Today was the first day in full pads, but there was only about a 10-minute segment with live tackling. It also was shockingly comfortable weather-wise for a day with a heat advisory thanks to constant cloud cover and a steady breeze. I was there for the entire thing and regretted it immediately because they did not put on jerseys or helmets for the first hour as part of CJ's plan to avoid cramping and overheating issues.
First, here's the breakdown of the practice schedule today:
8-8:30: individual position coaching
8:30 to 8:35: stretching
8:40 to 9:15: more position work
9:15: first-contact drill, a pass protection drill for RBs
9:20: 8 on 8 work with live tackling
9:30: 11 on 11 work with no tackling
9:35 to 9:55: special teams
9:55 to 10:00: 11 on 11 with no tackling
10:00 to 10:05: water break
10:08 to 10:20: position work, plus OL/DL 1-on-1 battles
10:20: 11 on 11 with live tackling
10:33: 11 on 11 with no tackling
10:45: practice ends
In the 11-on-11 live tackling portion, Tanner Lee threw two short passes that made it third-and-2 in a battle of 1s v. 1s. On the second play, a quick screen to Devon Breaux, Terren Encalade missed his block and hurt his left arm, holding it as he went off the field in some pain. I forgot to ask CJ about Encalade's status after practice.
Darion Monroe jumped offside to give the offense a first down. Two running plays netted two yards (Dontrell Hilliard on the first, Sherman Badie on the second) before tight end Charles Jones caught a pass and was cut down by CB Parry Nickerson. I thought it was short of the first down, but they ended up giving Jones 10 yards. Badie then got stuffed for a 2-yard loss, Lee threw wide of tight end Sydie London for what would have been a negligible gain and hit tight end Trey Scott for two yards, ending the series.
Devin Powell and the second units came in, and Powell threw three consecutive incomplete passes. The first was almost intercepted by freshman CB Dedrick Shy. The next was a throwaway and the third landed near the ankles of the intended receiver. On the next snap, Rob Kelly had a decent gain but lost a fumble as he tried to give second effort. CJ stopped him and yelled at him as he went off the field. Breaux then gained about five yards on a reverse before the live portion ended uneventfully.
Freshmen on the second units were Malik Eugene at strong safety, Shy and Taris Shenall at CB and John Washington at DT next to Corey Redwine. The first-team units had all the usual suspects on both sides of the ball, but the offense continuous had tight ends (Scott) and running backs (usually Badie) lining up as receivers.
On the first play after they called off tackling, Lee connected with Hilliard on a slant that might have gone for a 50-yard TD if had been live. I think Hilliard is the Wave's best player on offense. He is the full package.
That said, for the offense to be successful, they absolutely, positively have to use the tight ends and running backs heavily in the passing game. Very heavily. To my eyes, Tulane has one functional wide receiver in Teddy Veal. The rest are projects. Maybe Breaux will get it together this year, but he showed no ball awareness or ability to run good routes last season. During one non-live drill, Rickey Preston dropped a pass that bounced off his chest. The word on him was unreliable hands coming in, and letting the ball hit your body is a fundamental mistake he cannot afford. Encalade has to prove he can get separation, and so does Larry Dace, the most polished receiver on the roster. Still, all the polish in the world won't matter if he can't get away from defensive backs.
Charles Jones, Trey Scott, Hilliard and Badie (although the numbers did not show it last year) are all among Tulane's five best receivers.
Kelley is rusty, and he is not as good a runner as Badie, Hilliard or Lazedrick Thompson, but he can provide a physical presence in the backfield. In the pass protection drill, he leveled linebacker Eric Thomas.
When Tulane practiced punts, seven guys took turns catching them --Monroe, Encalade, Devin Glenn (he dropped one), Badie, Veal, Nickerson and Preston. If what I heard about Preston's hands is correct, he will not be a viable option, and Glenn has dropped two that I've seen in the first week even though the drills aren't live. Encalade has the wrong body type and doesn't have the moves of a typical punt returner. The other guys are key starters who need to be real threats to justify the extra chance of injury, although simply catching the ball would be an improvement on what happened last season and might by itself justify using one of them.
