Tulane's spring practice opened Tuesday morning with perfect mild weather and an overcast sky, 59 days since the Green Wave beat Southern Miss in the Armed Forces Bowl. The gap was supposed to be smaller (54 days), but coach Willie Fritz delayed the start by five days as he hired two coaches to replace departed defensive line coach Kevin Peoples and departed secondary coach Chris Hampton.
New DL coach Byron Dawson and new defensive backs coach Josh Christian-Young were on the practice field for the first time today, but all eyes were on someone else making his debut--freshman quarterback Michael Pratt. Pratt, a 3-star signee from Florida, will compete with quarterback Keon Howard for the starting QB spot in the spring.
Both had their moments. Pratt has a quick release and was making fast decisions in an 11-on-11 drill, probably because he has not had time to digest Will Hall's offense. When he completed three passes in a row at one point, one offensive player on the sideline hollered out that the defense could not stop the offense. Pratt threw to Phat Watts twice in a row on a quick out and then hit Amare Jones on two instant throws after taking the snap. Getting the ball out quickly definitely was not a strength of Justin McMillan, so it was interesting to watch. In another session, Pratt completed a sideline pass for a decent gain to Tyrek Presley, beating tight coverage, and another quick out to Jha'Quan Jackson. But his last throw was his worst of the day--he missed a receiver badly over the middle. I believe the target was Christian Daniels, who I did not see throwing today, but I will double check Thursday.
Howard loves to run and is good at it, but he also made a beautiful deep pass to tight end Keshon Williams. It should have gone for a touchdown or close to it, but Williams got uncertain as he looked for the ball and ended up turning around to face Howard by the time it arrived, and he dropped it. At the end of the series, Hall went up to Howard, slapped him on the shoulder and said, "great pass."
Dropped deep passes were the story of the day for Howard. Earlier, he thew long for Jackson on the sideline and got it past good coverage, but Jackson dropped it. At least running back Ygenio Booker, who I expect to play a big role in the passing game next fall, held on to a Howard pass over the middle. Howard also hit Jones with an intermediate pass over the middle for a touchdown on the final play of the day. Practice ended right before 10 a.m. after starting around 8.
The third quarterback was walk-on Josh Holl, and the drop-off, as you would expect, was tremendous.
The first-team offensive line was exactly what you would expect: Joey Claybrook at left tackle, Corey Dublin at left guard, Sincere Haynesworth at center, Ben Knutson at right guard and Cameron Jackel at right tackle. The second-team line was Nik Hogan at left tackle, Michael Remondet at left guard, Stephen Lewerenz at center, Trace Oldner at right guard and Timothy Shafter at right tackle. Colby Orgeron and Jackson Fort were the odd-men out among scholarship linemen along with Caleb Thomas, who is an OL rather than a DL.
Redshirt freshman safety Kanyon Walker continues to sit out with an injury and was carrying crutches. I don't recall him practices after early August in the fall.
Defensive end/joker Juan Monjarres, recovering from knee surgery, was on an exercise bike throughout the morning, but Carlos Hatcher, who also had knee surgery after both of them got hurt around the same time, practiced. Since they were in shorts and it was the first day, the linemen did not get to show a whole lot, but at one point, the first-teamers were Cam Sample, De'Andre Williams Davon Wright and Hatcher. Patrick Johnson and Jeffery Johnson have not been supplanted. They just were not out there for that session. I will watch the defense more closely Thursday after spending most of my time watching the QBs and receivers today. The first-team cornerbacks while I was watching were Jaylon Monroe and Kiland Harrison, who might be the fastest player on the team.
The return guys were Mykel Jones, who looks fast on the field, Jones and Jacob Robertson.
They were alternating punts to the left, center and right to give those guys work (they weren't exactly punts because there was no snap), and Ryan Wright was very accurate following instructions. Coby Neenan was less accurate, and Casey Glover had some major issues. He punted one off the side of his foot and into the stands on the right sideline. Another almost made it to the stands, and a third bounced into the stands.
