04/03/10 UCLA Spring Practice Observations

by BlueReign on Apr 6, 2010 4:29 AM PDT

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Bruin LBs (from left): Steve Sloan (43), Glenn Love (20), Isaiah Bowen (58) and Mike Schmitt, Photo Credit: E. Corpuz

Meant to post this sooner but ran into technical difficulties. It was a gorgeous day with a surprisingly good crowd on hand at Spaulding. However, a bit of somber news which others have already posted regarding Brandon Sermons. I didn't see what happened but I could tell his injury was serious since he never got back up. Hoping for a speedy recovery for Sermons.

JDub, Petros (yes he is a sucster but he's alright in my book considering he is objective in his assessments of Bush and Leinert) and Dietrich were in attendance. A handful of recruits were there but I couldn't tell who was who. Chatted with a guy who said that Jalen Grimble (cousin of Xavier Grimble) and Junior Pomee were at practice on Friday.

Take my observations with a grain of salt considering I'm an Armchair QB and we've only been through 3 practices thus far. Was able to take a few photos but I'm still having technical difficulties.

Prince looks all of 230 lbs and he seemed to have an air of confidence in going about his business. He is still a work in progress (could be more accurate) but I'm encouraged because he made some really good throws. I think it'd be wise for those that are expecting big things from Brehaut to temper their enthusiasm a bit. He throws a beautiful ball but he has yet to master the offense. There were multiple occassions wherein Brehaut held the ball too long. He'll get there but we all have to remember that he is still a young pup that did not get to RS. As others have noted, if Brehaut can give Prince a run for his money so that Prince earns the starting nod, I think the program will be better off. Hopefully, Crissman is servicable so that Brehaut can RS and we get some separation at QB.
"Revolver": Not sure to what extent but I think we'll see this being utilized this season. I saw the offense running multiple plays with Knox as the RB (just like the Wildcat). Prince and Brehaut kept the ball on multiple occassions which made me a bit queezy. I know they're both athletic but I'd rather have my QB in the pocket and run only when absolutely necessary.
Knox looked good weaving his way for yards and seemed to have elevated his game. Both Franklin and Coleman looked solid. Also, I didn't see JetSki put the pigskin on the turf a single time. I really wanted to checkout Allmond (#36) and I'll tell you, this kid is BIG and physical. I can see why both the Offensive and Defensive coaches were fighting over this kid.
Josh Smith is the real deal. He knows it and he plays like it. He got loose a couple of times and he also has a physicality to him. I don't know how much he'll play but Mavray is one to keep tabs on. The kid is a competitor in every sense of the word. He plays hard and there was at least one occassion where he played through the whistle resulting in a little tussle. Johnson made a lot of plays and seems to have improved. He doesn't look like he's running fast but he gets decent separation with his long strides. Carroll is still a work in progress and I think we should temper our expectations as I saw him drop multiple passes. The same goes for Morrell. They both seem to be fighting it and do not seem to have the offense down cold. Morrell got laid out on one play (run) that resulted in a bid of scolding/coaching by CRN. Something to take note of, Thiggy got a lot of PT in the slot and was practicing predominately with the WR group. We have a lot of candidates (including the incoming FR) at RB so I think it's a good idea to take advantage of Thiggy's speed at WR and as an option all over the field.
It is in our best interest to have a capable option at LT whether it is Abele or Downey so that Baca stays at LG. Baca is going to be All Pac something IMO. He was physical and I saw him pancake Edison (I think) on one play. Abele looks the part and has pretty good feet which he used to get in good position against the pass rush. I can see why Palcic is so high on him and if he can put on another 10 lbs by fall, he should be in better position to compete physically. Williams looked to be healthy as well which is good news. Hasiak was rolling on the ground with someone but it was good to see him pat the defender on the helmet when they got back up instead of going all MMA on him. Couldn't see much beyond this because my view was obscured by the players.
I think Chandler has finally found a home and will hold his own. I don't expect huge production from the get go but I can see him continuing to improve as he gets more comfortable. He definitely looks the part and he seemed to hold the LOS quite well. I was trying to see if Donovan Carter can give us something but I wasn't able to get a good view. This goes for everybody, but the videos of our team getting bigger are accurate. Graham looks to be about 250 lbs and Tepa & Holmes looked bigger to me as well.
Sloan and Larimore were swithing off with the 1st team at Mike. Larimore looks like a rugged Big 10 MLB and he looked physical out there. Love was running with the 1st team quite a bit but nothing really stood out to me. Bowens looks imposing out there and looked quite agile in the drills. Golper looks pretty small compared to the other LB's and Koster looks a bit bigger than I anticipated.
Our starters at CB will be Hester and Price IMO. Price still looks skinny as hell to me but considering he is 6'2, he would probably have to get into the 210 range to see a noticable difference. Hester looked like he is 100% and he is quite an imposing figure at CB. Both our CB's are quite tall which I like. CRam looks huge out there but I didn't notice him make any plays. Hilliard looked good out there bringing the lumber and McKay had a nice pick as well. Pollard and Mascarenas got some time but nothing really noticeable. As noted before, we have a lot of depth and options in our secondary. We're still pretty green but there is a noticeable upgrade in talent.
Locke was $$$ kicking those coffin corners. I counted at least 3 punts that he kicked inside the 5. Smith, Carroll and Mavray took turns catching/returning punts. Nothing of note though.

