It was a beautiful time to practice this morning with mild temperatures, and Tulane made the most of it with a two-hour workout that ended at 10:25, the earliest finish time for the spring to this point.
I really believe Charles Jones can have a big year. Tight ends have not figured heavily in Willie Fritz' offenses in the past, and Jones has teased us in the past with big plays while failing to be consistent in carrying out his assignments and failing to back up good weeks of practice, but he is a senior now and should be ready to realize his ability. Eight of his 13 catches a year ago came in the last five games, and he had two touchdown receptions at Memphis. Today, he was part of the play of the day. racing by cornerback Stephon Lofton, who appeared frozen in the turf, to haul in a long touchdown pass from Christian Daniels in the 11-on-11 drill at the end of practice. The play capped off a nice drive for Daniels, who set up the TD with a completion to Jabril Clewis on a slant, although Clewis had to reach behind him to snag the ball
Dane Ledford did not fare as well, throwing an interception that was tipped by one defender to Rod Teamer. Teamer had an active today, partly because he got in a fight with offensive lineman Corey Dublin that forced teammates and coaches to come over to separate them. I would not have expected either of them to be involved in a scuffle, but maybe it was the renewal of the Catholic Leauge rivalry between Brother Martin (Teamer) and Jesuit (Dublin). It did not escalate much and was pretty tame, but both players were hot and Fritz does not tolerate fighting.
Darius Bradwell continued to look impressive, although as always I never try to read too much into running plays when there is no live tackling. He has gotten really big--235 pounds--and will be a load to tackle when he gets his feet moving.
Dominique Briggs was at center with the first unit today along with Keyshawn McLeod at left tackle, Dublin at left guard, John Leglue at right guard and Devon Johnson at right tackle. That's right. Leglue was at guard as the coaches continue to double-train the offensive linemen and search for the most effective combinations.
The second-team line had Joey Claybrook at left tackle, walk-on Ben Bratcher at left guard, Hunter Knighton at center, Brian Webb at right guard and Tyler Johnson at right tackle. I did not see Cameron Jackel practicing but could have missed him.
Ever since Fritz talked about Jonathan Banks needing to throw the ball away when plays were not available, I have noticed Banks chucking the ball to the sideline when no one was open. As long as he does not take it too far, that is a good thing, but I definitely thought Glen Cuiellette bailed out on plays too early two years ago and sailed the ball out of bounds instead of waiting a little longer to see if something developed.
Barring an injury, write down Tirise Barge as the starting nickelback. He has been practicing with the first unit all spring and looks the part. He can cover, tackle and blitz.
P.J. Hall got reps at cornerback today opposite Donnie Lewis. They have plenty of decisions to make in the secondary and a lot of different combinations, so look for them to continue to experiment back there. The starting safeties in the 11-on-11 work were Teamer and Willie Langham while Taris Shenall and Will Harper remain out with injuries.
The starting D-line remained unchanged from last week, with De"Ande Williams and Cameron Sample inside and Robert Kennedy and Patrick Johnson outside. The backups were Peter Woullard and Torri Singletary outside true freshmen Davon Wright and Jeffery Johnson inside. I will be surprised if Kennedy and Johnson are not the opening-day starters at end unless they use the 3-4 look and go with Larry Bryant. The tackle spot is wide open and will hinge who outperforms the others. I'd have to see a scrimmage to make a concrete evaluation there.
Tulane's three best wide receivers clearly are Terren Encalade, Darnell Mooney and Jabril Clewis, the starters from last year. I believe they have the potential to be the best trio the Wave has had in a while. After them, Kevin LeDee has made the most plays in the spring, but they need guys to step up from the second unit. I have not seen consistent production from Jaetavian Toles, Jacob Robertson and Devin Glenn, and D.J. Owens is not practicing.
WILLIE FRITZ
Did it get a little testy today at practice?
"No, it was all right. I don't pay any attention to that stuff (fights). They happen from time to time, we break it up, let's move on and go. I tell these guys I had a team (Blinn College) win 26 in a row and we never had a fight that whole time, so it doesn't really help you out. Somebody gets hurt. Feelings get hurt and all that, but it doesn't show you're a tough guy."
How did you feel about the energy at practice today?
"We were all right. Sometimes you take the weekend off and then have to start back up. We'll have a better on on Wednesday."
Does Bradwell weighh 235 now?
"Yes, 235. He's got great strength. He's one of the strongest guys on the team, too. He's a big dude, but the great thing about him is he has good speed and very nimble feet."
When you spread it out and then hand it to a guy who's that big, how much of a dilemma is it for the defense?
"Most of the time he's got pretty good vision. Sometimes on fourth-and-1 he starts thinking about running into the back of people. He needs to keep his vision. He's going to run through arm tackles."
"Well, it gets you where we have bodies on bodies and they can't pack the box. The thing we're trying to do is be two-dimensional. Throw it if they're packing the box and run it if they're not. We're getting towards that right now.
What do like about Tirise Barge?
"He loves football. He loves to practice. He really came on at the end of the year in the kicking game. We played him quite a bit against SMU and he really had a good game against them. We probably should have tried to play him a little bit earlier. He's an explosive player. He can make big plays for you."
When do you think some of the injured safeties will be back?
