Tulane practiced for about two hours on Tuesday morning at Yulman Stadium, continuing to prepare for its Aug. 30 opener against Wake Forest. Willie Fritz continued his policy of not dividing into two scout teams--having the first-and second-team offense simulate Wake Forest for the first-and second-team defense and then having the first-and second-team defense simulate Wake Forest for the first- and second-team offense. He explained why after the workout.
"We started doing that toward the end of last year because we just started getting banged up and didn't have enough guys to be scouts," Fritz said. "Plus right now at this point of the year, our pool of who's going to play is a lot larger right now, so we wanted everybody to get a few reps. There's a lot of things we can call in our defense that's similar to what Wake Forest does that our kids know already. There are a lot of similarities offensively, too."
The nickel position is a perfect example of the large pool of players. Today. Will Harper began with the first-team unit. Tirise Barge was on the second-team group. and when the first-team defense had its second set of reps, Larry Bryant was at the position. That is three guys competing for playing time even though none of them may start if the coaches decide to use a third cornerback at nickel.
Cam Sample practiced today, giving Tulane all of its starters back up front on defense. Robert Kennedy continued to work at end, the role he had for much of spring practice. as the coaches continue to live up to their word about having a more versatile, multiple defense this season. P.J. Hall did not practice, with Donnie Lewis taking over his spot at strong safety and Jaylon Monroe and Thakarius Keyes working at cornerback. I have a feeling those three guys will start against Wake Forest, too, but we'll have to wait and see. There have been so many different looks in practice, and I have not studied Wake Forest much to see what the Demon Deacons use as their bread and butter on offense.
TUESDAY FOCUS: WIDE RECEIVERS
Terren Encalade missed his second consecutive day, attending practice but not participating or wearing pads. It is unclear what the issue is--he has no wrappings and appears to be walking fine. Fritz does not like to talk about injuries, particularly this close to the season, but he indicated Encalade would be back soon. Darnell Mooney said Encalade was a warrior and definitely would be back. without revealing what was wrong with him.
With Encalade out today, the third, fourth, fifth and sixth receivers got plenty of reps in a battle for playing time at a spot where all of them should play varying amounts. Other than Mooney as an obvious starter and Encalade, too, if he is back, nothing is settled in the competition among Jabril Clewis, Brian Newman, Jaetavian Toles and Jacob Robertson.
Newman helped himself with a spectacular stretch, atoning for his two bad drops yesterday. An observer told me had a tremendous catch before I arrived, and he backed that up with two amazing back-to-back plays. On the first one, he dove over the middle to snap a Jonathan Banks throw just before it hit the ground, showing tremendous hands. On the next snap, he ran an out pattern and dove to catch the ball while keeping his feet inbounds. They were two of the best catches I've seen in camp. After the first one, Fritz went over and slapped Newman's hand.
"It was tough yesterday, it sure was, and I had to bounce back," Newman said. "With my rough day yesterday, I knew I was going to bounce back. It was just one of those days everybody has, but in my head I think that's unacceptable. To come back right away out of the gate and make some big plays was big for me."
Newman may start against Wake Forest, although Clewis ran with the first team today.
"I think I'm definitely in the running for that," Newman said. "We still have three days left of camp itself (actually two practices and a day off Friday) and getting ready for game week, so every single day is an opportunity to show what you can do and build that confidence. I have to control what I can do and be a consistent playmaker. I'm pretty confident in my understanding of the offense. I always can improve that, but definitely holding my own and being productive in every situation that I can will help."
Newman got a scholarship right before the start of his senior year, but he does not plan on that being the end of the story.
"Absolutely not," he said. "Getting that was a goal and a huge help for my family definitely, but I've always said that complacency is one of the most poisonous things in life and something somebody pursuing excellence can never have. I reached that goal, rejoiced in that moment and then moved on."
From what I have seen, and that definitely does not encompass everything that has gone on at practice, Newman is the most reliable target outside of the big two. He obviously had a rough day yesterday, and his size (5-10, 180) might be a detriment in blocking, but he makes plays.
Today, Clewis had a chance to make a tough catch on a pass thrown behind him by Dane Ledford, but he could not hold on. Ledford then overthrew Clewis badly, enduring one of the rough stretches Ledford has at times, and threw out of bounds looking for Jacob Robertson on a fade. Clewis later caught a deep ball down the hash from Jonathan Banks and made another nice catch near the end of practice. He clearly has the size the coaches like. It's just a matter of making more plays in the passing game than he did a year ago.