The field goal drill was an abject disaster for the first time this week. Most of the kicks were from 42 yards on the hash marks, and very few went through the uprights. It is now a four-way competition among Trevor Simms, Andrew DiRocco, Zach Block and Steven Logan, who has earned a promotion to the main derby. Sitting in the press box, I had a bad angle, but I know Block was short and wide right on a 45-yarder and Logan was short and wide right on a 48-yarder. Simms had his worst day, consistently kicking wide right. DiRocco appeared to be the least inaccurate (no one was accurate). If I had to handicap the race right now, I'd have DiRocco as the extra point kicker and field goal kicker from 40 yards and in, with Simms as the long-range kicker, and I'd have zero confidence in either one of them. But there's still three weeks of practice left. Logan apparently has been the most accurate from short range on the outside practice field, but he did not show it today.
The offensive linemen dominated a large portion of the 1-on-1 pass rushing drill on the side of the field. Quinlan Carroll ran around Arturo Uzdavinis but was too far upfield to be a factor. Consecutively, Colton Hanson won his battle with Eric Bell, Nathan Shienle stoned Braynon Edwards, Chris Taylor blocked Eldrick Washington, Todd Jacquet handled Luke Jackson, Kenneth Santa Marina blocked Ade Aruna (who looks active and sharp to my eyes) and Junior Diaz blocked Brian Webb.
The tables turned a bit from there. Leeward Brown held John Washington and John Leglue held Daren Williams. Bell ran around Brown, who then was given a second chance and blocked him, Tanzel Smart got by Diaz, Royce LaFrance abused Brandon Godfrey, Peter Woullard beat Brown, Keeyon Keeyon Smart blocked Carroll, Devon Johnson and Bell battled evenly, Woullard beat Bob Bradley, Woullard spun past Jason Stewart, Aruna ran around Keyshawn Mcleod, LaFrance spun inside Mcleod (a great move if he doesn't overuse it), Stewart neutralized Tanzel Smart, Bradley tackled John Washington, Robert Kennedy beat Johnson, Sean Wilson beat Keeyon Smart, Todd Jacquet blocked Aruna, Chris Taylor handled Woullard and Shienle and Edwards fought evenly.
Anthony Taylor was the only lineman not participating. He has been out with an injury the last three day, but I have not gotten word on his issue.
Malik Eugene (5-10, 170) is small, but he likes to hit. He knocked Jones to the ground after a catch in a drill that did not appear to be live. Eugene is the most likely true freshman starter on the team because he is behind the almost equally unproven Tristan Cooper at strong safety.
And we had the first Eric Thomas unnecessary tackle sighting. He drew CJ's ire and was thrown out of practice a couple of times last year for tackling when he was not supposed to, and he appeared to do it again when he threw Glenn to the ground today. No one got on his case, though, so maybe this one was OK.
I talked to Sherman Badie today for a short feature I'm working on. He should play a huge role in the running and passing game this year, but the most surprising statistic on the entire team a year ago was his putrid 4.5-yard average on 20 receptions. I don't think I've ever seen a per-catch average that low, especially for a guy as good as he is in the open field.
Here's the deal. He was a non-factor in the second half of 2014 because of ankle injuries. He probably should not have played at all, but he wanted to show toughness and kept saying he could go. He gained 154 yards on 47 carries (3.3 average) in the last six games, adding nine catches for 25 yards. That's a half-season of uselessness. Anyway, he is 100-percent healthy now, and the key is staying that way. I don't love his upright running style, which makes him vulnerable, but he can be breath-taking when he shakes loose. After getting thrown for a lot of losses last year, he needs to get better at making the first man miss if there's penetration. He already has proven he can make the second, third and fourth man miss.
