With Pro Day coming up tomorrow, the stars were out to watch Tulane's Saturday morning practice. Michael Pratt, who may be in town to throw to the receivers tomorrow, was there along with Parry Nickerson, Lorenzo Doss, Mario Williams and Josh Remetich for the shorts and shoulder pads workout that featured the first significant contact of the spring. When I got there, the linebackers and safeties were doing a tackling technique drill hitting cushions at full speed under the direction of linebackers coach Tayler Polk. It's still too early for me to get a read on individual players, but it is very easy to see the difference in size and speed of the entire roster compared to five years ago. Tulane will have lot to overcome in the fall with so few returning starters on both sides of the ball--likely among the fewest in Division I--but the guys stepping into roles will be talented. On Thursday, I noticed how abnormally tall Middle Tennessee transfer Dallas Winner-Johnson was for a linebacker. Saturday it was early-enrolling freshman wide receiver Antwaun Parham, who is 6-4. Whether he develops into a big contributor remains to be seen--the Wave is still waiting on the 6-5 Sidney Mbanasor--but he looks the part of the big, skilled receiver Willie Fritz never was able to find. Having said that, the first play I saw him involved him was one where the ball skipped off his hands on a fade route in the end zone.
Some of the numbers on the roster we were given on day 1 are inaccurate, so hopefully that issue will get fixed. There was a No. 12 playing cornerback on Saturday and I did not know who he was, as well as a No. 33 playing nickel. In seven-on-seven drills, Kadin Semonza made a nice pass to Garrett Mmahat, who continues to produce in practice but has not proven he is game-ready at receiver. TJ Finley hit Zycarl Lewis deep a little later. Kellen Tasby dropped a snap, bringing up memories of his rough mop-up series against Temple last year when he had to be replaced for not knowing the plays, but he did respond with a TD pass to Parham over the top.
When they went to a spirited 11-on-11 at the end of practice, Finley showed off his big arm strength by overthrowing Shazz Preston by about 10 yards on a deep ball. There was nothing Preston could do there, but he had a rough day. Finley then had a bullet pass deflect off the hands of Bryce Bohanon on a crossing pattern. My concern with Finley is how hard he throws all of his passes. He needs to dial it down on some of them, although the gun is a nice tool to have when necessary, as when he hit Bohanon through a tight window past Kevin Adams for a big gain to kickstart a long drive that started inside the 20. He then hit Zycarl Lewis over the middle and Mmahat on a quick out before Preston dropped a hard throw on the corner in the red zone. A quick pass in the backfield to Maurice Turner did not produce much, and the drive ended when Finley eas ruled to be sacked by DeShaun Batiste. Finley who stepped up in the pocket when Batiste got close to him, disagreed with the call.
Donovan Leary was next, and he looked to have a long completion to Anthony Brown-Stephens down the sideline, but Jahiem Johnson, who had a strong first week, got back to knock it down. Leary threw wide of Anthony Miller on the short sideline. Preston then caught a short pass and slipped on his cut with room to run. Bohanon caught a short pass and juked a defender to get extra yards. Shaun Nicholas got open on an out pattern against E'Zaiah Shine before Leary threw over the top to a wide open Brown-Stephens for about a 35-yard touchdown. Safety Chase Green got lost in coverage, and the offense celebrated wildly on the sideline behind the end zone, mobbing Brown-Stephens. And when I say celebrated wildly, I have never seen a practice celebration that intense by the offense in the 16 years I have covered practice at Tulane.
I did not catch the full series from Semonza, but Preston dropped a pass in the end zone before he completed a short scoring toss to running back Zuberi Mobley.
The starting offensive line at the moment appears to be no-brainers Derrick Graham and Shadre Hurst on the left side, with Elijah Baker at center, Landry Cannon at right guard and Reese Baker at left tackle.
Injured guys who did not practice included wide receivers Omari Hayes and Oliver Mitchell and defensive back KC Eziomume.
Before I got there, Ty Thompson went down with a knee injury that could keep him out a while. Observers who were there said it did not look good at first, but they added he was walking under his own power. More importantly, Jon Sumrall gave a relatively positive diagnosis.
