Winwave did his usual terrific job listing what happened, so I will give my thoughts on the day's significance:
1) Other than Tanner Lee's performance, I was not impressed by what I saw. Too sloppy, too many dropped passes. Devon Breaux had a good day, but he'll have to duplicate it before I believe it's real. I got sucked into his potential last year and we all saw the results. His diving catch of the long ball was impressive, and I don't have a problem with him spinning the ball and getting a 15-yard penalty. The players knew this was not an actual game. There's zero chance of him doing something like once the season starts.
2) I was disappointed at how many starters did not play. I have no problem with the decision, but it made it a lot harder to evaluate the scrimmage. I would have liked to see the No. 1 offense have to move the ball against a defense with all of its starters. Without Darion Monroe, the back of the defense is rudderless, and without Royce LaFrance, the pass rush is not as effective. With the top three running backs sitting out, we got a steady does of Marshall Wadleigh and Josh Rounds. Wadleigh will not play other than on special teams (although if his skill set translated to WR, he'd be a starter; he just happens to be a good walk-on at by far the deepest, most talented spot on the team). Rounds drew CJ's ire for his performance, both for his fumble and his inability to make the most of his running room. I doubt he'll be in the rotation at this point unless he can split out wide effectively. He's definitely a better receiver than runner out of the backfield.
3) Todd Jacquet has earned the starting spot at right tackle over Kenneth Santa Marina. CJ said after the scrimmage that Jacquet might have played the best of all the linemen in camp. That's interesting. Santa Marina has not lived up to his hype coming out of high school. Jacquet, who started three games as a blocking tight end in 2012 and two games on the line in 2013 before being redshirted with injury problems last season, has some proving to do.
4) I may be in the minority, but I don't expect much out of Rickey Preston and Andrew Hicks this year. Pretty much the first time I noticed Hicks all camp was his dropped touchdown today. Preston can get open, but he has shaky hands and can't be trusted yet on his routes. Of the two, he has a better chance of contributing. Getting open is no small thing.
5) Junior Diaz lined up as the fullback in a goal line play and made the pivotal block on a Segio Medina touchdown run. That's an interesting wrinkle.
6) Luke Jackson is going to play this year. He got a lot of work with the 1s on defense because CJ was irritated at Daren Williams for getting in a pre-scrimmage tussle with Keyshawn Mcleod in a one-on-one drill (they were forced to walk around the field and hold hands for a short time), and LaFrance did not play. Anyway, Jackson appeared to be the most active of the defensive ends. I like his quick first step.
7) Steven Logan looked like the best kicker today, but he was not good at all the first time I saw him in practice. Anything would be better than the status quo at kicker, but he needs to have more than one good day to make me a believer. It will come down to him and DiRocco for anything under 40 yards. DiRocco was almost short on the 37-yarder that hit the upright. That won't cut it.
8) With so many starters out, it was hard to get an accurate look at the defense, but one concern is the number of big plays it gives up. Too many times today, receivers got behind everyone in the secondary. Last year Tulane gave up too many big plays, and the Wave cannot be successful if that trends continues. Strong safety is a huge concern. It looked like Donnie Lewis Jr, who had a nice day back there, was splitting time between nickelback and free safety rather than strong safety, the position that's wide open.
9) Braynon Edwards got a lot of reps, but I still think he's too big to help this year. Early in the scrimmage, he lifted his finger and took himself out because he was tired. I'd say he needs to lose at least 30 pounds to be effective other than on short-yardage situations near the goal line.
10) Devin Powell has gotten some love on other message boards, but he still misses too many easy throws, like the swing pass he botched today. I understand the concerns about Lee, but I don't understand how anyone could think Powell is the answer.
11) I expect Lee to improve significantly this year, so his solid day did not surprise me. I really don't feel like I know any more about how good this team is today than I did yesterday. It will win by spreading the ball to the backs and tight ends in the passing game, getting smart play by Lee and relying on a talented defense to make fewer mistakes than it did a year ago. I still have no idea whether Tulane can run on good teams or prevent opposing offenses from gaining huge chunks at a time. I just don't. And I don't know whether the Wave can make a field goal, any field goal in a game situation or get a reliable snap.
