Tulane's practice ended 30 minutes earlier than scheduled today at 10 a.m, but fortunately I was there by 9:30 and caught the entire 11-on-11 drills that finished the day in what is basically the midpoint of spring drills. The Green Wave will be off all of next week for spring break, returning to Yulman Stadium for a Monday afternoon workout on April 2, the day after Easter.
Seven practices are in the books, and eight more remain, including the spring game.
Willie Fritz confirmed two players still listed on the roster no longer are on the team. Running back Miles Strickland is gone, which I figured was the case when Fritz failed to mention him in our pre-spring interview when he talked about the running backs. But I thought I saw him on the first day of practice.
Also, defensive tackle Braynon Edwards is history. HIs departure leaves Tulane with even less depth at a thin position, but I believe it is a positive development for the team. Long-time followers of my practice reports know I have been skeptical about severely overweight players ever becoming disciplined enough to be consistent contributors, and Edwards, who slimmed down last spring, was toast in my mind when he regained some of the weight last fall. He had only six tackles as a junior, and Tulane needed more from him. I'm guessing the arrival of Davon Wright and Jeffery Johnson and their immediate ascension ahead of him on the depth chart convinced him to leave.
My lasting memory of Edwards will be a goal line scrimmage under CJ in August of 2015 when he stuffed a fourth-down play at the end and his teammates mobbed him in celebration along with a couple of the position coaches. I asked CJ about Edwards' potential a couple minutes later, and Johnson said he was concerned about Edwards staying alive if he did not lose weight and basically dismissed his chance for significant playing time. The disconnect among the coaches was one notable feature, but CJ was right. Unless Edwards had consistently shown the work ethic that allowed him to get in passable shape last spring, he was a detriment to the team and a bad example for his teammates. I'm not ripping him personally. He seemed like a nice guy, but whatever demon or laziness caused him to get out of shape was not going away for long.
Without Edwards. Tulane has four scholarship tackles in the spring--DeAndre Williams, Cameron Sample and the two freshmen. Robert Kennedy got some reps inside today, but he is primarily an end. Jamiran James will arrive in the summer, but the pressure will be on Johnson and Wright to develop quickly. Four tackles need to play every game.
As for Strickland, who would have been a redshirt sophomore, he simply could not stay healthy. Fritz used to praise his speed, but he rarely got to show it. His three carries near the end of the blowout of Tulsa last year were the only ones of his career.
The star of practice today was walk-on wide receiver Brian Newman, who has made a quick recovery from a devastating knee injury last August and will get a shot to contribute this fall in his final year of eligibility. As he did in practice earlier last August, he just makes plays. Today. he hauled in a deep ball from Jonathan Banks on a post pattern, laying out to catch it in front of cornerback Donnie Lewis.
Newman is listed at 5-8, but he says he is 5-9. Either way, he plays bigger than his size, and on a team looking for productive wideouts to complement Terren Encalade, Darnell Mooney and Jabril Clewis, Newman is in the mix. He is fast, runs good routes and has good hands.
To prove his long catch was no fluke, he caught another pass from Banks for about 25 yards on a deep out pattern, making a sharp cut to get separation before grabbing it just inside the sideline. Those two plays were better than anything Kevin LeDee, Jaetavian Toles or Jacob Robertson have produced in spring drills.
It's a remarkable deal because Newman ruptured his ACL as well as his medial and lateral meniscus while covering a punt at the Saints indoor facility last Aug. 17. He moved to his left and said he felt two pops without any contact, so he knew it was bad even though he was able to walk around the rest of the day. The diagnosis was even worse, but he knew he had only one more year of eligibility remaining after last year, so he began his recovery process immediately.
"I started the rehab the day after my surgery, so not even a full 24 hours after it," Newman said. "It's been tough. I go in there three or four hours a day on top of workouts and practice, but the training staff here has been phenomenal. I'm way ahead of schedule. Once we got over Christmas break, it just started to look like the horizon was shrinking and shrinking a little bit more. Basically a couple of days before the first day of spring, it was all right, it's go time."
His size is a detriment, and there's no way around it, but he doesn't play small.
"I can move around, and probably my best advantage is I'm pretty cerebral," he said. "I like picking apart defenses, getting defenders where they don't want to be and I want them to be. And I work hard. I'm not going to overpower anybody with size or anything like that, but I'll outwork anybody."
Newman spent two years on scholarship at Division II Hillsdale College in Michigan, but he had a dream of playing Division I football, so he transferred to Tulane and walked on in 2016 under Fritz. He sat out the first year under transfer rules, practicing on the scout team against the starting defense. and his confidence grew as he began making plays.
