Rebel-Net.com Content Saturday Practice Notes

[Bullmastiff 1]

Offense-

Stanton- Final 11 v 11 drills lead a really nice drive. Had a better day than Friday.

Wr-Woods and Keys-Both had good days. Woods is definetly pushing Pressley for the third WR spot. Boyd was dressed but not participating much.

OL- Starters beginning to take shape. Singer has yet to start practicing but I have a feeling you can pencil him in at one of the OG spots. Jacobson has looked pretty good to my untrained eye and looks like he has locked down the RT spot. If I'm right and Singer has one OG spot, that leaves just the other OG spot up for grabs. Polu seems to be the leader there. JC transfer Chevalier took some reps at center and guard. He might push Polu but I think Polu has inside track.

RBs-Not much to report here. I think we will see the same distribution of carries with Thomas, Campbell and Whitely as we did last year.

Defense-

DL-Right now the #1s look like.

DE-Vaologa DT-Alo-Wily DT-Hughes
DE-Zepeda.

Vaolaga has had a pretty nice spring so far. If he stays healthy he has a chance to be a 5-6 sack guy (which would be over half of our total from last year) Hughes is locked in at one DT. Alo-Wily played a lot with the ones. Fao also saw time with the ones. The interesting one is Zepeda. The staff really seems to be pushing this kid. He is a 6'6 265 lb kid with athletic ability. Coach Samuel was in his ear a lot during the day. I don't know if he will hold the job, but he is getting every oppurtunity. Physically he looks the part.

LB-Brian Keyes will be the MLB. He blew up a number of plays today. Tau Lotulelei will play the strongside. Gabe McCoy is getting a long look at weakside OLB. Ryan McAleenan had an interception off a tip pass. I don't think he will hold Keyes off for the the starting MLB spot. That said he has had a solid spring. If Keyes wins the starting MLB job, it will be because he earned it.

DBs-At the Safety spot Javin White was getting a long look. He is long athletic kid 6'2 190. Safety will be a really interesting position battle. CB there is still some jostling. I think it will end up being Hough, JC transfer Jackson and McTyer with Mouton, Miles the top nickle backs.

K- Look I love UNLV but I am not watching kickers.

 

[RebelBuzz]

K- Look I love UNLV but I am not watching kickers.

Love it. Thanks for sharing your observations.

 

[RebelinWA]

"DAMNIT ZEPEDA!" -pretty much every coach at one time or another.

 

[rebelbuck]

The 4 on 3 drill shows the mentality of this staff and what they are trying to instill in this program.

T. Dewey talks about it in his recap of Saturday's practice. Basically you have 2 O Lineman, QB and RB and WR against 2 - Front line defenders and a Safety/ CB at the 2nd level.
The ball is handed off and the RB must stay in a confined space and get around his blocks before getting to second level where a WR & CB are blocking competing.

This drill really gets everyone fired up, coaches included. Valoaga had a couple nice plays , as did Hughes in making stops. Kendal Keys is one of the most aggressive RB, WR's I have every seen. Everytime they have runt his drill there are a few "flare-ups" with guys playing to, through and after the whistle. The intensity in this drill typically carries over into the team periods in a very good way.

QB- Stanton is the out and out #1. He still has a ways to go in terms of timing with the WR/TE's but he is just a different level athlete then the other guys. Sneed , right now is ahead of Palandech. With the QBs not being live in 11v11 you dont get to see what these guys can really do once they take off but Stanton is every bit of the 245 he is listed at and I can see him getting some tough yards / first downs when needed. Sneed it a solid athlete as well and could use his legs to get out of trouble, like most young QBs his mission this spring will be processing things a bit faster.

Keys has been the best WR of camp so far. Woods has been impressive making catches all over the field and excels going over the middle. Presley has been up and down. When Boyd is back (returning Monday) and this group is at full strength it will be a little easier to get a feel for the QBs. Price, Kanteman and Holt make a very solid trio at TE. We will be able to keep the same personnel on the field while using multiple formations. These guys will cause match up problems.


The defense is flying around. We are using some different sets. As alluded to earlier in this thread, Keyes sticks out on defense. He is a throw back to the Robinson era LB's. Big, physical fast and just a different sound when hits someone. Very active player and on a bull rush I watched him drive an O lineman back 5 feet. Kid is going to make some plays. Tau is looking great. Flying around sideline to sideline. McAleenan is just a smart player and has shown a nose for the ball this spring. D Line is looking active and aggressive. Valoaga is the key. We need Zepeda and some other guys to emerge at D End to improve our overall pass rush but that being said this group is playing with more intent this spring. Not just pushing forward and getting locked up at the line like we say so many times last fall.