The heat started affecting Tulane players this morning at Yulman Stadium after two indoor workouts at the Saints facility and an unseasonably mild first week. On the last play of a two-minute drill, wide receiver Darnell Mooney, whom Willie Fritz had singled out earlier this week for giving his all on every snap in practice every day, jogged through the end of his deep route and could not catch up to a Dane Ledford pass he could have turned into a long touchdown at normal speed. Mooney then went to the sideline and bent over, looking like he was trying to catch his breath and feeling a little queazy at the same time.
Seconds later, Fritz blew his whistle to signify the end of a practice that featured few offensive highlights in the 45 minutes I saw. The Wave started a little earlier than normal, at 7:40, and ended just after 9:40.
Although I did not see a whole lot of the two workouts at the Saints facility, the defense has gotten the better of the offense in the segments I have watched this week. Today, cornerback Thakarius Keyes made an outstanding interception in the end zone on a long pass from Jonathan Banks to Jacob Robertson, undercutting the route, knocking the ball in the air and then grabbing the rebound.
Keyes is making a big push for a starting job in camp and has practiced with the first team for most of the week at what the coaches consider one of the strongest spots on defense. They consider sophomore Jaylon Monroe starter quality, too, even though he has not played much, and Donnie Lewis is a two-year starter. Lewis actually got work at safety today with the first unit today while Keyes and Monroe lined up as the first-team corners. I would not be shocked if Tulane opted to go with those three guys as starters against certain opponents, using P.J. Hall at nickel if they are not totally comfortable with any of the untested players competing for the starting nickel spot--Larry Bryant, Tirise Barge and Will Harper. Bryant, who has worked with the first team for almost all of camp, did not practice today with a minor injury.
Keyes' development entering his junior year has given the Wave more flexibility. He has shown promise since he arrived as a late signee in 2016, but a torn meniscus in his freshman year and niggling issues last season prevented him from getting regular playing time. He made eight tackles in seven games as a freshman and two tackles in nine games in an unproductive sophomore year.
"He's just gotten so much better," Fritz said. "He's a different looking guy now. He came in as a 170 (-pound) skinny guy and now he's 193-194. He's tall (6-1), long and has control of his body and he's gotten a lot stronger in the weight room."He squats 440 or 450 now, which for a long-limbed guy is outstanding. We think he can be a very good player for us."
My nickname for Keyes when he practiced two years ago was "skinny legs." HIs potential was evident right away even though Tulane was the only FBS team to offer him a scholarship, but he needed time to get physical enough to play at this level. Now his size has become a strength compared to Monroe, who is 5-9, and Chris Joyce, who is 5-11. Willie Langham, the other cornerback in the competition, is 6-1, too, but has yet to play after redshirting as a freshman.
"If you know how to use your length, it's a huge advantage," Fritz said. "He (Keyes) is starting to do that."
Check back tomorrow and Fritz might be praising one of the other guys. Clearly, the coaches no longer are worried about Tulane's ability to cover at the position.
"It's very good competition," Fritz said. "Donnie Lewis is going to start on the back end some place. I've been impressed with Jaylon Monroe. Willie Langham's done some good stuff. Chris Joyce had a good practice yesterday and it looked like he did today. We've got a lot of good corners."
Lewis' experiment at safety was another example of Tulane's improved depth.
We're trying to get everyone a good understanding of the total defense," Fritz said. "If this guy gets hurt, you can move this guy over here and it's not totally foreign to him."
Depth in the secondary improved some more with the return of Chase Kuerschen. I can't swear he didn't practice at the Saints facility, but this was the first time I noticed him after he missed the first several days with an unspecified injury. He got reps with the second-team defense today. It will be interesting to see what role he has this year after finishing third on the team in tackles as a true freshman but getting exposed in coverage with some slow reactions on both running and pass plays times.
The Wave is a little banged up going into Saturday night's scrimmage, which will start around 6:30 and have about the same number of plays as Tuesday's 52-play scrimmage. Bryant, Noah Fisher, Robert Kennedy and Zach Harris did not practice today, although all of them were in jerseys and attended practice. Jabril Clewis joined them on the sideline, as did D.J. Owens, leaving the wide receivers lower on numbers than usual.
