I was there at 8:20 on a cold, dreary morning. They started off in a 11-on-11 virtual walkthrough, with Tanner Lee and the first-team offense going against the first-team defense at one end and Devin Powell and the second-team offense going against the second-team defense at the other end. Next up were exercises and calisthenics, then individual drills, then larger group work with the linebackers and DBs grouped together, the QBs,WRs and RBs grouped together and the DL/OL grouped together. They moved on to the 8-on-8 running drill with the wide receivers working separately, then had special teams work and 11-on-11 action to finish the practice.
1) Tulane's placekicking continues to be terrible, a very scary sign for a team that probably won't have much margin for error in the fall. I didn't chart all of the attempts in a field goal drill, but I counted five misses--Trevor Simms was wide left on two 36-yarders and wide right on a 45-yarder and Andrew DiRocco was wide left from 42 and 45 yards. They missed more kicks than they made once they got out of chip shot range. The snaps appeared fine, and there was no rush, so there were no external factors in the misses other than the kickers not being accurate.
"We've been inconsistent kicking the ball," CJ said. "I don't know who's the starting kicker right now. It may be me. We gotta get some guys to kick the ball through the upright."
That about sums up what I watched from the kickers. Incoming freshman Zach Block will get a shot to win the job in the fall, but he was considered a better punter than kicker in high school. If he proves unreliable, Tulane could be headed for a major headache. There is no positive spin to put on it.
Tulane also worked on kickoff returns, with Sherman Badie, Dontrell Hilliard and Devon Breaux getting opportunities. That's another area where the Wave needs to improve tremendously after finishing 124th out 125 teams last year (16.8 average).
2) Other than the kicks, the biggest problem in today's practice was dropped passes. Teddy Veal, usually one of the most sure-handed receivers on the team, dropped an easy one in the flat. Running back Lazedrick Thompson dropped one, and so did some of the walk-on wideouts. With Veal, Terren Encalade and Breaux the only scholarship wideouts available, they are playing a lot of snaps in practice and may be losing their concentration at times.
"We had too many drops today," CJ said before he was even asked a question in a post-practice interview. "We just have to drill them a little bit more. We're playing some guys in different positions and stuff like that. Teddy Veal doesn't usually drop too many balls. It may be too much for him right now, but he'll be fine."
Veal, though, has been the best wideout in the first four practices by far in my view. He made a terrific grab in coverage near the sideline today, snagging a ball that looked headed out out of bounds and doing it with flair. He's a natural playmaker and should make a huge leap from him freshman year to his sophomore season.
3) The coaches were ornery today. CJ criticized the wide receivers, and defensive coordinator Lionel Washington lit into safety Stephon Lofton for not getting off a block downfield. It wasn't a tackling drill, but when Lofton loafed a little bit at the end of the play, Washington let him have it. The offensive and defensive line coaches yelled at their players a lot in a running drill when they missed a block or did not stay in their gap. On one of those plays, Nico Marley went in untouched to meet Thompson abruptly (tackling was not allowed). On another, Zachery Harris went in untouched and ran into Josh Rounds, who hurt his left in the collision. Rounds finished the practice but was limping a bit as he left the practice field.
4) Here is some depth chart information:
The first-team offensive line remained unchanged, but Nathan Shienle did slide over to play left guard for a while as Junior Diaz worked with the first-team OL at center and Chris Taylor took a breather. The second-team offensive line had John Leglue at left tackle, Jason Stewart at left guard, Brandon Godfrey at center, Bob Bradley at right guard and Anthony Taylor at right tackle. A little later, Devon Johnson went in at right tackle, with Taylor sliding to right guard and Bradley getting snaps at center.
Luke Jackson is back to defensive end after practicing at linebacker last year coming off his cancer scare. He was not big enough to play end after his treatment and still appears light, but he would never get on the field at linebacker. He's an end.
Robert Kennedy and Peter Woullard got reps with the first unit at defensive end. Daren Williams and Ade Aruna are the top guys there with Royce LaFrance missing the spring due to academics.
