Monday Griz Practice

[hunt-ducks]

I just left the Griz practice early, because campus security was there on the East side writing parking tickets to anyone without a parking pass. It seems that the married student housing residents have complained about people parking there. So, I missed the last 11-11 scrimmage which is the main vehicle to evaluate players. Not sure that they are tackling yet, which also makes evaluation tough. But, still, there were several kids who stood out today.

DEFENSE: Omar Onu is definitely the real deal at CB. He continued to blanket his WR, defending several passes. I understand that the other starter, Justin Ford, tweaked his ankle, and did not participate. Corbin Walker was running with the first unit, and made some nice plays. But the two young frosh CBs had stellar days today. Dylan Simmons is a real hitter, and made two hard tackles in a "meat drill", where an iso player tries to get past two defenders. Later, made a great play on a long pass from Cam and nearly intercepted it. Autjoe Soe also had a great practice, in pass coverage and in tackling. These two are going be be good ones! It would be great to red-shirt both of them.

Patrick O'Connell has a nose for the football, and looks to be improved as a run-stopper. We know from last season that he can rush the passer. Joe Babros looked very good today.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The punters had very shaky day punting the rock today. Got to be an area of concern. The place kicker made several mid-range FGs in a drill, but I never saw them with defenders rushing.

OFFENSE: Cam got the vast majority of reps with the first team, with Brown once again getting relatively few reps. Cam was a bit shaky on some throws, throwing late, but it could have been due to great coverage by Onu. Both Childs and Harris made some nice runs, but no tackling was allowed. Frosh WR Aaron Fontes continues to impress, as did Ryan Simpson. Akem had a solid day, breaking away on a couple of plays following the catch, even though he had a cut on his hand caused by a very hard throw from Cam on a middle crossing route on Saturday.

Gavin Robertson made a great interception on a long sideline fly route, thrown by Cam. Robby Hauck was all over the field on defense.

 

[AZGrizFan]

That’s good to hear about Simmons….he was the one who we feared wasn’t ACTUALLY a recruit, based on the confusion surrounding his verbal….and I figured Fontes was going to shine….dude is a star waiting to happen.

 

[GrizSpartan]

Hunt,

Thanks for sharing your observations. A friend of mine for years always said," In the Big Sky conference you are about as good as your cornerbacks." I get the impression we are doing well in that area. Hope this stays this was throughout the year.

 

[RayWill]

Careful, Bobby has made it clear in the past too much information on the boards and he will close practices to the public particularly injury etc. such as

even though he had a cut on his hand caused by a very hard throw from Cam on a middle crossing route on Saturday. I am not kidding, as I was told this by a father of a Griz WR who was sitting with me.

While I Love hearing the detailed info from practices Huack does not.

 

[grizfan1984]

I haven’t heard anything about Cotton this summer is he still battling injury or has he been working with the starters or what’s going on I don’t think anybody has even mentioned him.

 

[dayday]

Safer to share on the club side in order to keep the practices open. Not a good idea to talk scheme or injuries as that talk will close practice. Depth chart stuff could be tenuous too. I appreciate the reports though as I cannot make it being out of town.

 

[hunt-ducks]

Safer to share on the club side in order to keep the practices open. Not a good idea to talk scheme or injuries as that talk will close practice. Depth chart stuff could be tenuous too. I appreciate the reports though as I cannot make it being out of town.

As you read my post, you had to notice that I intentionally avoided talking about schemes. I probably shouldn't have discussed the cut on Akem's hand, but he was active at practice today, so it must not have been a big deal. As for Ford, I think he just tweaked his ankle, which is nothing serious. I will take your concerns to heart, however, and not discuss injuries in the future.

 

[hunt-ducks]

Hunt,

Thanks for sharing your observations. A friend of mine for years always said," In the Big Sky conference you are about as good as your cornerbacks." I get the impression we are doing well in that area. Hope this stays this was throughout the year.

I agree with your friend. And I am more excited about our CBs (as well as our safeties) than I have been in many years. It seems like the CB position is always a problem for us, since Johnson and Roots left. But we are very deep at this position, and I hope that Bobby is able to red shirt both Simmons and Soe. But Bobby has always been about playing the best talent, regardless of class. These two kids are gonna be good.

The safety position is also 4-deep with quality. Probably the deepest group of defensive backs we have had in many years.