I skipped yesterday's practice at the Saints indoor facility because it was a light workout in shells for less than an hour, but today's practice at the Superdome went the regular length and was energetic. The Green Wave will not return to the practice field again until Monday, when the primary focus will change from competing for playing time to preparing for the season, including scout teams for the offense and defense. I will post a tentative depth chart tomorrow based on my practice observation the past two-and-a-half weeks.
The coaches still are trying to find their best five offensive linemen and get guys ready to be pivotal backups, and for the first time today, grad transfer Ben Knutson got reps with the first unit at right tackle in place of Joey Claybrook. That made the first unit Tyler Johnson at LT, Corey Dublin at LG, Christian Montano at C, Keyshawn McLeod at RG and Knutson. The second-team line was Claybrook at LT, Michael Remondet at LG, Stephen Lewerenz at C, Sincere Haynesworth at RG, getting that look coach Willie Fritz had promised, and Timothy Shafter at RT.
"We're moving guys all around," Fritz said. "We really feel like we've got three guys who can play center, we have four guys who can play either tackle and five guys who can play the guards, so we've done a nice job of moving guys from spot to spot to spot. It just gives you a ton of depth and you don't panic when your left tackle goes down because the next best guy hasn't gotten any reps out there."
I do not think Claybrook has lost his first-team status, but it will be interesting to see how they line up on Monday. The four guys who can play tackle in a game, I expect, are Johnson, Claybrook, McLeod and Knutson. The five guys who can play guard, I expect, are Dublin, McLeod, Knutson, Haynesworth and Cameron Jackel.
Redshirt freshman running back Cameron Carroll had a disappointing spring game when he was featured and promoted as a guy who could do big things, but he looked good today. He returned to practice earlier this week and appears 100 percent. Whether there is a role for him at Tulane's deepest spot remains to be seen, but the coaches were high on his potential in the spring. Amare Jones, who has looked terrific just about every day, tweaked his right ankle at the end of a run today. It looked like he would be fine, but a trainer checked it. If he is fine, my prediction is Jones will catch Tulane's first pass of the year. He is very effective as a receiver coming out of the backfield or lining up in the slot.
The most predictable element of practice today was the perfect strike Justin McMillan threw to Jaetavian Toles for a 74-yard touchdown. I missed the number of the DB covering, but Toles had a step on him and ran right under the pass on his way to the end zone. It was predictable because I posted last night that the one constant in my 10 years of covering this team was the inability to connect on deep ball and that Toles has not stepped up in the last week.
One thing Keon Howard does well is throw on the run on planned roll outs. He hit tight end Keshon Williams for a score in the corner of the end zone while rolling out in individual drills and found Carroll on a bootleg during 11-on-11 work. His throws on the run are hitting the receivers in the right spot. When he stays in the pocket, his accuracy suffers. Twice today he airmailed short throws over the head of receivers and out of bounds. He also hit receiver Dane Ledford down the middle for a sizable gain. It was Ledford's first practice since opening week.
The coaches are riding freshman receivers Jha'Quan Jackson and Tyrek Presley hard in practice. Presley has been out for a while with an injury, but an assistant quizzed him about a play they had just run to make sure he was paying attention. Jackson got an earful after not running out a route during 7-on-7 drills.
Jalen McCleskey practiced in individual drills but did not do team work, nor did Darnell Mooney. Last year a lot of key guys were unable to practice much in the preseason because they were banged up--Darius Bradwell, Terren Encalade and Corey Dauphine among others--and the coaches appear to be more cautious this time around, limiting them in practice before injuries become significant and giving them Saturday and Sunday off instead of just Sunday.
"We were going to go tomorrow morning, but we've been going pretty hard," Fritz said. "We've had a few guys get bumps and bruises and we feel this will heal us up. Plus, our next day off is going to be next Friday and then we've got the game (the following Thursday). We want to give them a little time (off)."
Willie Langham returned to practice today, and just about everyone competing for a starting spot would be ready to play if the game was coming up this week.
"Most of our guys are pretty healthy right now," Fritz said. "If we had to play a game tomorrow, there'd only be about five or six guys who couldn't play. (Sorrell Brown, Keitha Jones, Presley, Kanyon Waker and Nick Kubiet are five I can name)."
Grad transfer Mike Hinton is making a move. He has consistenly been on the second-team defensive line this week. Today he was out there along with Davon Wright and Carlos Hatcher.
There have been fewer drops in practice this preseason than last, but Kevin LeDee and Ygenio Booker had bad ones today. It was rare mistake from Booker, who has excelled as a receiver.
Tulane practiced kickoffs again today. From left to right, the coverage unit was Thakarius Keyes, Toles, Chase Kuerschen, Quentin Brown, Macon Clark, Sterling Stockwell, Larry Bryant, KJ Vault, Tirise Barge, Larry Brooks and P.J. Hall. They did an interesting thing, having them run down to meet the kickoff returner (the drill was not live) and then freeze, checking on the position of all 11 players to make sure they were in the right spot. Stockwell sends most of his kicks high and inside the 5-yard line. With the touchback spot the 25 the last few years instead of the 20, Fritz wants opponents to have to return kicks, although they can elect to fair catch from anywhere now. He has the confidence in his coverage unit and Stockwell to pin them inside the 25.
Superdome workouts allow Tulane to practice the kicking game more because there is enough space for the position groups to work out while the kicking drills are going on. Tulane has three practices scheduled for the dome next week.