The linebackers had a good day. Harris in particular was impressive as he got extra playing time because Jarrod Franklin missed practice. Quinlan Carroll was playing at LB rather than end.
5) I talked to Josh Rounds after practice today. I'll post that interview either tonight or tomorrow morning.
1) Tulane's placekicking continues to be terrible, a very scary sign for a team that probably won't have much margin for error in the fall. I didn't chart all of the attempts in a field goal drill, but I counted five misses--Trevor Simms was wide left on two 36-yarders and wide right on a 45-yarder and Andrew DiRocco was wide left from 42 and 45 yards. They missed more kicks than they made once they got out of chip shot range. The snaps appeared fine, and there was no rush, so there were no external factors in the misses other than the kickers not being accurate.
"We've been inconsistent kicking the ball," CJ said. "I don't know who's the starting kicker right now. It may be me. We gotta get some guys to kick the ball through the upright."
That about sums up what I watched from the kickers. Incoming freshman Zach Block will get a shot to win the job in the fall, but he was considered a better punter than kicker in high school. If he proves unreliable, Tulane could be headed for a major headache. There is no positive spin to put on it.
Tulane also worked on kickoff returns, with Sherman Badie, Dontrell Hilliard and Devon Breaux getting opportunities. That's another area where the Wave needs to improve tremendously after finishing 124th out 125 teams last year (16.8 average).
2) Other than the kicks, the biggest problem in today's practice was dropped passes. Teddy Veal, usually one of the most sure-handed receivers on the team, dropped an easy one in the flat. Running back Lazedrick Thompson dropped one, and so did some of the walk-on wideouts. With Veal, Terren Encalade and Breaux the only scholarship wideouts available, they are playing a lot of snaps in practice and may be losing their concentration at times.
"We had too many drops today," CJ said before he was even asked a question in a post-practice interview. "We just have to drill them a little bit more. We're playing some guys in different positions and stuff like that. Teddy Veal doesn't usually drop too many balls. It may be too much for him right now, but he'll be fine."
Veal, though, has been the best wideout in the first four practices by far in my view. He made a terrific grab in coverage near the sideline today, snagging a ball that looked headed out out of bounds and doing it with flair. He's a natural playmaker and should make a huge leap from him freshman year to his sophomore season.
3) The coaches were ornery today. CJ criticized the wide receivers, and defensive coordinator Lionel Washington lit into safety Stephon Lofton for not getting off a block downfield. It wasn't a tackling drill, but when Lofton loafed a little bit at the end of the play, Washington let him have it. The offensive and defensive line coaches yelled at their players a lot in a running drill when they missed a block or did not stay in their gap. On one of those plays, Nico Marley went in untouched to meet Thompson abruptly (tackling was not allowed). On another, Zachery Harris went in untouched and ran into Josh Rounds, who hurt his left in the collision. Rounds finished the practice but was limping a bit as he left the practice field.
4) Here is some depth chart information:
The first-team offensive line remained unchanged, but Nathan Shienle did slide over to play left guard for a while as Junior Diaz worked with the first-team OL at center and Chris Taylor took a breather. The second-team offensive line had John Leglue at left tackle, Jason Stewart at left guard, Brandon Godfrey at center, Bob Bradley at right guard and Anthony Taylor at right tackle. A little later, Devon Johnson went in at right tackle, with Taylor sliding to right guard and Bradley getting snaps at center.
Luke Jackson is back to defensive end after practicing at linebacker last year coming off his cancer scare. He was not big enough to play end after his treatment and still appears light, but he would never get on the field at linebacker. He's an end.
Robert Kennedy and Peter Woullard got reps with the first unit at defensive end. Daren Williams and Ade Aruna are the top guys there with Royce LaFrance missing the spring due to academics.
The linebackers had a good day. Harris in particular was impressive as he got extra playing time because Jarrod Franklin missed practice. Quinlan Carroll was playing at LB rather than end.
5) I talked to Josh Rounds after practice today. I'll post that interview either tonight or tomorrow morning.