Overall, the team came out with a lot of energy. Rahim and Kia were both whooping it up getting the team fired up. The team seemed to be excited putting on the pads which resulted in some physical collisions. I'm going to try and make it out there a few more times and I'll try to observe as much as possible.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Good stuff

I guess Golper still has some work to do. The competition is fierce though as you said Larimore is looking pretty imposing (at least in the pictures). Did you get a sense on Crissman? Did you get to see him throw at all?

We will definitely have to temper our expectations wrt to Carroll and Presley. Especially Carroll who probably thrived in high school based on pure speed. I think he will eventually adjust but it will take a little time. What’s your take on Moutra? Seems like this is a big year for him if he is going to make any kind of impact.

Thanks again Reign.

by Nestor on Apr 5, 2010 1:39 PM PDT reply actions

Crissman

Didn’t zero in on him at all and I can’t tell you if he even threw a pass. I didn’t notice Moutra either. Most of the passes were to Rosario/Smith/Mavray/Johnson/Thigpen. I can’t even tell you if Golper got in or not. Every play seemed to either have Sloan or Larimore. Golpers mom and brother (?) were there. Next time, I think I’ll concentrate on certain position groups based on what type of info comes out during the spring.

by BlueReign on Apr 5, 2010 6:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Thanks BR

And great Avatar.

by Nestor on Apr 5, 2010 7:28 PM PDT up reply actions

Thanks for the updates/input

Much appreciated by those of us who can’t make it out there. Can’t wait for the spring game, will NOT miss that!

by sponkey21 on Apr 5, 2010 2:58 PM PDT reply actions

I must say I agree with just about everything you wrote

- Prince does look bigger and more solid…which hopefully turns into an ability to avoid injuries this year. His accuracy did not look much improved; however, I’m hoping it is simply a result of trying to master the new offensive set. I’m sure there are a million things to think about such as when to hand off and when to hold it, etc. And yes, Brehaut suffers from holding the ball too long. Guy next to me made a seemingly astute observation in that it appears he tries to wait for the receiver to be wide open before passing….and that’s not going to happen too often at this level. More likely, you’ll get sacked waiting for that to happen. Brehaut is looking pretty thick too. Solid lower body.

- Milton out of the Pistol. Milton had some good runs, but there were a couple of times I think he overestimated his ability to make a play. There were at least two plays where if he runs north/south, he gets extra yardage. Instead, he cut back and forth and left yards on the field. One was pretty egregious where he had an opening straight ahead, but juked directly into a defender for some reason. That said, he had at least one good run of about 10 yards when he ran straight ahead. Didn’t see much from Franklin. Coleman is just a solid, blue-collar back. Picks up the hard yards and punishes the defense.

- Almond is most definitely a big dude. Last year at spring ball, when he was hanging around as a recruit, he was a big barrel-chested dude. After a year in the weight room, he is no less big, but seemingly broader. I walked out of practice behind him and he is just a THICK dude. I’m not sure how he fits into the pistol scheme, but in the traditional HB/FB set, he’s going to blow open some big mofo’ing holes, I’m sure. And I imagine there’ll be some DE/LB’s feeling it the next day.