1) Other than Tanner Lee's performance, I was not impressed by what I saw. Too sloppy, too many dropped passes. Devon Breaux had a good day, but he'll have to duplicate it before I believe it's real. I got sucked into his potential last year and we all saw the results. His diving catch of the long ball was impressive, and I don't have a problem with him spinning the ball and getting a 15-yard penalty. The players knew this was not an actual game. There's zero chance of him doing something like once the season starts.
2) I was disappointed at how many starters did not play. I have no problem with the decision, but it made it a lot harder to evaluate the scrimmage. I would have liked to see the No. 1 offense have to move the ball against a defense with all of its starters. Without Darion Monroe, the back of the defense is rudderless, and without Royce LaFrance, the pass rush is not as effective. With the top three running backs sitting out, we got a steady does of Marshall Wadleigh and Josh Rounds. Wadleigh will not play other than on special teams (although if his skill set translated to WR, he'd be a starter; he just happens to be a good walk-on at by far the deepest, most talented spot on the team). Rounds drew CJ's ire for his performance, both for his fumble and his inability to make the most of his running room. I doubt he'll be in the rotation at this point unless he can split out wide effectively. He's definitely a better receiver than runner out of the backfield.
3) Todd Jacquet has earned the starting spot at right tackle over Kenneth Santa Marina. CJ said after the scrimmage that Jacquet might have played the best of all the linemen in camp. That's interesting. Santa Marina has not lived up to his hype coming out of high school. Jacquet, who started three games as a blocking tight end in 2012 and two games on the line in 2013 before being redshirted with injury problems last season, has some proving to do.
4) I may be in the minority, but I don't expect much out of Rickey Preston and Andrew Hicks this year. Pretty much the first time I noticed Hicks all camp was his dropped touchdown today. Preston can get open, but he has shaky hands and can't be trusted yet on his routes. Of the two, he has a better chance of contributing. Getting open is no small thing.
5) Junior Diaz lined up as the fullback in a goal line play and made the pivotal block on a Segio Medina touchdown run. That's an interesting wrinkle.
6) Luke Jackson is going to play this year. He got a lot of work with the 1s on defense because CJ was irritated at Daren Williams for getting in a pre-scrimmage tussle with Keyshawn Mcleod in a one-on-one drill (they were forced to walk around the field and hold hands for a short time), and LaFrance did not play. Anyway, Jackson appeared to be the most active of the defensive ends. I like his quick first step.
7) Steven Logan looked like the best kicker today, but he was not good at all the first time I saw him in practice. Anything would be better than the status quo at kicker, but he needs to have more than one good day to make me a believer. It will come down to him and DiRocco for anything under 40 yards. DiRocco was almost short on the 37-yarder that hit the upright. That won't cut it.
8) With so many starters out, it was hard to get an accurate look at the defense, but one concern is the number of big plays it gives up. Too many times today, receivers got behind everyone in the secondary. Last year Tulane gave up too many big plays, and the Wave cannot be successful if that trends continues. Strong safety is a huge concern. It looked like Donnie Lewis Jr, who had a nice day back there, was splitting time between nickelback and free safety rather than strong safety, the position that's wide open.
9) Braynon Edwards got a lot of reps, but I still think he's too big to help this year. Early in the scrimmage, he lifted his finger and took himself out because he was tired. I'd say he needs to lose at least 30 pounds to be effective other than on short-yardage situations near the goal line.
10) Devin Powell has gotten some love on other message boards, but he still misses too many easy throws, like the swing pass he botched today. I understand the concerns about Lee, but I don't understand how anyone could think Powell is the answer.
11) I expect Lee to improve significantly this year, so his solid day did not surprise me. I really don't feel like I know any more about how good this team is today than I did yesterday. It will win by spreading the ball to the backs and tight ends in the passing game, getting smart play by Lee and relying on a talented defense to make fewer mistakes than it did a year ago. I still have no idea whether Tulane can run on good teams or prevent opposing offenses from gaining huge chunks at a time. I just don't. And I don't know whether the Wave can make a field goal, any field goal in a game situation or get a reliable snap.