First, the news. As mentioned here in a post by buck on Monday, Kyle Meyers no longer is on the team. I asked Fritz about it today and he was terse, but he said it was a coaches' decision rather than Meyers' decision. Meyers, a 4-star recruit when he signed with FSU out of Holy Cross, impressed me in preseason drills, but both Fritz and Jack Curtis were a little lukewarm about him when I asked them how good he was. Curtis pointed out Meyers was out of shape after not going through spring practice at FSU. Then, once the season started, Meyers was a major disappointing. He did not start the opener against South Alabama, losing out to Willie Langham, but took over as the starter the next two weeks because Langham was dismal against the Jaguars. Early in his second start, though, Meyers gave up a completion in one-on-one coverage against Southern Miss, then failed to make the tackle with a lame effort as the Golden Eagles scored an 88-yard touchdown. He was benched for most of the rest of the day and did not start again. He did not play at all against SMU and finished his seven-game career at Tulane with six tackles and no break-ups. Langham moved back into a starting role and had his first career interception Saturday against Temple, when Meyers played sparingly.
I don't know if there was an off-the-field incident, a blowup in the locker room or what, but Meyers is gone. Tulane's backup cornerbacks are true freshman Kevaris Hall, who had a big interception return to turn around the USM game, and redshirt freshman Kiland Harrison, who is untested.
Meyers' departure is another example of how Tulane did not hit on its grad transfers this year. Although linebacker Kevin Henry (Oklahoma State) has been excellent, offensive lineman Jaylen Miller (Duke) has not started a game even though he began preseason drills as a first-teamer and there have been injuries at both starting tackle spots. Miller rotated in quite a bit, but today he lined up as the backup right guard behind former walk-on Timothy Shafter, who was there because Caleb Thomas is injured.
Wide receiver Mykel Jones is playing regularly but has not been the impact player many expected when he transferred from Oklahoma. We are seeing why he caught only two passes last year for the Sooners, but he still has a chance to make a significant impact in the final four games. His most notable moment against Temple was a drop of a perfect deep ball from Michael Pratt, but he has five catches for 90 yards and started two games.
The other grad transfer, Ajani Kerr, has played a lot in the secondary, primarily at nickelback, but has not started since the Southern Miss game. He has 13 tackles and two break-ups as the top reserve for a secondary that has struggled.
In other news, the injury I did not see looks like it will cost Ygenio Booker the rest of the season. Fritz said he had a torn MCL and would undergo surgery tomorrow after getting hurt late in the fourth quarter against Temple. Booker's ratio of practice reps to playing time has been higher than any other player this year, He has nine carries for 41 yards and only one catch for minus-3 yards despite receiving being his speciality in practice. He got most of his practice work as the second-team super back behind Amare Jones.
The offensive line has undergone another change due to injuries. With Thomas not practicing today--Fritz refused to rule him out of Saturday's game against East Carolina--Shafter moved in as the starting right guard. With Joey Claybrook practicing at left tackle after missing all of two games before returning for spot duty against Temple, surprising success story Ben Knutson moved to first-team right tackle. Fritz said Knutson was one of the two best linemen for most of his three starts in Claybrook's absence, so he will see if he can translate his success at left tackle to the other side of the line. If he continues to play like has the last few weeks, Tulane will have found its best tackle combination. True freshman Trey Tuggle, who started the first seven games at right tackle, was on the second team today along with left tackle Cameron Jackel, left guard Rashad Green and Miller. Corey Dublin was the second-team center, I guess because they don't think anyone behind Sincere Haynesworth is worthy of playing against East Carolina if Haynesworth were to get hurt. Michael Remondet subbed in for Dublin at times at right guard to give him some rest today. Thomas does not look far away from playing. He did agility exercises on his own while watching the offense practice against the scout team.
On defense, Marvin Moody did not practice again today. I will ask about his status tomorrow. Carlos Hatcher remains out, too, as does wide receiver Sorrell Brown on offense.
I don't know if there was an off-the-field incident, a blowup in the locker room or what, but Meyers is gone. Tulane's backup cornerbacks are true freshman Kevaris Hall, who had a big interception return to turn around the USM game, and redshirt freshman Kiland Harrison, who is untested.
Meyers' departure is another example of how Tulane did not hit on its grad transfers this year. Although linebacker Kevin Henry (Oklahoma State) has been excellent, offensive lineman Jaylen Miller (Duke) has not started a game even though he began preseason drills as a first-teamer and there have been injuries at both starting tackle spots. Miller rotated in quite a bit, but today he lined up as the backup right guard behind former walk-on Timothy Shafter, who was there because Caleb Thomas is injured.
Wide receiver Mykel Jones is playing regularly but has not been the impact player many expected when he transferred from Oklahoma. We are seeing why he caught only two passes last year for the Sooners, but he still has a chance to make a significant impact in the final four games. His most notable moment against Temple was a drop of a perfect deep ball from Michael Pratt, but he has five catches for 90 yards and started two games.
The other grad transfer, Ajani Kerr, has played a lot in the secondary, primarily at nickelback, but has not started since the Southern Miss game. He has 13 tackles and two break-ups as the top reserve for a secondary that has struggled.
In other news, the injury I did not see looks like it will cost Ygenio Booker the rest of the season. Fritz said he had a torn MCL and would undergo surgery tomorrow after getting hurt late in the fourth quarter against Temple. Booker's ratio of practice reps to playing time has been higher than any other player this year, He has nine carries for 41 yards and only one catch for minus-3 yards despite receiving being his speciality in practice. He got most of his practice work as the second-team super back behind Amare Jones.
The offensive line has undergone another change due to injuries. With Thomas not practicing today--Fritz refused to rule him out of Saturday's game against East Carolina--Shafter moved in as the starting right guard. With Joey Claybrook practicing at left tackle after missing all of two games before returning for spot duty against Temple, surprising success story Ben Knutson moved to first-team right tackle. Fritz said Knutson was one of the two best linemen for most of his three starts in Claybrook's absence, so he will see if he can translate his success at left tackle to the other side of the line. If he continues to play like has the last few weeks, Tulane will have found its best tackle combination. True freshman Trey Tuggle, who started the first seven games at right tackle, was on the second team today along with left tackle Cameron Jackel, left guard Rashad Green and Miller. Corey Dublin was the second-team center, I guess because they don't think anyone behind Sincere Haynesworth is worthy of playing against East Carolina if Haynesworth were to get hurt. Michael Remondet subbed in for Dublin at times at right guard to give him some rest today. Thomas does not look far away from playing. He did agility exercises on his own while watching the offense practice against the scout team.
On defense, Marvin Moody did not practice again today. I will ask about his status tomorrow. Carlos Hatcher remains out, too, as does wide receiver Sorrell Brown on offense.