John Leglue, who made the Green Bay Packers roster last season, came out to watch practice.
I will post quotes from Willie Fritz, Dawson, Howard and Jones shortly. I also requested Hall and Pratt, but they were not made available.
New DL coach Byron Dawson and new defensive backs coach Josh Christian-Young were on the practice field for the first time today, but all eyes were on someone else making his debut--freshman quarterback Michael Pratt. Pratt, a 3-star signee from Florida, will compete with quarterback Keon Howard for the starting QB spot in the spring.
Both had their moments. Pratt has a quick release and was making fast decisions in an 11-on-11 drill, probably because he has not had time to digest Will Hall's offense. When he completed three passes in a row at one point, one offensive player on the sideline hollered out that the defense could not stop the offense. Pratt threw to Phat Watts twice in a row on a quick out and then hit Amare Jones on two instant throws after taking the snap. Getting the ball out quickly definitely was not a strength of Justin McMillan, so it was interesting to watch. In another session, Pratt completed a sideline pass for a decent gain to Tyrek Presley, beating tight coverage, and another quick out to Jha'Quan Jackson. But his last throw was his worst of the day--he missed a receiver badly over the middle. I believe the target was Christian Daniels, who I did not see throwing today, but I will double check Thursday.
Howard loves to run and is good at it, but he also made a beautiful deep pass to tight end Keshon Williams. It should have gone for a touchdown or close to it, but Williams got uncertain as he looked for the ball and ended up turning around to face Howard by the time it arrived, and he dropped it. At the end of the series, Hall went up to Howard, slapped him on the shoulder and said, "great pass."
Dropped deep passes were the story of the day for Howard. Earlier, he thew long for Jackson on the sideline and got it past good coverage, but Jackson dropped it. At least running back Ygenio Booker, who I expect to play a big role in the passing game next fall, held on to a Howard pass over the middle. Howard also hit Jones with an intermediate pass over the middle for a touchdown on the final play of the day. Practice ended right before 10 a.m. after starting around 8.
The third quarterback was walk-on Josh Holl, and the drop-off, as you would expect, was tremendous.
The first-team offensive line was exactly what you would expect: Joey Claybrook at left tackle, Corey Dublin at left guard, Sincere Haynesworth at center, Ben Knutson at right guard and Cameron Jackel at right tackle. The second-team line was Nik Hogan at left tackle, Michael Remondet at left guard, Stephen Lewerenz at center, Trace Oldner at right guard and Timothy Shafter at right tackle. Colby Orgeron and Jackson Fort were the odd-men out among scholarship linemen along with Caleb Thomas, who is an OL rather than a DL.
Redshirt freshman safety Kanyon Walker continues to sit out with an injury and was carrying crutches. I don't recall him practices after early August in the fall.
Defensive end/joker Juan Monjarres, recovering from knee surgery, was on an exercise bike throughout the morning, but Carlos Hatcher, who also had knee surgery after both of them got hurt around the same time, practiced. Since they were in shorts and it was the first day, the linemen did not get to show a whole lot, but at one point, the first-teamers were Cam Sample, De'Andre Williams Davon Wright and Hatcher. Patrick Johnson and Jeffery Johnson have not been supplanted. They just were not out there for that session. I will watch the defense more closely Thursday after spending most of my time watching the QBs and receivers today. The first-team cornerbacks while I was watching were Jaylon Monroe and Kiland Harrison, who might be the fastest player on the team.
The return guys were Mykel Jones, who looks fast on the field, Jones and Jacob Robertson.
They were alternating punts to the left, center and right to give those guys work (they weren't exactly punts because there was no snap), and Ryan Wright was very accurate following instructions. Coby Neenan was less accurate, and Casey Glover had some major issues. He punted one off the side of his foot and into the stands on the right sideline. Another almost made it to the stands, and a third bounced into the stands.
John Leglue, who made the Green Bay Packers roster last season, came out to watch practice.
I will post quotes from Willie Fritz, Dawson, Howard and Jones shortly. I also requested Hall and Pratt, but they were not made available.
