legit 4.5, 4.6 speed. He's just to get a little more consistent with his throwing delivery. Three plays in a row he'll look really good throwing, and then he'll throw one out there that doesn't quite so good, so we just have to keep getting him reps."

Going through the summer and preseason last year gave Ledford an edge on Daniels, who is seeing everything for the first time.

"We just inserted a bunch of stuff for practice No.2," Fritz said. "Christian knew everything from practice 1, but he was swimming a little bit today. He'll pick it up. He's a sharp kid."

As for Banks, he still needs to be more consistent as a thrower, but he has the complete package in what the staff is looking for. Although it will be hugely important to keep him healthy in the fall, Fritz says they will not tell him to stop running. Modern college offenses, and certainly the one Tulane has, rely on the quarterback to pick up yards with his feet. Fritz reiterated what he said to me Friday about the importance of Banks not taking unnecessary hits. I actually thought he was pretty good at getting down last year, and a few times I thought he went down a little earlier than necessary, but he definitely needs to protect his body when he can.

"All these offenses, the quarterback's going to run," Fritz said. "He just has to understand touchdown, first down, get down. When there's not more yards to get, get down. Get out of bounds on the sideline, but if he has to get the first down, get the first down. He's a weapon. He's 225, 230 and 6-2 with good speed. He's going to run the ball anywhere from five to 15 times a game depending on how they play us. He's really a weapon when he makes a definitive decision to scramble. He's really good when he does that. We're not going to touch him in practice, I know that, so he won't be taking any hits during the week."

Tulane's first-team offensive line had Dominique Briggs at center with the usual suspects surrounding him. Hunter Knighton was on the second team at center, with Tyler Johnson and Keyshawn McLeod both getting reps with the first unit at tackle opposite John Leglue.

Robertson tweaked something slightly and rode the exercise bike midway through practice but appeared to be fine.

Fritz' pet phrase during tackling drills definitely is "tackle through him, not to him." He said it repeatedly during a drill where they rolled a donut and players had to bring it down. He even admitted making a mistake in the way he taught it last year, urging them to do it slightly differently this time.

I will have more here tomorrow after conducting interviews with Fritz, Jeffery Johnson. Banks, Ledford and Rod Teamer in a group today.

The next practice is Friday morning.

Thanks to great pitching performances by Roper and Gillies, Tulane was able to salvage a 2-3 week that could have been much worse. As it was, with the two losses at home the RPI factoring left us at 1.4-3.3 (29.8% winning percentage) for the week. Of course winning two games against Purdue, who appears to have both good hitting and good pitching, is encouraging. The mid-week losses, less so.

Hitting. After hitting .309 as a team last week against Lamar and Fullerton, we continued to hit pretty well (.282) this week. We now have five players, Artigues (.350), Hoese (.339), Witherspoon (.313), Gozzo (.309) and Rowland (.302) hitting over .300. It’s still quite early (lesson than a third of the season complete) but it’s a good start. But injuries are starting to hurt. The loss of Kobi Owen for the season and the recent injuries to Jensen and Johnson are challenging our depth at catcher, first base, and the outfield. Acy Owen went 3 for 11 this week but is still hitting only .143. And Nieman is 0 for 4 on the season as the only other currently available catcher. Matthews started well but is now 0 for his last 14 and Coach Jewett was forced to move Artigues to 1st base in the last game against Purdue. In the outfield, Heinrich is now 4 for 18 (.222). And while Bedgood got a couple of key hits last week and Glancy two more this week, the two of them are a combined 4 for 25 (.160) on the season. We need to get Johnson and Jensen back or others need to step up soon.

As a team, we are still striking out too often (45 times in 41 inning this week, 9.88 /9 innings), but our approach seems to be a little better than past years. We’re only striking out 45.5% of the time once we get to two strikes, down from the 49%, 51%, and 54% in 2015, 2016, and 2017 respectively. And when we put a two-strike pitch into play we’re hitting .340—really good considering players tend to “expand the strike zone” and frequently shorten their normal swing. Overall, we're hitting .186 with two strikes, the best in years. And we’re also continuing to improve on attacking the first strike, hitting .370 on that pitch, not as good as last year’s .413, but still solid. Our power numbers are down a bit, but our hitting seems to be coming along so far.

Pitching Other than Roper and Gillies, who have lowered their earned run averages to 4.12 and 3.38 respectively, our pitchers threw a total of 29 1/3 innings this week allowing 36 hits, 32 BBs and HBPs (9.82 “free passes” per 9 innings), and 26 earned runs (7.98 ERA). We also allowed six runs in one inning against SELA with 2 outs and no one on base. They were considered “unearned” because we should have been out of the inning but for Witherspoon’s dropping a pop fly to the lead-off batter. We had three pitchers come in and get no one out but because of something that happened before they took the mound, they were not charged with any earned runs. I understand the rule but the statistic is misleading.

Bates, Selesky, and Massey did not have good outings as starters and our “closer,” McAffer, did not pitch all week after his disastrous appearance against Fullerton. Is he hurt? White and Green pitched pretty well this week and Pellerin, despite continued control problems, had a good result against Purdue. Although he allowed five hits and four “free passes” in 3 2/3 innings, he only allowed 1 earned run. Trent Johnson didn’t impress in either of his brief appearances and, after seven excellent efforts, Bjorngjeld had back-to-back terrible games mid-week before closing out Friday night’s game nicely. I also really liked what I’ve seen from Issa this year in his only two appearance, but he’s apparently hurt now also. Campbell and Koppenhaver made brief appearances without allowing any runs but Cellucci continued to have trouble recording any outs when he takes the mound. A team ERA of 5.03 pretty much tells the story.

Fielding We’re fielding .982 as a team and generally making all of the right plays. Of our eleven errors, all but three have been made by pitchers and catchers on errant throws. Witherspoon’s drop on Saturday is the first error by our outfield though less-generous official scoring could have upped that number by 2 or 3. We’ve thrown out six of 19 attempted steals which isn’t bad and executed 13 double plays on grounders which is a little above average for this point of the season. We’ve allowed 7 passed balls which is a little above last year’s pace when we allowed 19 all year. But we’re fast approaching the ten we allowed all season in 2016. That said, we’re not 8-8 because of fielding, or hitting for that matter. But for some bright moments, our problem has been pitching. Clean that up and we could make some noise the rest of the season.

Roll Wave!!!