It was more glorious weather for Tulane's first spring practice that actually took place in the spring, with a mild, almost chilly temperature this morning for workout No. 6 at Yulman Stadium. I had to wear a jacket to be comfortable, and I took inventory of the entire roster during individual drills.
Players not participating were running back Miles Strickland, who may be gone, injured safeties Taris Shenall and Chase Napoleon, injured wide receivers Jacob Robertson and D.J. Owens, defensive tackle Braynon Edwards and freshman cornerback Chris Joyce. Joyce and Robertson took part in conditioning drills with a trainer and did not appear to be seriously hurt. The other guys I did not see, but I saw Owens not dressed at the Saturday practice at the Saints facility.
Devin Glenn is back with the running backs for now. It is his preferred position, but he has bounced between RB and WR for the last two years without having much success in games other than on special teams.
Miles Lapeyre, the walk-on QB from Newman, is practicing with the receivers. The only four QBs are Jonathan Banks, Dane Ledford, Christian Daniels and walk-on P.J. Hurst.
Michael Scott and Torri Singletary are being double-trained at linebacker.
Willie Fritz is very much a hands-on coach. He used his microphone extensively today, giving commentary on 7-on-7 drills. When linebacker Marvin Moody stepped in front of a Jonathan Banks pass but dropped an easy interception, Fritz yelled, "squeeze it, squeeze it. Make a good play a great play."
Banks made two gorgeous throws in 11-on-11 work at the end of the practice. lofting a perfect rainbow to Terren Encalade for a touchdown on a go route. Without question, Banks looks better in practice than any Tulane QB since Tanner Lee in 2014 in 2015, and while Lee rarely translated his practice form to games, Banks has better coaches with a system that is understandable rather than whatever it was (I never was quite sure) Tulane ran under CJ and Eric Price.
Banks' second beautiful pass, another perfectly measured rainbow, was dropped by Darnell Mooney in the corner of the end zone. Mooney, who usually has sure hands, took some razzing after that one.
Fritz injected a distraction into the 11-on-11 work, having music played over the loudspeaker to simulate the atmosphere players would experience in games rather than the sterile atmosphere of practice. It distracted me for sure, but the players appeared fine, and it is no longer the hillbilly music that used to blare in Fritz' first season.
As you would expect, the gap between Banks and his backups--Ledford and Daniels--is gargantuan. Daniels, who has been up and down in the spring, had a rough ending, missing a basic sideline throw by several yards. He simply is not ready yet, but he has nine more practices in the spring and all of preseason camp to get there. Ledford is more consistent than Daniels but nowhere near as sharp as Banks, who guided the offense up and down the field. He was not perfect, overthrowing Encalade by a few yards on another deep route, but he was on target on most of his throws, including several slants. Encalade dropped a pass from Ledford near the end of the scrimmage, and although it was not an easy catch because it was too far in front of him, it is one he can make.
The running backs had good holes during the 11-on-11 drill, with Stephon Huderson having a good day, but I have a hard time praising them too much when tackling is not allowed. Corey Dauphine has not stood out as much this spring as he did last August, but I'll wait until a scrimmage before reading anything into it.
Charles Jones engulfed Larry Bryant on one play. I had not noticed Bryant on the two-deep depth chart at earlier 11-on-11 sessions, but he was in there today and could not get off Jones' block for the entire five seconds of one running play at his usual rush end spot.
Depth charts in the spring are often scary at some spots since the incoming class has not arrived yet. At Tulane, it is the offensive line. The second unit today was Joey Claybrook at left tackle, walk-on Ben Bratcher at left guard, Hunter Knighton at center, Brian Webb at right guard and Devon Johnson at right tackle.
Practiced ended earlier than usual at 10:20 a.m.
WILLIE FRITZ
The offense was celebrating at the end of practice. Did they win the day?
"Oh, we had some big plays. We did a good job and had some creases and seams. Huderson had a good day. He had a couple of jump cuts for big gainers. It's kind of hard to tell sometimes. We were trying not to tackle and hit guys at angles because you end up going into somebody's knee. They might have made the play when maybe it looks like they didn't. That's just learning how to practice full speed, staying on our feet and all those kind of things. We threw a little distraction in there with the music today. We're trying to give them a whole lot of things to be thinking about, and they did a good job there."
What are your thoughts on Banks today?
"He threw a couple of nice ones. Darnell should have had the one over there in the corner, and he threw a really nice ball to Terren."
How long have you known (new secondary coach) J.J. McCleskey?
"Not very long. I have a real close friend of mine who knows J.J. well. They played together with the Cardinals. I try not to hire anybody I don't have some kind of personal contact with or I have a friend who knows them well, and that was the case with J.J. He knows a lot of people in New Orleans. He has a lot of energy, and we're a high-energy staff, so he fits in with us in that regard. Plus, he's also a good role model for our kids. We have a lot of guys who'd like to play at the next level, and he probably took one of the more difficult paths to play Division I college football. He was a walk-on at Tennessee and then hooked on as a free agent with the Cardinals and the Saints. Those guys can learn from those things."
Has he passed along that story to the players?