Monday figures to be a relatively light day of practice (it's Media Day) before the first two-a-day session on Tuesday.
First, here's the breakdown of the practice schedule today:
8-8:30: individual position coaching
8:30 to 8:35: stretching
8:40 to 9:15: more position work
9:15: first-contact drill, a pass protection drill for RBs
9:20: 8 on 8 work with live tackling
9:30: 11 on 11 work with no tackling
9:35 to 9:55: special teams
9:55 to 10:00: 11 on 11 with no tackling
10:00 to 10:05: water break
10:08 to 10:20: position work, plus OL/DL 1-on-1 battles
10:20: 11 on 11 with live tackling
10:33: 11 on 11 with no tackling
10:45: practice ends
In the 11-on-11 live tackling portion, Tanner Lee threw two short passes that made it third-and-2 in a battle of 1s v. 1s. On the second play, a quick screen to Devon Breaux, Terren Encalade missed his block and hurt his left arm, holding it as he went off the field in some pain. I forgot to ask CJ about Encalade's status after practice.
Darion Monroe jumped offside to give the offense a first down. Two running plays netted two yards (Dontrell Hilliard on the first, Sherman Badie on the second) before tight end Charles Jones caught a pass and was cut down by CB Parry Nickerson. I thought it was short of the first down, but they ended up giving Jones 10 yards. Badie then got stuffed for a 2-yard loss, Lee threw wide of tight end Sydie London for what would have been a negligible gain and hit tight end Trey Scott for two yards, ending the series.
Devin Powell and the second units came in, and Powell threw three consecutive incomplete passes. The first was almost intercepted by freshman CB Dedrick Shy. The next was a throwaway and the third landed near the ankles of the intended receiver. On the next snap, Rob Kelly had a decent gain but lost a fumble as he tried to give second effort. CJ stopped him and yelled at him as he went off the field. Breaux then gained about five yards on a reverse before the live portion ended uneventfully.
Freshmen on the second units were Malik Eugene at strong safety, Shy and Taris Shenall at CB and John Washington at DT next to Corey Redwine. The first-team units had all the usual suspects on both sides of the ball, but the offense continuous had tight ends (Scott) and running backs (usually Badie) lining up as receivers.
On the first play after they called off tackling, Lee connected with Hilliard on a slant that might have gone for a 50-yard TD if had been live. I think Hilliard is the Wave's best player on offense. He is the full package.
That said, for the offense to be successful, they absolutely, positively have to use the tight ends and running backs heavily in the passing game. Very heavily. To my eyes, Tulane has one functional wide receiver in Teddy Veal. The rest are projects. Maybe Breaux will get it together this year, but he showed no ball awareness or ability to run good routes last season. During one non-live drill, Rickey Preston dropped a pass that bounced off his chest. The word on him was unreliable hands coming in, and letting the ball hit your body is a fundamental mistake he cannot afford. Encalade has to prove he can get separation, and so does Larry Dace, the most polished receiver on the roster. Still, all the polish in the world won't matter if he can't get away from defensive backs.
Charles Jones, Trey Scott, Hilliard and Badie (although the numbers did not show it last year) are all among Tulane's five best receivers.
Kelley is rusty, and he is not as good a runner as Badie, Hilliard or Lazedrick Thompson, but he can provide a physical presence in the backfield. In the pass protection drill, he leveled linebacker Eric Thomas.
When Tulane practiced punts, seven guys took turns catching them --Monroe, Encalade, Devin Glenn (he dropped one), Badie, Veal, Nickerson and Preston. If what I heard about Preston's hands is correct, he will not be a viable option, and Glenn has dropped two that I've seen in the first week even though the drills aren't live. Encalade has the wrong body type and doesn't have the moves of a typical punt returner. The other guys are key starters who need to be real threats to justify the extra chance of injury, although simply catching the ball would be an improvement on what happened last season and might by itself justify using one of them.