"One great thing about in here is we've got a lot of space on the sidelines," Fritz said. "Guys can do things on the side of the line of scrimmage and we can punt and kick and do all that kind of stuff. It gives us a chance to work on the kicking game. We had a good workout. We're giving the guys a couple of days off to rest and recover. We'll come back ready to go on Monday and then we'll start working on FIU."
The coaches still are trying to find their best five offensive linemen and get guys ready to be pivotal backups, and for the first time today, grad transfer Ben Knutson got reps with the first unit at right tackle in place of Joey Claybrook. That made the first unit Tyler Johnson at LT, Corey Dublin at LG, Christian Montano at C, Keyshawn McLeod at RG and Knutson. The second-team line was Claybrook at LT, Michael Remondet at LG, Stephen Lewerenz at C, Sincere Haynesworth at RG, getting that look coach Willie Fritz had promised, and Timothy Shafter at RT.
"We're moving guys all around," Fritz said. "We really feel like we've got three guys who can play center, we have four guys who can play either tackle and five guys who can play the guards, so we've done a nice job of moving guys from spot to spot to spot. It just gives you a ton of depth and you don't panic when your left tackle goes down because the next best guy hasn't gotten any reps out there."
I do not think Claybrook has lost his first-team status, but it will be interesting to see how they line up on Monday. The four guys who can play tackle in a game, I expect, are Johnson, Claybrook, McLeod and Knutson. The five guys who can play guard, I expect, are Dublin, McLeod, Knutson, Haynesworth and Cameron Jackel.
Redshirt freshman running back Cameron Carroll had a disappointing spring game when he was featured and promoted as a guy who could do big things, but he looked good today. He returned to practice earlier this week and appears 100 percent. Whether there is a role for him at Tulane's deepest spot remains to be seen, but the coaches were high on his potential in the spring. Amare Jones, who has looked terrific just about every day, tweaked his right ankle at the end of a run today. It looked like he would be fine, but a trainer checked it. If he is fine, my prediction is Jones will catch Tulane's first pass of the year. He is very effective as a receiver coming out of the backfield or lining up in the slot.
The most predictable element of practice today was the perfect strike Justin McMillan threw to Jaetavian Toles for a 74-yard touchdown. I missed the number of the DB covering, but Toles had a step on him and ran right under the pass on his way to the end zone. It was predictable because I posted last night that the one constant in my 10 years of covering this team was the inability to connect on deep ball and that Toles has not stepped up in the last week.
One thing Keon Howard does well is throw on the run on planned roll outs. He hit tight end Keshon Williams for a score in the corner of the end zone while rolling out in individual drills and found Carroll on a bootleg during 11-on-11 work. His throws on the run are hitting the receivers in the right spot. When he stays in the pocket, his accuracy suffers. Twice today he airmailed short throws over the head of receivers and out of bounds. He also hit receiver Dane Ledford down the middle for a sizable gain. It was Ledford's first practice since opening week.
The coaches are riding freshman receivers Jha'Quan Jackson and Tyrek Presley hard in practice. Presley has been out for a while with an injury, but an assistant quizzed him about a play they had just run to make sure he was paying attention. Jackson got an earful after not running out a route during 7-on-7 drills.
Jalen McCleskey practiced in individual drills but did not do team work, nor did Darnell Mooney. Last year a lot of key guys were unable to practice much in the preseason because they were banged up--Darius Bradwell, Terren Encalade and Corey Dauphine among others--and the coaches appear to be more cautious this time around, limiting them in practice before injuries become significant and giving them Saturday and Sunday off instead of just Sunday.
"We were going to go tomorrow morning, but we've been going pretty hard," Fritz said. "We've had a few guys get bumps and bruises and we feel this will heal us up. Plus, our next day off is going to be next Friday and then we've got the game (the following Thursday). We want to give them a little time (off)."
Willie Langham returned to practice today, and just about everyone competing for a starting spot would be ready to play if the game was coming up this week.
"Most of our guys are pretty healthy right now," Fritz said. "If we had to play a game tomorrow, there'd only be about five or six guys who couldn't play. (Sorrell Brown, Keitha Jones, Presley, Kanyon Waker and Nick Kubiet are five I can name)."
Grad transfer Mike Hinton is making a move. He has consistenly been on the second-team defensive line this week. Today he was out there along with Davon Wright and Carlos Hatcher.
There have been fewer drops in practice this preseason than last, but Kevin LeDee and Ygenio Booker had bad ones today. It was rare mistake from Booker, who has excelled as a receiver.
Tulane practiced kickoffs again today. From left to right, the coverage unit was Thakarius Keyes, Toles, Chase Kuerschen, Quentin Brown, Macon Clark, Sterling Stockwell, Larry Bryant, KJ Vault, Tirise Barge, Larry Brooks and P.J. Hall. They did an interesting thing, having them run down to meet the kickoff returner (the drill was not live) and then freeze, checking on the position of all 11 players to make sure they were in the right spot. Stockwell sends most of his kicks high and inside the 5-yard line. With the touchback spot the 25 the last few years instead of the 20, Fritz wants opponents to have to return kicks, although they can elect to fair catch from anywhere now. He has the confidence in his coverage unit and Stockwell to pin them inside the 25.
Superdome workouts allow Tulane to practice the kicking game more because there is enough space for the position groups to work out while the kicking drills are going on. Tulane has three practices scheduled for the dome next week.
"One great thing about in here is we've got a lot of space on the sidelines," Fritz said. "Guys can do things on the side of the line of scrimmage and we can punt and kick and do all that kind of stuff. It gives us a chance to work on the kicking game. We had a good workout. We're giving the guys a couple of days off to rest and recover. We'll come back ready to go on Monday and then we'll start working on FIU."
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