Devin Glenn, who is always more productive at running back than receiver in practice, dropped the only pass I saw thrown in his direction.
Freshman Jorrien Vallien, who was sidelined by a concussion in a scrimmage, returned today and had a nice start to practice, but midway through he was escorted off the field by a trainer and did not return.
Essentially, the competition is down to six receivers. I'd rate Robertson sixth out of the bunch, but I don't see all of any practice and Fritz always mentions him as a guy he likes. Today, he had a chance to make a huge play on a long pass in the end zone from Banks, but it went off his fingertips after he did not quite catch up to it.
The bottom line is Tulane has a good receiving corps with a healthy Encalade because that would give Wave two big-time receivers for the first time in a while. It gets dicey if he is not healthy because it still is unclear what No. 3 through 6 will provide. Toles, who usually has a good moment in each practice, did not catch any passes while I was watching today.
I expect the depth chart for the opener to read Encalade, Mooney and Clewis No. 1 and Robertson, Newman and Toles No. 2. The performance of receivers 3 through 6 in that game will determine the depth chart going forward.
NOTES
--Marvin Moody wore a red helmet as a member of the scout team for the defense when the offense and defense were split up early in practice. Then he did not receive any reps in the part of 11-on-11 I saw. I assume he has a slight injury. The starting LBs were Lawrence Graham and Zach Harris. The 2s were Quentin Brown and KJ Vault.
--Keon Howard took his first reps at quarterback today in the 11-on-11 portion when the offense was serving as the scout team. He looked rusty, throwing behind a few receivers, but he has a year to get ready to compete for the starting job while redshirting this season.
--Running backs Corey Dauphine and Darius Bradwell returned to practice today. Of the two, Bradwell appears more banged up, walking slowly when he is on the sideline.
--Ledford took more reps than Daniels. They weren't always good reps--he missed on four consecutive passes at the start of an 8-on-8 drills--but he appears to have the clear edge for the No. 2 spot although Fritz says no determination will be made until after the weekend.
--Tulane will practice at the Saints facility the next two gays, going in the afternoon tomorrow and in the morning on Thursday.
"We started doing that toward the end of last year because we just started getting banged up and didn't have enough guys to be scouts," Fritz said. "Plus right now at this point of the year, our pool of who's going to play is a lot larger right now, so we wanted everybody to get a few reps. There's a lot of things we can call in our defense that's similar to what Wake Forest does that our kids know already. There are a lot of similarities offensively, too."
The nickel position is a perfect example of the large pool of players. Today. Will Harper began with the first-team unit. Tirise Barge was on the second-team group. and when the first-team defense had its second set of reps, Larry Bryant was at the position. That is three guys competing for playing time even though none of them may start if the coaches decide to use a third cornerback at nickel.
Cam Sample practiced today, giving Tulane all of its starters back up front on defense. Robert Kennedy continued to work at end, the role he had for much of spring practice. as the coaches continue to live up to their word about having a more versatile, multiple defense this season. P.J. Hall did not practice, with Donnie Lewis taking over his spot at strong safety and Jaylon Monroe and Thakarius Keyes working at cornerback. I have a feeling those three guys will start against Wake Forest, too, but we'll have to wait and see. There have been so many different looks in practice, and I have not studied Wake Forest much to see what the Demon Deacons use as their bread and butter on offense.
TUESDAY FOCUS: WIDE RECEIVERS
Terren Encalade missed his second consecutive day, attending practice but not participating or wearing pads. It is unclear what the issue is--he has no wrappings and appears to be walking fine. Fritz does not like to talk about injuries, particularly this close to the season, but he indicated Encalade would be back soon. Darnell Mooney said Encalade was a warrior and definitely would be back. without revealing what was wrong with him.
With Encalade out today, the third, fourth, fifth and sixth receivers got plenty of reps in a battle for playing time at a spot where all of them should play varying amounts. Other than Mooney as an obvious starter and Encalade, too, if he is back, nothing is settled in the competition among Jabril Clewis, Brian Newman, Jaetavian Toles and Jacob Robertson.