The field goal drill was an abject disaster for the first time this week. Most of the kicks were from 42 yards on the hash marks, and very few went through the uprights. It is now a four-way competition among Trevor Simms, Andrew DiRocco, Zach Block and Steven Logan, who has earned a promotion to the main derby. Sitting in the press box, I had a bad angle, but I know Block was short and wide right on a 45-yarder and Logan was short and wide right on a 48-yarder. Simms had his worst day, consistently kicking wide right. DiRocco appeared to be the least inaccurate (no one was accurate). If I had to handicap the race right now, I'd have DiRocco as the extra point kicker and field goal kicker from 40 yards and in, with Simms as the long-range kicker, and I'd have zero confidence in either one of them. But there's still three weeks of practice left. Logan apparently has been the most accurate from short range on the outside practice field, but he did not show it today.
The offensive linemen dominated a large portion of the 1-on-1 pass rushing drill on the side of the field. Quinlan Carroll ran around Arturo Uzdavinis but was too far upfield to be a factor. Consecutively, Colton Hanson won his battle with Eric Bell, Nathan Shienle stoned Braynon Edwards, Chris Taylor blocked Eldrick Washington, Todd Jacquet handled Luke Jackson, Kenneth Santa Marina blocked Ade Aruna (who looks active and sharp to my eyes) and Junior Diaz blocked Brian Webb.
The tables turned a bit from there. Leeward Brown held John Washington and John Leglue held Daren Williams. Bell ran around Brown, who then was given a second chance and blocked him, Tanzel Smart got by Diaz, Royce LaFrance abused Brandon Godfrey, Peter Woullard beat Brown, Keeyon Keeyon Smart blocked Carroll, Devon Johnson and Bell battled evenly, Woullard beat Bob Bradley, Woullard spun past Jason Stewart, Aruna ran around Keyshawn Mcleod, LaFrance spun inside Mcleod (a great move if he doesn't overuse it), Stewart neutralized Tanzel Smart, Bradley tackled John Washington, Robert Kennedy beat Johnson, Sean Wilson beat Keeyon Smart, Todd Jacquet blocked Aruna, Chris Taylor handled Woullard and Shienle and Edwards fought evenly.
Anthony Taylor was the only lineman not participating. He has been out with an injury the last three day, but I have not gotten word on his issue.
Malik Eugene (5-10, 170) is small, but he likes to hit. He knocked Jones to the ground after a catch in a drill that did not appear to be live. Eugene is the most likely true freshman starter on the team because he is behind the almost equally unproven Tristan Cooper at strong safety.
And we had the first Eric Thomas unnecessary tackle sighting. He drew CJ's ire and was thrown out of practice a couple of times last year for tackling when he was not supposed to, and he appeared to do it again when he threw Glenn to the ground today. No one got on his case, though, so maybe this one was OK.
I talked to Sherman Badie today for a short feature I'm working on. He should play a huge role in the running and passing game this year, but the most surprising statistic on the entire team a year ago was his putrid 4.5-yard average on 20 receptions. I don't think I've ever seen a per-catch average that low, especially for a guy as good as he is in the open field.
Here's the deal. He was a non-factor in the second half of 2014 because of ankle injuries. He probably should not have played at all, but he wanted to show toughness and kept saying he could go. He gained 154 yards on 47 carries (3.3 average) in the last six games, adding nine catches for 25 yards. That's a half-season of uselessness. Anyway, he is 100-percent healthy now, and the key is staying that way. I don't love his upright running style, which makes him vulnerable, but he can be breath-taking when he shakes loose. After getting thrown for a lot of losses last year, he needs to get better at making the first man miss if there's penetration. He already has proven he can make the second, third and fourth man miss.
Monday figures to be a relatively light day of practice (it's Media Day) before the first two-a-day session on Tuesday.