As an avid Bruins Nation fan, and one that seems to be always looking forward to the next season (quite possibly because the last tends to be disappointing as of late) I decided to watch the first day of spring football practice today. It was a beautiful day on Spaulding, and what I saw definitely cheered me up. Rahim Moore, Alterraun Verner, and Kai Forbath were all in attendance as well. The following is a brief interpretation of the show on the field today:

Coaching: There was an energy on the field, and lots of people buying into it. I was also impressed by the turnout of people watching on the first day. CRN was extremely focused, and it was great seeing our new OC Mike Johnson talking with the offense and then smiling when plays worked (there were quite a few of these). Also, our new DC was extremely vocal and seems like he brings something to the table - whereas I couldn't even find Bullough in the years past. 

The QB's: Everyone was wondering how Brett would look, and he put on a good show IMO. He did throw one pick, but it was more of a great leap by Dietrich Riley than a bad throw by Hundley. He had a fantastic 40-50 yard bomb that was put right into the hands of a receiver; only to be dropped. He also had a few good runs and good passes in traffic. Also, I wouldn't count Richard Brehaut out at all yet, he looks as sharp as I've seen; threw no picks and had an amazing throw in traffic that made the crowd gasp and clap. Very sharp and led the team well. Kevin Prince was on the field in a knee brace but stayed away from the snaps. 

Receivers: A couple great catches, too many easy drops. Still a lot of work needed here.

Running Backs: Since this was a no-pads practice, it's hard to gauge how the running backs fair up. However, I will say that Jonathan Franklin looks BEASTLY. He was absolutely incredible to watch so close up and did a couple ankle-breaking moves around guys. He looks the fastest he's ever been (as he should be) and got a lot of people talking along the sidelines. I also saw Malcolm Jones run briefly and he looked good as well. No other running backs grabbed my attention more than Jonathan Franklin though - very explosive and fast.

I hope this gives the people that were unable to make it out to Spaulding a brief summary of what happened today. I was unable to get a good luck at special teams or the OL/DL. There was a lot of movement between different groups/teams, so only time will tell how we look there.