Tuesday Practice, 2-21-06

SilverEagle · February 22, 2006

I decided to go up and watch yesterday's practice. The team practiced in helmets and shoulder pads only. Here are a few of my impressions. I didn't stay for the whole practice, so illuvius32 might add/fill with his own comments/observations

QB

Didn't see much of Daniel Maeger or Matt Phillips except in warm-ups. I mainly watched Steve Prince (#5) and W. Wilson (#8).

Prince

Physically, Prince is slightly taller than Philllips and Wilson. He has a good arm, but his release on short passes is a bit too deliberate and takes a little too much time. Of course, this might be because he's a bit distracted by learning a new system. His best pass (yesterday anyway) was his long ball. I saw him under pressure once and he seemed a bit flustered and dumped the ball a bit too soon. He ran once. He has pretty average speed and make ok yardage on his scramble, but he got mugged on the tackle. Again, he's learning a new system.

Wilson

The smallest (but not by much) QB out there today. Probably the fastest QB that I've ever seen at North Texas. He's working on his throwing mechanics and has a strong arm (the long ball was his best). I'd say that if he keeps developing, he'll be pretty close to Maeger's accuracy....maybe better (Phillips still has the better arm of all of them). When he takes off, he is very confident in his running ability and he's very good at following his blockers. When he makes the decision to run, he tucks the ball under his arm and RUNS. Again, I've never seen a QB at North Texas this fast.

OL

I'm excited about this group....especially Ajani Banks (#54). This guy is a LOAD and this guy can MOVE. The other "usual suspects" were out there, and the only other person that I noticed was a lineman wearing #69. He was running with the 2nd team and looked to be about 6'5" X 285.....maybe 290. If he continues to develop, he should add a lot of back-up to the OL. (That's assuming of course, that the coaching staff will start playing back-ups in situations other than injuries to starters.)

WR

Good looking group....although none of them caught a long pass thrown yesterday. I'm intriqued by a walk-on who is wearing #27. Besides his number, he looks like the second coming of John Love. He's very quick and (like John Love) looks like he could get a lot of YAC (yards after catch).

#21 (Fernandez) looked like he had a lot of potential (tall and fast), and there was another walk-on who was wearing #83 who looked like he might have something as well.

TE

The new guy from Kilgore is a LOAD. He's wearing #85 (AA's old number) and he's every bit as big as AA. I only saw him in blocking situations and he seemed to move pretty well.

DL

Thomas is back and he was keeping two or more blockers busy on almost every play. And (as Illuvius32 pointed out) he didn't give any ground to them. I saw Burruss (#89) out there. Didn't that guy break his forearm? If so, this guy is one tough dude!

You really can't watch the defense practice without spending most of your time watching Bliel coach the guys. Illuvius is right, this guy is a teacher/coach. I spent more time watching him than watching the defensive players.

The DB's were looking pretty good in practice. On the passing drills, they were covering the WR's to the point that there were no long balls completed. Not while I was watching anyway.

RB Walk-ons

#39 Molvanado (sp?) from Sachce(sp?), and James Thokey #34 from Dallas (First Baptist Academy) thru an Oklahoma college, to here. Molvanado says that he is a freshman walk-on. Thokey says that he is a Junior. Thokey said that he was moved from Safety to FB. He looks pretty much like a FB.

Neither of these guys may make it past spring, but in the case of Molvanado it won't because of a lack of effort. Molvanado is small (maybe smaller than Robertson..who wasn't out there yesterday) RB but that kid is fearless.....and fast. On one play he was given the ball on an off-tackle play and disappeared into a huge mass of players. He suddenly re-appeared and took-off around the other side. He seems to have only one speed and that is "missle-launch". It's like watching a smaller James Mitchell.....but a step faster.

Ja-Mo was out there. It's 2004 again (hopefully without the hammy situation)...nuff said.

Devin Cox looked like he has never been moved to defense for two years. He is a very natural runner with great vision. If we lined up to play Texas tomorrow, it would be (IMHO) up in the air if he or James Mitchell would back-up Ja-Mo. Cox has the edge in natural running ability.

Kerona Henderson looks like the starter at FB. Let's put it this way. I would not want to be the one who gets in his way when he's at full speed....or half speed for that matter.

Illuvius32 stayed for the whole practice, and may want to add comments.

Edited February 22, 2006 by SilverEagle

Stan R · February 22, 2006

Kerona Henderson looks like the starter at FB. Let's put it this way. I would not want to be the one who gets in his way when he's at full speed....or half speed for that matter.
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Thanks for the info, silver, great report. Do I detect some optimism in your evaluation here? Coming from you I'd say that is a very good sign. On Henderson, we all said the same thing last year but he hardly ever played, right? I hope that changes this year. He's a force to be reckoned with in short yardage, that's for sure.

Cowtown · February 22, 2006

Prince was originally listed as a Grey Shirt, does the fact that he is practicing mean that has changed?

meangreendork · February 22, 2006

I like Keronna Henderson- he's just a walking mass of muscle, and that's what I remember about him from last fall. He's really got the build for fullback, and no offense to our other FBs (modified HBs, really), but he can probably get the job at FB done best.

Next practice is...?

Edited February 22, 2006 by meangreendork

mad dog · February 22, 2006

From what I saw, Silver is right on with what was going on at practice. It is really nice to have a second (and new) set of eyes viewing the whole thing, because it is impossible to catch everything by myself.