"Ty tweaked his knee a little. It's nothing major. We'll image it either today or tomorrow. It doesn't look like a several month type thing. It may be a lateral meniscus, which I'd like to inject (him with a pain-killer) and get him through some of spring and then even if we had to shut him down at the end of spring with a week left, because he's been doing some really good things quite honestly."
The practice tomorrow will not be open to reporters because it will be earlier in the morning and Sumrall will head to the Saints facility for Pro Day, which I will attend.
Here is the rest of Sumrall after practice plus our Thursday interviews with Jesus Machado and Arnold Barnes.
Some of the numbers on the roster we were given on day 1 are inaccurate, so hopefully that issue will get fixed. There was a No. 12 playing cornerback on Saturday and I did not know who he was, as well as a No. 33 playing nickel. In seven-on-seven drills, Kadin Semonza made a nice pass to Garrett Mmahat, who continues to produce in practice but has not proven he is game-ready at receiver. TJ Finley hit Zycarl Lewis deep a little later. Kellen Tasby dropped a snap, bringing up memories of his rough mop-up series against Temple last year when he had to be replaced for not knowing the plays, but he did respond with a TD pass to Parham over the top.
When they went to a spirited 11-on-11 at the end of practice, Finley showed off his big arm strength by overthrowing Shazz Preston by about 10 yards on a deep ball. There was nothing Preston could do there, but he had a rough day. Finley then had a bullet pass deflect off the hands of Bryce Bohanon on a crossing pattern. My concern with Finley is how hard he throws all of his passes. He needs to dial it down on some of them, although the gun is a nice tool to have when necessary, as when he hit Bohanon through a tight window past Kevin Adams for a big gain to kickstart a long drive that started inside the 20. He then hit Zycarl Lewis over the middle and Mmahat on a quick out before Preston dropped a hard throw on the corner in the red zone. A quick pass in the backfield to Maurice Turner did not produce much, and the drive ended when Finley eas ruled to be sacked by DeShaun Batiste. Finley who stepped up in the pocket when Batiste got close to him, disagreed with the call.
Donovan Leary was next, and he looked to have a long completion to Anthony Brown-Stephens down the sideline, but Jahiem Johnson, who had a strong first week, got back to knock it down. Leary threw wide of Anthony Miller on the short sideline. Preston then caught a short pass and slipped on his cut with room to run. Bohanon caught a short pass and juked a defender to get extra yards. Shaun Nicholas got open on an out pattern against E'Zaiah Shine before Leary threw over the top to a wide open Brown-Stephens for about a 35-yard touchdown. Safety Chase Green got lost in coverage, and the offense celebrated wildly on the sideline behind the end zone, mobbing Brown-Stephens. And when I say celebrated wildly, I have never seen a practice celebration that intense by the offense in the 16 years I have covered practice at Tulane.
I did not catch the full series from Semonza, but Preston dropped a pass in the end zone before he completed a short scoring toss to running back Zuberi Mobley.
The starting offensive line at the moment appears to be no-brainers Derrick Graham and Shadre Hurst on the left side, with Elijah Baker at center, Landry Cannon at right guard and Reese Baker at left tackle.
Injured guys who did not practice included wide receivers Omari Hayes and Oliver Mitchell and defensive back KC Eziomume.
Before I got there, Ty Thompson went down with a knee injury that could keep him out a while. Observers who were there said it did not look good at first, but they added he was walking under his own power. More importantly, Jon Sumrall gave a relatively positive diagnosis.
"Ty tweaked his knee a little. It's nothing major. We'll image it either today or tomorrow. It doesn't look like a several month type thing. It may be a lateral meniscus, which I'd like to inject (him with a pain-killer) and get him through some of spring and then even if we had to shut him down at the end of spring with a week left, because he's been doing some really good things quite honestly."
The practice tomorrow will not be open to reporters because it will be earlier in the morning and Sumrall will head to the Saints facility for Pro Day, which I will attend.
Here is the rest of Sumrall after practice plus our Thursday interviews with Jesus Machado and Arnold Barnes.