Newman helped himself with a spectacular stretch, atoning for his two bad drops yesterday. An observer told me had a tremendous catch before I arrived, and he backed that up with two amazing back-to-back plays. On the first one, he dove over the middle to snap a Jonathan Banks throw just before it hit the ground, showing tremendous hands. On the next snap, he ran an out pattern and dove to catch the ball while keeping his feet inbounds. They were two of the best catches I've seen in camp. After the first one, Fritz went over and slapped Newman's hand.
"It was tough yesterday, it sure was, and I had to bounce back," Newman said. "With my rough day yesterday, I knew I was going to bounce back. It was just one of those days everybody has, but in my head I think that's unacceptable. To come back right away out of the gate and make some big plays was big for me."
Newman may start against Wake Forest, although Clewis ran with the first team today.
"I think I'm definitely in the running for that," Newman said. "We still have three days left of camp itself (actually two practices and a day off Friday) and getting ready for game week, so every single day is an opportunity to show what you can do and build that confidence. I have to control what I can do and be a consistent playmaker. I'm pretty confident in my understanding of the offense. I always can improve that, but definitely holding my own and being productive in every situation that I can will help."
Newman got a scholarship right before the start of his senior year, but he does not plan on that being the end of the story.
"Absolutely not," he said. "Getting that was a goal and a huge help for my family definitely, but I've always said that complacency is one of the most poisonous things in life and something somebody pursuing excellence can never have. I reached that goal, rejoiced in that moment and then moved on."
From what I have seen, and that definitely does not encompass everything that has gone on at practice, Newman is the most reliable target outside of the big two. He obviously had a rough day yesterday, and his size (5-10, 180) might be a detriment in blocking, but he makes plays.
Today, Clewis had a chance to make a tough catch on a pass thrown behind him by Dane Ledford, but he could not hold on. Ledford then overthrew Clewis badly, enduring one of the rough stretches Ledford has at times, and threw out of bounds looking for Jacob Robertson on a fade. Clewis later caught a deep ball down the hash from Jonathan Banks and made another nice catch near the end of practice. He clearly has the size the coaches like. It's just a matter of making more plays in the passing game than he did a year ago.
Devin Glenn, who is always more productive at running back than receiver in practice, dropped the only pass I saw thrown in his direction.
Freshman Jorrien Vallien, who was sidelined by a concussion in a scrimmage, returned today and had a nice start to practice, but midway through he was escorted off the field by a trainer and did not return.
Essentially, the competition is down to six receivers. I'd rate Robertson sixth out of the bunch, but I don't see all of any practice and Fritz always mentions him as a guy he likes. Today, he had a chance to make a huge play on a long pass in the end zone from Banks, but it went off his fingertips after he did not quite catch up to it.
The bottom line is Tulane has a good receiving corps with a healthy Encalade because that would give Wave two big-time receivers for the first time in a while. It gets dicey if he is not healthy because it still is unclear what No. 3 through 6 will provide. Toles, who usually has a good moment in each practice, did not catch any passes while I was watching today.
I expect the depth chart for the opener to read Encalade, Mooney and Clewis No. 1 and Robertson, Newman and Toles No. 2. The performance of receivers 3 through 6 in that game will determine the depth chart going forward.
NOTES
--Marvin Moody wore a red helmet as a member of the scout team for the defense when the offense and defense were split up early in practice. Then he did not receive any reps in the part of 11-on-11 I saw. I assume he has a slight injury. The starting LBs were Lawrence Graham and Zach Harris. The 2s were Quentin Brown and KJ Vault.
--Keon Howard took his first reps at quarterback today in the 11-on-11 portion when the offense was serving as the scout team. He looked rusty, throwing behind a few receivers, but he has a year to get ready to compete for the starting job while redshirting this season.
--Running backs Corey Dauphine and Darius Bradwell returned to practice today. Of the two, Bradwell appears more banged up, walking slowly when he is on the sideline.
--Ledford took more reps than Daniels. They weren't always good reps--he missed on four consecutive passes at the start of an 8-on-8 drills--but he appears to have the clear edge for the No. 2 spot although Fritz says no determination will be made until after the weekend.
--Tulane will practice at the Saints facility the next two gays, going in the afternoon tomorrow and in the morning on Thursday.