A few things I would add. Perhaps the biggest news was Korey Washington being moved (again) from WR to DB. After asking a player who he thought was the toughest guy to shake, Washington's name was the second name out of his mouth, between Dominique Green and Tyrone Carter. He added later that all the DBs were tough to break free from. I also noticed how football smart the guy is. After being at the position for all of a day, he was up on the line with the second team barking out coverage assignments and flying all over the field when it looked like everyone else was going 80%. So maybe a little bit of a darkhorse there.

Wilson, as Silver mentioned, does not hesitate to run if he sees an opening. But what makes him special is not just that he's quick to run, but that he has such good vision in the open field. I saw a few great pro leans and cuts out there when he was making his way downfield. Also important was how two 30+ yard runs about five plays apart slowed the pass rush WAAAAY down. The pressure became a touch slower and more deliberate, and that gave Wilson a lot more time to complete passes, sometimes getting as many as three or four pats in before launching the ball. Any way, any how we can move the chains, I'm good on it.

The number 69 that Silver mentioned is Robert Peachey, the RS Freshman out of Georgetown. He weighed in at 270 last year, and might be up in the 280s now. And, just one other thing on Ajani Banks. Last year, during freshman two-a-days, this guy sparkled in conditioning. He's just a physical specimen. Make sure you see this guy pull from his right guard spot. He's bewilderingly quick for a 325 pounder.

Prince came back to earth a little today, especially when the pass rush hit. He didn't get as much time as he did on Friday, as, for some reason, Woody Wilson took what seemed like 90 percent of the snaps. Maybe the coaches just wanted to evaluate Woody. But he still throws a really pretty looking (though, admittedly, not always on target) deep ball. The good news with this particular set of quarterbacks is that they seem to be overthrowing their guy far more than underthrowing. If you're going to have misses, I'd much rather them be misses with authority.

The frightening thing about #85 brian carlson is that he's not even close to being maxed out weight wise. He's a mammoth tight end, but he could easily tack on 10-20 pounds, especially on his legs.

Replacement Kicker Denis Hopovac was injured (sprained ankle) on Monday, and they are currently trying out a few walkons in hopes of finding another guy. And let's just say we might need to try out a few more, because the guy on Tuesday was shanking them from 30 yards.

mad dog · February 22, 2006

Next practice is...?
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Today at 3:00 PM. First half hour is usually warm-ups, so don't worry if you can't get there until 3:30-4:00. The last hour is typically the most important.

mad dog · February 22, 2006

Prince was originally listed as a Grey Shirt, does the fact that he is practicing mean that has changed?
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As far as I know, he is still a preferred walk-on.

DeepGreen · February 22, 2006

Replacement Kicker Denis Hopovac was injured (sprained ankle) on Monday, and they are currently trying out a few walkons in hopes of finding another guy. And let's just say we might need to try out a few more, because the guy on Tuesday was shanking them from 30 yards.
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Don't we have five ships to give? I would think there are still some quality kickers out there.

NT80 · February 22, 2006

Replacement Kicker Denis Hopovac was injured (sprained ankle) on Monday, and they are currently trying out a few walkons in hopes of finding another guy. And let's just say we might need to try out a few more, because the guy on Tuesday was shanking them from 30 yards.
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This is an area that will kill us this season. We screwed up in recruiting a kicker also, no excuses, they were available.

mad dog · February 22, 2006

Denis will, at worst, be back in time for two-a-days. He won't be Nick, but I don't think anyone we recruit or find could replace a Lou Groza finalist. And Deep has a point, we still have five ships to give should a promising young kicker show interest in NT.

EagleD · February 22, 2006

Wilson
I'd say that if he keeps developing, he'll be pretty close to Maeger's accuracy....maybe better
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Is this a joke?

Got5onIt · February 22, 2006

Is this a joke?
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Meager is pretty darn accurate with a red jersey on and no pass rush.

I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself.

mad dog · February 22, 2006

FYI, I'll likely be getting my hands on an updated (although possibly incomplete) roster today. I'll put it up as soon as I get it.

NCMeanGreen · February 22, 2006

Meager is pretty darn accurate with a red jersey on and no pass rush.
I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself.
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Yeah, true, but what QB isn't!?!?

DeepGreen · February 22, 2006

FYI, I'll likely be getting my hands on an updated (although possibly incomplete) roster today. I'll put it up as soon as I get it.
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Athletic Department finally throwing GoMeanGreen.com a bone, eh?

SilverEagle · February 22, 2006

Thanks for the info, silver, great report. Do I detect some optimism in your evaluation here? Coming from you I'd say that is a very good sign. On Henderson, we all said the same thing last year but he hardly ever played, right? I hope that changes this year. He's a force to be reckoned with in short yardage, that's for sure.
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If I have been negative about anything these last two years, it's mainly been about the coaching......and the defensive cratering.....and our OCC record.

I like spring ball. Everyone seems to have more energy, plus you get to see the new "hopefuls" out there. I'm a sucker for walk-on stories. But then, as a North Texas fan, I've always backed the "underdog".

FirefightnRick · February 22, 2006

Thanks for the report.

Rick

NT80 · February 22, 2006

Denis will, at worst, be back in time for two-a-days. He won't be Nick, but I don't think anyone we recruit or find could replace a Lou Groza finalist. And Deep has a point, we still have five ships to give should a promising young kicker show interest in NT.
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Local kicking recruits were available, they are now on the rosters of other 1-A schools. And when DD loses games this year because of kicking....

Edited February 22, 2006 by NT80