"My first year I felt like I paid some dues going through scout team, so the next year I thought it was my chance to make it happen," he said. "Then I blew it out, but it was right on to the next thing. There's no time to focus on that. I just came up with a game plan and entered the rehab program immediately after that."
The process worked.
"I think he's all the way back," Fritz said. "He sure looks like it. He's been so dlligent in his rehab. The whole training staff has done an excellent job with him. He's going to play for us. He is a very savvy player."
Newman is happy to be back out there.
"It just feels good to contribute to the team." he said. "It's pretty tough not being able to walk for half a season and just sitting down and watching the guys go out there and do their thing. Just to get out there and get into the groove of things ands start working on the craft is awesome."
But don't get him wrong. He has bigger goals than just being a member of the team. He wants to contribute on game days.
"Honestly, I'll do anything I can do," he said. "Special teams, returning kicks, punts, blocking, anything they need me to, I'll hop in there and do it."
NOTES
--On the first play of the 11-on-11 work, which began with the offense at its own 10-yard line, Banks hit Encalade deep down the sideline. Lewis had good coverage but did not play the ball well, with Encalade making a heck of a diving catch on the sideline while Lewis was actually about two yards downfield in front of him. Lewis was the cover guy on the two biggest gains, which is a concern given his history and how much Tulane needs him to play well without Parry Nickerson.
--Darnell Mooney almost made a great catch in the corner of the end zone on a fade, but the ball bounced off his chest after he made a leaping attempt for a Banks pass after beating Jaylon Monroe.
--Thakarius Keyes almost had an interception of a deep pass for Encalade from Banks, but Encalade broke it up.
--Dominique Briggs took the snaps with the first team at center. Hunter Knighton worked with the second team.
--When Cameron Jackel jumped early on a play, he had to take himself out and do push-ups as punishment.
--Tulane could have another kicker in the fall along with the preferred walk-on who is coming in. Davis Walker, from the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, attended practice today and is heavily considering the Wave as a walk-on. His other opportunity is East Carolina. His father told me he played only one year of high school football after focusing on soccer before then and could become Tulane's kickoff specialist. He said he was All-Metro as a senior in high school.
--Tulane will hold scrimmages, or the closest thing to it, on April 7 and again for the April 14 spring game. Fritz said they would have live tackling on those days, with only the quarterbacks off limits to hits.
Seven practices are in the books, and eight more remain, including the spring game.
Willie Fritz confirmed two players still listed on the roster no longer are on the team. Running back Miles Strickland is gone, which I figured was the case when Fritz failed to mention him in our pre-spring interview when he talked about the running backs. But I thought I saw him on the first day of practice.
Also, defensive tackle Braynon Edwards is history. HIs departure leaves Tulane with even less depth at a thin position, but I believe it is a positive development for the team. Long-time followers of my practice reports know I have been skeptical about severely overweight players ever becoming disciplined enough to be consistent contributors, and Edwards, who slimmed down last spring, was toast in my mind when he regained some of the weight last fall. He had only six tackles as a junior, and Tulane needed more from him. I'm guessing the arrival of Davon Wright and Jeffery Johnson and their immediate ascension ahead of him on the depth chart convinced him to leave.
My lasting memory of Edwards will be a goal line scrimmage under CJ in August of 2015 when he stuffed a fourth-down play at the end and his teammates mobbed him in celebration along with a couple of the position coaches. I asked CJ about Edwards' potential a couple minutes later, and Johnson said he was concerned about Edwards staying alive if he did not lose weight and basically dismissed his chance for significant playing time. The disconnect among the coaches was one notable feature, but CJ was right. Unless Edwards had consistently shown the work ethic that allowed him to get in passable shape last spring, he was a detriment to the team and a bad example for his teammates. I'm not ripping him personally. He seemed like a nice guy, but whatever demon or laziness caused him to get out of shape was not going away for long.
Without Edwards. Tulane has four scholarship tackles in the spring--DeAndre Williams, Cameron Sample and the two freshmen. Robert Kennedy got some reps inside today, but he is primarily an end. Jamiran James will arrive in the summer, but the pressure will be on Johnson and Wright to develop quickly. Four tackles need to play every game.
As for Strickland, who would have been a redshirt sophomore, he simply could not stay healthy. Fritz used to praise his speed, but he rarely got to show it. His three carries near the end of the blowout of Tulsa last year were the only ones of his career.