- Josh Smith is going to be solid. He has the hands of Taylor Embree, but the fight of Ricky Marvray. He made one catch in practice where he got tangled up with the DB on a low and outside pass, but managed to snag the ball and make the crowd ooh and ahh…Also didn’t drop a punt when fielding punts (unlike Randall Carroll). He doesn’t have blazing speed but is shifty and just gets after it. Ricky Marvray is a much less heralded guy, but I think he gets solid playing time. He is probably one of our best blocking receivers. He is likely the most physical too. Stan McKay picked a Prince pass and was running it back….until he met Ricky Marvray who laid a hit any D-coordinator would have been proud of.

- Jerry Johnson looked better this year, but I still have that image of him trotting through warmups last year that really made me question his work ethic. He’s tall and I’d love to see him blossom like Rosario, but I don’t think he breaks into the rotation this year. Not with Rosario, Embree, Smith, Marvray and Thigpen on occasion. Thigpen looked good in the new formation going in motion. I think that’s excellently suited for his abilities: get him a head of steam so he can use his speed. He seemed to catch the few passes that came his way. Agree about him shifting over b/c of incoming Malcom and Jordan. Carroll seemed to drop too many passes (and punts).

- For a change, our linemen look pretty stout. Sat next to Greg Capella’s parents and they noted that their son didn’t gain or lose much weight, but just transformed it into muscle. Capella has a solid, solid lower body, but is a little light on the upper. Nik Abele is the opposite, with a solid upper body and skinnier legs. Apparently, Nik hasn’t put on any weight since last year and is still in the mid-270 range. Coaches want him to ad 15-20, from what I understand. Ryan Taylor – strongest lineman and running 2nd string center (Capella is third). Wade Yandall is a big boy from the eyeball test. Fits right in, but probably redshirts. Good to see Stan out there. He just rolled someone (couldn’t see) in the Oklahoma drills……just drove him back, back, back. Seemed to be in good spirits, smiling, etc. Micah Kia is a big dude too.

- I’m a little worried about the MLB position. Sloan is reportedly getting a good look, but doesn’t look very big. Agree that Larimore looks like a true MLB size-wise, but he was about it. The other guys look like theyd make opposing linemen smile. Glenn Love….man, he’s got a big SS body and an average LB body….and I’m worried about his comments that the game goes much faster at the LB position. If he had a hard time contributing from the comparatively slower SS position, not sure that’s going to equal success at the LB position. Akeem looks solid and confident. Long, powerful arms.

- Good to see Hester out there as he is a physical CB, but he STILL has the tendency to grab after the receivers when they get by him. And it’s not even when he’s been burned, which is odd. Example, he chucks the receiver off the line and the receiver gets by and starts his route….instead of turning and pursuing, he grabs after him and pulls at his jersey. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still going to start and will be good, but I think he’s going to get the PI call a little more than average. Price still looks skinny and it is because he has a long frame over which to spread out any poundage gains….I hope to high heaven he learns to shed his receiver blockers to make plays against the run. Tony Dye was starting at the SS position and looked, well, like last year. Stan McKay had a pick and I like his aggressiveness, the Marvray hit notwithstanding. He’s a good-sized dude. Rahim does look very solid this year. I think if he’s presented with the Stanford TE hit this year, he at least gets up. Pollard looks as skinny as Price, but Mascarenas looks decent sized.

- Joseph Fauria. Wasnt in pads, but I really liked his motivation. During Oklahoma drills he was slapping Offensive teammates in the helmet and amping them up. And the dude is just straight tall. You see a sea of bobbing helmets and Fauria’s entire head rising above them all. I think he’s going to be a great TE. Right attitude, huge target.

- Overall, I liked the tempo of practice compared to years past. It didn’t feel contrived this year and there was more spring and pop. I plan on attending future Saturday practices and hope the tempo doesn’t drop. i like our size and I like the tempo. Progress is apparent…..just hope the stupid schedule doesn’t bury us……

by Scotucla03 on Apr 6, 2010 7:44 AM PDT reply actions