"The thing we're trying to be careful of is letting a guy finish this week and maybe not play so he has another week off and is able to go for the last eight practices."
I really believe Charles Jones can have a big year. Tight ends have not figured heavily in Willie Fritz' offenses in the past, and Jones has teased us in the past with big plays while failing to be consistent in carrying out his assignments and failing to back up good weeks of practice, but he is a senior now and should be ready to realize his ability. Eight of his 13 catches a year ago came in the last five games, and he had two touchdown receptions at Memphis. Today, he was part of the play of the day. racing by cornerback Stephon Lofton, who appeared frozen in the turf, to haul in a long touchdown pass from Christian Daniels in the 11-on-11 drill at the end of practice. The play capped off a nice drive for Daniels, who set up the TD with a completion to Jabril Clewis on a slant, although Clewis had to reach behind him to snag the ball
Dane Ledford did not fare as well, throwing an interception that was tipped by one defender to Rod Teamer. Teamer had an active today, partly because he got in a fight with offensive lineman Corey Dublin that forced teammates and coaches to come over to separate them. I would not have expected either of them to be involved in a scuffle, but maybe it was the renewal of the Catholic Leauge rivalry between Brother Martin (Teamer) and Jesuit (Dublin). It did not escalate much and was pretty tame, but both players were hot and Fritz does not tolerate fighting.
Darius Bradwell continued to look impressive, although as always I never try to read too much into running plays when there is no live tackling. He has gotten really big--235 pounds--and will be a load to tackle when he gets his feet moving.
Dominique Briggs was at center with the first unit today along with Keyshawn McLeod at left tackle, Dublin at left guard, John Leglue at right guard and Devon Johnson at right tackle. That's right. Leglue was at guard as the coaches continue to double-train the offensive linemen and search for the most effective combinations.
The second-team line had Joey Claybrook at left tackle, walk-on Ben Bratcher at left guard, Hunter Knighton at center, Brian Webb at right guard and Tyler Johnson at right tackle. I did not see Cameron Jackel practicing but could have missed him.
Ever since Fritz talked about Jonathan Banks needing to throw the ball away when plays were not available, I have noticed Banks chucking the ball to the sideline when no one was open. As long as he does not take it too far, that is a good thing, but I definitely thought Glen Cuiellette bailed out on plays too early two years ago and sailed the ball out of bounds instead of waiting a little longer to see if something developed.
Barring an injury, write down Tirise Barge as the starting nickelback. He has been practicing with the first unit all spring and looks the part. He can cover, tackle and blitz.
P.J. Hall got reps at cornerback today opposite Donnie Lewis. They have plenty of decisions to make in the secondary and a lot of different combinations, so look for them to continue to experiment back there. The starting safeties in the 11-on-11 work were Teamer and Willie Langham while Taris Shenall and Will Harper remain out with injuries.
The starting D-line remained unchanged from last week, with De"Ande Williams and Cameron Sample inside and Robert Kennedy and Patrick Johnson outside. The backups were Peter Woullard and Torri Singletary outside true freshmen Davon Wright and Jeffery Johnson inside. I will be surprised if Kennedy and Johnson are not the opening-day starters at end unless they use the 3-4 look and go with Larry Bryant. The tackle spot is wide open and will hinge who outperforms the others. I'd have to see a scrimmage to make a concrete evaluation there.
Tulane's three best wide receivers clearly are Terren Encalade, Darnell Mooney and Jabril Clewis, the starters from last year. I believe they have the potential to be the best trio the Wave has had in a while. After them, Kevin LeDee has made the most plays in the spring, but they need guys to step up from the second unit. I have not seen consistent production from Jaetavian Toles, Jacob Robertson and Devin Glenn, and D.J. Owens is not practicing.
WILLIE FRITZ
Did it get a little testy today at practice?
"No, it was all right. I don't pay any attention to that stuff (fights). They happen from time to time, we break it up, let's move on and go. I tell these guys I had a team (Blinn College) win 26 in a row and we never had a fight that whole time, so it doesn't really help you out. Somebody gets hurt. Feelings get hurt and all that, but it doesn't show you're a tough guy."
How did you feel about the energy at practice today?
"We were all right. Sometimes you take the weekend off and then have to start back up. We'll have a better on on Wednesday."
Does Bradwell weighh 235 now?
"Yes, 235. He's got great strength. He's one of the strongest guys on the team, too. He's a big dude, but the great thing about him is he has good speed and very nimble feet."
When you spread it out and then hand it to a guy who's that big, how much of a dilemma is it for the defense?
"Most of the time he's got pretty good vision. Sometimes on fourth-and-1 he starts thinking about running into the back of people. He needs to keep his vision. He's going to run through arm tackles."
"Well, it gets you where we have bodies on bodies and they can't pack the box. The thing we're trying to do is be two-dimensional. Throw it if they're packing the box and run it if they're not. We're getting towards that right now.
What do like about Tirise Barge?
"He loves football. He loves to practice. He really came on at the end of the year in the kicking game. We played him quite a bit against SMU and he really had a good game against them. We probably should have tried to play him a little bit earlier. He's an explosive player. He can make big plays for you."
When do you think some of the injured safeties will be back?
"The thing we're trying to be careful of is letting a guy finish this week and maybe not play so he has another week off and is able to go for the last eight practices."