The star of practice today was walk-on wide receiver Brian Newman, who has made a quick recovery from a devastating knee injury last August and will get a shot to contribute this fall in his final year of eligibility. As he did in practice earlier last August, he just makes plays. Today. he hauled in a deep ball from Jonathan Banks on a post pattern, laying out to catch it in front of cornerback Donnie Lewis.
Newman is listed at 5-8, but he says he is 5-9. Either way, he plays bigger than his size, and on a team looking for productive wideouts to complement Terren Encalade, Darnell Mooney and Jabril Clewis, Newman is in the mix. He is fast, runs good routes and has good hands.
To prove his long catch was no fluke, he caught another pass from Banks for about 25 yards on a deep out pattern, making a sharp cut to get separation before grabbing it just inside the sideline. Those two plays were better than anything Kevin LeDee, Jaetavian Toles or Jacob Robertson have produced in spring drills.
It's a remarkable deal because Newman ruptured his ACL as well as his medial and lateral meniscus while covering a punt at the Saints indoor facility last Aug. 17. He moved to his left and said he felt two pops without any contact, so he knew it was bad even though he was able to walk around the rest of the day. The diagnosis was even worse, but he knew he had only one more year of eligibility remaining after last year, so he began his recovery process immediately.
"I started the rehab the day after my surgery, so not even a full 24 hours after it," Newman said. "It's been tough. I go in there three or four hours a day on top of workouts and practice, but the training staff here has been phenomenal. I'm way ahead of schedule. Once we got over Christmas break, it just started to look like the horizon was shrinking and shrinking a little bit more. Basically a couple of days before the first day of spring, it was all right, it's go time."
His size is a detriment, and there's no way around it, but he doesn't play small.
"I can move around, and probably my best advantage is I'm pretty cerebral," he said. "I like picking apart defenses, getting defenders where they don't want to be and I want them to be. And I work hard. I'm not going to overpower anybody with size or anything like that, but I'll outwork anybody."
Newman spent two years on scholarship at Division II Hillsdale College in Michigan, but he had a dream of playing Division I football, so he transferred to Tulane and walked on in 2016 under Fritz. He sat out the first year under transfer rules, practicing on the scout team against the starting defense. and his confidence grew as he began making plays.
"My first year I felt like I paid some dues going through scout team, so the next year I thought it was my chance to make it happen," he said. "Then I blew it out, but it was right on to the next thing. There's no time to focus on that. I just came up with a game plan and entered the rehab program immediately after that."
The process worked.
"I think he's all the way back," Fritz said. "He sure looks like it. He's been so dlligent in his rehab. The whole training staff has done an excellent job with him. He's going to play for us. He is a very savvy player."
Newman is happy to be back out there.
"It just feels good to contribute to the team." he said. "It's pretty tough not being able to walk for half a season and just sitting down and watching the guys go out there and do their thing. Just to get out there and get into the groove of things ands start working on the craft is awesome."
But don't get him wrong. He has bigger goals than just being a member of the team. He wants to contribute on game days.
"Honestly, I'll do anything I can do," he said. "Special teams, returning kicks, punts, blocking, anything they need me to, I'll hop in there and do it."
NOTES
--On the first play of the 11-on-11 work, which began with the offense at its own 10-yard line, Banks hit Encalade deep down the sideline. Lewis had good coverage but did not play the ball well, with Encalade making a heck of a diving catch on the sideline while Lewis was actually about two yards downfield in front of him. Lewis was the cover guy on the two biggest gains, which is a concern given his history and how much Tulane needs him to play well without Parry Nickerson.
--Darnell Mooney almost made a great catch in the corner of the end zone on a fade, but the ball bounced off his chest after he made a leaping attempt for a Banks pass after beating Jaylon Monroe.
--Thakarius Keyes almost had an interception of a deep pass for Encalade from Banks, but Encalade broke it up.
--Dominique Briggs took the snaps with the first team at center. Hunter Knighton worked with the second team.
--When Cameron Jackel jumped early on a play, he had to take himself out and do push-ups as punishment.
--Tulane could have another kicker in the fall along with the preferred walk-on who is coming in. Davis Walker, from the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, attended practice today and is heavily considering the Wave as a walk-on. His other opportunity is East Carolina. His father told me he played only one year of high school football after focusing on soccer before then and could become Tulane's kickoff specialist. He said he was All-Metro as a senior in high school.
--Tulane will hold scrimmages, or the closest thing to it, on April 7 and again for the April 14 spring game. Fritz said they would have live tackling on those days, with only the quarterbacks off limits to hits.