Like I wrote earlier, it was a rough day for the offense. Darius Bradwell dropped a pass that was thrown slightly behind him, and I did not see many completions down the field from any of the quarterbacks. Christian Daniels is not where he needs to be yet in terms of accuracy, and Dane Ledford's first instinct is still to pull the ball down and run. Banks made a nice throw to Jaetavian Toles on an underneath sideline route but misfired on deeper throws a fewer times. The defense dominated the two-minute drill at the end of practice.
Tulane worked on kickoff coverage today, and since this is a full-service site, I took down the numbers on the first, second and third teams.
Zach Block, the top kickoff specialist, placed his first kick in the corner of the end zone just as it was designed. The guys running down on coverage were Lawrence Graham, Marvin Moody, Patrick Johnson, KJ Vault, Tirise Barge, Hall, Rod Teamer, Macon Clark and Kevin LeDee and someone whose number I wrote down wrong.
Merek Glover was the No. 2 kickoff guy. The rest of the unit was Joyce, Dorien Camel, Tyrick James, Taris Shenall, Quentin Brown, Will Harper, Keitha Jones, Charles Jones, Stephon Huderson and Keyes.
Sterling Stockwell was the No. 3 kickoff guy. The rest of the unit was Donnie Lewis, Jaylon Monroe, Kuerschen, Ygenio Booker, La'Dedric Jackson, Carlos Hatcher, Sam Bruchaus, Cameron Carroll, Larry Brooks and Grant Hamel.
A few other notes:
---The offense practiced Hail Mary throws with Banks, for anyone wondering whether this staff works on little details.
---The offensive linemen were punished at the end of practice, doing up and downs. Not sure what the issue was, but it was definitely not a strong day for the offense.
---Scouts from the Patriots, Texans, Browns and Titans were on hand, sticking with strength coach Kyle Spears and director of personnel Wes Fritz.
---I learned from Wes Fritz that Johnathan Brantley is playing for Eastern Illinois, Sean Payton's and Tony Romo's alma mater and an FCS school. He has a good situation because the school's only returning quarterback, a redshirt sophomore, was terrible in five starts last year, completing less than 45 percent of his throws with five interceptions and three TDs.
---Khalil McClain is at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas along with former Tulane linebacker Monty Montgomery. McClain participated in spring drills there.
Seconds later, Fritz blew his whistle to signify the end of a practice that featured few offensive highlights in the 45 minutes I saw. The Wave started a little earlier than normal, at 7:40, and ended just after 9:40.
Although I did not see a whole lot of the two workouts at the Saints facility, the defense has gotten the better of the offense in the segments I have watched this week. Today, cornerback Thakarius Keyes made an outstanding interception in the end zone on a long pass from Jonathan Banks to Jacob Robertson, undercutting the route, knocking the ball in the air and then grabbing the rebound.
Keyes is making a big push for a starting job in camp and has practiced with the first team for most of the week at what the coaches consider one of the strongest spots on defense. They consider sophomore Jaylon Monroe starter quality, too, even though he has not played much, and Donnie Lewis is a two-year starter. Lewis actually got work at safety today with the first unit today while Keyes and Monroe lined up as the first-team corners. I would not be shocked if Tulane opted to go with those three guys as starters against certain opponents, using P.J. Hall at nickel if they are not totally comfortable with any of the untested players competing for the starting nickel spot--Larry Bryant, Tirise Barge and Will Harper. Bryant, who has worked with the first team for almost all of camp, did not practice today with a minor injury.
Keyes' development entering his junior year has given the Wave more flexibility. He has shown promise since he arrived as a late signee in 2016, but a torn meniscus in his freshman year and niggling issues last season prevented him from getting regular playing time. He made eight tackles in seven games as a freshman and two tackles in nine games in an unproductive sophomore year.
"He's just gotten so much better," Fritz said. "He's a different looking guy now. He came in as a 170 (-pound) skinny guy and now he's 193-194. He's tall (6-1), long and has control of his body and he's gotten a lot stronger in the weight room."He squats 440 or 450 now, which for a long-limbed guy is outstanding. We think he can be a very good player for us."
