I already shared these notes on this morning's practice in the Day 4 open thread where impaulv, uclaluv have been offering their rapid fire comments today. Thought I'd crosspost them in our practice stream as an update as well:
- Priest Willis was working with the first team outside in the Nickel package, which was installed and utilized for most of the practice in team and 7-on-7.
- The 1st defensive back group is Fabian Moreau and Ishmael Adams at the corners, Anthony Jefferson and Randall Goforth at the safety spots. Priest Willis comes in the Nickel package and Adams slides to the slot corner spot.
- Was over at the defensive half of individual drills, they were working extensively on fumble drills: stripping, scooping and scoring and actually on a drill that has one guy dive at the ball and hit it in any direction while the second guy tries to read the bounce and recover the ball. Good game situation simulation.
- After they broke into position groups, Jordan Zumwalt nearly got caught peeing on a tree by a couple fans. Don't think he expected them to be over on the far side.
- Thomas Duarte, Eric Kendricks and the offensive lineman Lopez were out during team and individuals. Working on the bike and doing cardio. Those injured guys have a more strenuous practice than the healthy players.
- Kenneth Clark looked very good in team drills. Has a good burst off the line and uses his hands well.
- Malcolm Jones looked great today. Was running with power and that anger that Mora talked about wanting to see from him. Had a 40+ yard touchdown run on a stretch play where he broke away from the defense. Looked better than any other back with shoulder pads on.
- Impressive catches by Eldridge Massington and Shaq Evans in team work and 7-on-7.
- Tyler Foreman and Johnny Johnson had interceptions. Foreman's was on a bad pass where he sat in his deep zone and made a play. Johnson's was on a quick slant in 1-on-1s that he jumped.
- Adams looked the best out of the DBs in 1-on-1s. Got really competitive with Lucien and Evans.
- Priest Willis got torn into in team drills because he got burnt for a long TD by Tyler Scott. Got taken out to get coached up. First play of the next possession was a run and Scott pancaked him right at the snap. But after that, he rebounded well. Had a up-and-down day.
- Ellis McCarthy got reps with the first team at noseguard. Looked good.
- Keenan Graham got the reps at DE in the 1st team Nickel package along with Marsh. Brandon WIllis got reps as well, but looked like he moved down the depth chart a bit.
- Graham also got some reps at noseguard, not surprising because guys move around all the time. But worth noting.
- Darius Bell was in a red jersey, but was at full speed. He looked very good. Probably ran the two best routes of anyone in one-on-ones. Almost made #31 fall down with a double move.
- Randall Goforth got sent off the field for a play for tackling Malcolm Jones below the legs in a "thud" drill, but I loved his intensity throughout practice. Deserved to be running with the 1s after missing a practice.
- During the goal-line period, Brett Hundley used hard counts twice to get the defense to jump off sides. Mainly got Kylie Fitts. That set Mora off. He ripped the defense. Apparently that was the 6th and 7th times they'd jumped offsides in the day.
- Overall, Jordan Payton outplayed Lucien on the day from what I saw. Those two have been and will be back and forth for the starting spot opposite Shaq Evans. Both will get lots of targets.
- In terms of freshman linebackers, Deon Hollins is way ahead of Myles Jack. Jack looks better physically, but when team and individual drills go on, Hollins is just better. Jack got a lot of attention from Coach Ulbrich in individual drills, couldn't get his technique fixed on shedding blockers. I expect Judge and Savaiinea to redshirt. Both look shaky compared to the other linebackers. Jeremy Castro also looks like he's still shaking off the rust from not playing in a year. I believe he changed his number to 43. Didn't get a ton of reps.
- Taylor Lagace got almost all of the first team reps as the mini-backer. Looked solid. Called that one back in the spring.
- Jayon Brown had a nice interception in the endzone off Neuheisel. Just ran a better post route than the wideout.
- Caleb Benenoch looked much better in pads. Had a false start, but played well. Definitely had the best day of any right guard.
- Woulard would have been sacked 5 times at least in his reps. The o-line with McDermott, McReynolds, Hulcick, Cyburt and Kenny Lacy got torn apart by Kenneth Clark, Graham, Aaron Wallace and others.
- Ben Wysocki got kicked out of practice by Mora after starting a fight with a defender. Wysocki pushed the lineman down three times as he was getting up after the play and then dove on top of him. Couldn't see who the defender was because off to the side, Hollins and McDermott were going at it as well. Hollins had beaten him several times, so that's where the frustration came from. No clue what set Wysocki off.
- Mora also went out of his way to tell Klemm that he wants Wysocki at the bottom of every depth chart after what he did. Was a needless cheap shot to a teammate.
- Eddie Vanderdoes got a couple of reps in team work. The back issues totally explain his problems moving around. Looked looser today. He'll be fine.
Overall it was a physical practice, had ups and downs. Need to clean up the penalty issues again.