"When I hired him, I made sure I told our guys that. That was his story. There are a lot of guys who make it as free agents, but not many guys make it in the NFL who start as a walk-on. That's very rare. It's an interesting story."
Players not participating were running back Miles Strickland, who may be gone, injured safeties Taris Shenall and Chase Napoleon, injured wide receivers Jacob Robertson and D.J. Owens, defensive tackle Braynon Edwards and freshman cornerback Chris Joyce. Joyce and Robertson took part in conditioning drills with a trainer and did not appear to be seriously hurt. The other guys I did not see, but I saw Owens not dressed at the Saturday practice at the Saints facility.
Devin Glenn is back with the running backs for now. It is his preferred position, but he has bounced between RB and WR for the last two years without having much success in games other than on special teams.
Miles Lapeyre, the walk-on QB from Newman, is practicing with the receivers. The only four QBs are Jonathan Banks, Dane Ledford, Christian Daniels and walk-on P.J. Hurst.
Michael Scott and Torri Singletary are being double-trained at linebacker.
Willie Fritz is very much a hands-on coach. He used his microphone extensively today, giving commentary on 7-on-7 drills. When linebacker Marvin Moody stepped in front of a Jonathan Banks pass but dropped an easy interception, Fritz yelled, "squeeze it, squeeze it. Make a good play a great play."
Banks made two gorgeous throws in 11-on-11 work at the end of the practice. lofting a perfect rainbow to Terren Encalade for a touchdown on a go route. Without question, Banks looks better in practice than any Tulane QB since Tanner Lee in 2014 in 2015, and while Lee rarely translated his practice form to games, Banks has better coaches with a system that is understandable rather than whatever it was (I never was quite sure) Tulane ran under CJ and Eric Price.
Banks' second beautiful pass, another perfectly measured rainbow, was dropped by Darnell Mooney in the corner of the end zone. Mooney, who usually has sure hands, took some razzing after that one.
Fritz injected a distraction into the 11-on-11 work, having music played over the loudspeaker to simulate the atmosphere players would experience in games rather than the sterile atmosphere of practice. It distracted me for sure, but the players appeared fine, and it is no longer the hillbilly music that used to blare in Fritz' first season.
As you would expect, the gap between Banks and his backups--Ledford and Daniels--is gargantuan. Daniels, who has been up and down in the spring, had a rough ending, missing a basic sideline throw by several yards. He simply is not ready yet, but he has nine more practices in the spring and all of preseason camp to get there. Ledford is more consistent than Daniels but nowhere near as sharp as Banks, who guided the offense up and down the field. He was not perfect, overthrowing Encalade by a few yards on another deep route, but he was on target on most of his throws, including several slants. Encalade dropped a pass from Ledford near the end of the scrimmage, and although it was not an easy catch because it was too far in front of him, it is one he can make.
The running backs had good holes during the 11-on-11 drill, with Stephon Huderson having a good day, but I have a hard time praising them too much when tackling is not allowed. Corey Dauphine has not stood out as much this spring as he did last August, but I'll wait until a scrimmage before reading anything into it.
Charles Jones engulfed Larry Bryant on one play. I had not noticed Bryant on the two-deep depth chart at earlier 11-on-11 sessions, but he was in there today and could not get off Jones' block for the entire five seconds of one running play at his usual rush end spot.
Depth charts in the spring are often scary at some spots since the incoming class has not arrived yet. At Tulane, it is the offensive line. The second unit today was Joey Claybrook at left tackle, walk-on Ben Bratcher at left guard, Hunter Knighton at center, Brian Webb at right guard and Devon Johnson at right tackle.
Practiced ended earlier than usual at 10:20 a.m.
WILLIE FRITZ
The offense was celebrating at the end of practice. Did they win the day?
"Oh, we had some big plays. We did a good job and had some creases and seams. Huderson had a good day. He had a couple of jump cuts for big gainers. It's kind of hard to tell sometimes. We were trying not to tackle and hit guys at angles because you end up going into somebody's knee. They might have made the play when maybe it looks like they didn't. That's just learning how to practice full speed, staying on our feet and all those kind of things. We threw a little distraction in there with the music today. We're trying to give them a whole lot of things to be thinking about, and they did a good job there."
What are your thoughts on Banks today?
"He threw a couple of nice ones. Darnell should have had the one over there in the corner, and he threw a really nice ball to Terren."
How long have you known (new secondary coach) J.J. McCleskey?
"Not very long. I have a real close friend of mine who knows J.J. well. They played together with the Cardinals. I try not to hire anybody I don't have some kind of personal contact with or I have a friend who knows them well, and that was the case with J.J. He knows a lot of people in New Orleans. He has a lot of energy, and we're a high-energy staff, so he fits in with us in that regard. Plus, he's also a good role model for our kids. We have a lot of guys who'd like to play at the next level, and he probably took one of the more difficult paths to play Division I college football. He was a walk-on at Tennessee and then hooked on as a free agent with the Cardinals and the Saints. Those guys can learn from those things."
Has he passed along that story to the players?
"When I hired him, I made sure I told our guys that. That was his story. There are a lot of guys who make it as free agents, but not many guys make it in the NFL who start as a walk-on. That's very rare. It's an interesting story."