My nickname for Keyes when he practiced two years ago was "skinny legs." HIs potential was evident right away even though Tulane was the only FBS team to offer him a scholarship, but he needed time to get physical enough to play at this level. Now his size has become a strength compared to Monroe, who is 5-9, and Chris Joyce, who is 5-11. Willie Langham, the other cornerback in the competition, is 6-1, too, but has yet to play after redshirting as a freshman.
"If you know how to use your length, it's a huge advantage," Fritz said. "He (Keyes) is starting to do that."
Check back tomorrow and Fritz might be praising one of the other guys. Clearly, the coaches no longer are worried about Tulane's ability to cover at the position.
"It's very good competition," Fritz said. "Donnie Lewis is going to start on the back end some place. I've been impressed with Jaylon Monroe. Willie Langham's done some good stuff. Chris Joyce had a good practice yesterday and it looked like he did today. We've got a lot of good corners."
Lewis' experiment at safety was another example of Tulane's improved depth.
We're trying to get everyone a good understanding of the total defense," Fritz said. "If this guy gets hurt, you can move this guy over here and it's not totally foreign to him."
Depth in the secondary improved some more with the return of Chase Kuerschen. I can't swear he didn't practice at the Saints facility, but this was the first time I noticed him after he missed the first several days with an unspecified injury. He got reps with the second-team defense today. It will be interesting to see what role he has this year after finishing third on the team in tackles as a true freshman but getting exposed in coverage with some slow reactions on both running and pass plays times.
The Wave is a little banged up going into Saturday night's scrimmage, which will start around 6:30 and have about the same number of plays as Tuesday's 52-play scrimmage. Bryant, Noah Fisher, Robert Kennedy and Zach Harris did not practice today, although all of them were in jerseys and attended practice. Jabril Clewis joined them on the sideline, as did D.J. Owens, leaving the wide receivers lower on numbers than usual.
Like I wrote earlier, it was a rough day for the offense. Darius Bradwell dropped a pass that was thrown slightly behind him, and I did not see many completions down the field from any of the quarterbacks. Christian Daniels is not where he needs to be yet in terms of accuracy, and Dane Ledford's first instinct is still to pull the ball down and run. Banks made a nice throw to Jaetavian Toles on an underneath sideline route but misfired on deeper throws a fewer times. The defense dominated the two-minute drill at the end of practice.
Tulane worked on kickoff coverage today, and since this is a full-service site, I took down the numbers on the first, second and third teams.
Zach Block, the top kickoff specialist, placed his first kick in the corner of the end zone just as it was designed. The guys running down on coverage were Lawrence Graham, Marvin Moody, Patrick Johnson, KJ Vault, Tirise Barge, Hall, Rod Teamer, Macon Clark and Kevin LeDee and someone whose number I wrote down wrong.
Merek Glover was the No. 2 kickoff guy. The rest of the unit was Joyce, Dorien Camel, Tyrick James, Taris Shenall, Quentin Brown, Will Harper, Keitha Jones, Charles Jones, Stephon Huderson and Keyes.
Sterling Stockwell was the No. 3 kickoff guy. The rest of the unit was Donnie Lewis, Jaylon Monroe, Kuerschen, Ygenio Booker, La'Dedric Jackson, Carlos Hatcher, Sam Bruchaus, Cameron Carroll, Larry Brooks and Grant Hamel.
A few other notes:
---The offense practiced Hail Mary throws with Banks, for anyone wondering whether this staff works on little details.
---The offensive linemen were punished at the end of practice, doing up and downs. Not sure what the issue was, but it was definitely not a strong day for the offense.
---Scouts from the Patriots, Texans, Browns and Titans were on hand, sticking with strength coach Kyle Spears and director of personnel Wes Fritz.
---I learned from Wes Fritz that Johnathan Brantley is playing for Eastern Illinois, Sean Payton's and Tony Romo's alma mater and an FCS school. He has a good situation because the school's only returning quarterback, a redshirt sophomore, was terrible in five starts last year, completing less than 45 percent of his throws with five interceptions and three TDs.
---Khalil McClain is at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas along with former Tulane linebacker Monty Montgomery. McClain participated in spring drills there.
