Practice Reports

a few notes that I have gleaned from various places:

DJ Wonnum is coming along really nicely at Buck. Def has more development to go but is further along that most would expect.

Ty'son Williams is still thought to be a feature back.

Shi Smith has impressed coaches and teammates on both sides of the ball. The teammates were on both sides, not meaning that he is playing both sides.

Jamyest williams is also impressing like we thought he would.

He looked good enough to me in the spring game. I am sure he will definitely get some carries this season. I don't know who the starter will be on Day 1, I doubt even Bobby Bentley knows at this point.

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OL REPORT:

Juco Transfer Dennis Daley has impressed enough in practice that he has changed how the Depth chart is now looking.

LT: Dennis Daley OR Malik Young
LG: Donnell Stanley/Sadarius Hutcherson
C: Alan Knott/Cory Helms
RG: Cory Helms/DJ Park
RT: Zack Bailey/Blake Camper

The starters are the same across the board except for the battle for starting LT. The backups have shifted down from L to R.

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Good to see JUCOs Daley and Hutcherson pushing the competition for starts and minutes. That's why you bring JUCOs into the program, and it builds depth, which is always good for the OL position.

The word out of camp is a good depth for OL is 8 players: your starting 5, plus 3 who rotate in. Coach Roper stated in a recent presser video the minimum is having 3 OT, 3 OG, and 2 OC. So you want to get away from projected starters also being projected backups at other positions for other projected starters. That makes one injury loss the cause of shuffling multiple starting positions.

So we definitely need a dependable backup Center for Knott, but we look good for both Tackle and Guard positions. Both Park and Camper have starts and snaps played under their belts, so having experienced depth is also optimal....

So here's what I've been told so far.

OLine is gelling under Wolford nicely. Players are saying there's a world of difference between Elliott and him. I got that straight from a horse's mouth so to speak.

Jam Williams has a ways to go but he is very talented and ultra competitive. He's learning how tough it is to defend against physical WRs who are much taller, and often just as quick, as is he. Was told not to expect him to be a superstar fresh outta the chute - that he's going to need a little time, but he is fearless and a very hard worker.

Stallworth is a beast. He's shown the greatest improvement of anyone along the DLine. However, the entire DLine is improved - no one seems to know for sure what we've got yet. It's like we'll have to wait and see but the OLine guys are saying our DLine is more physical, stronger, quicker, etc.

Dillman is getting a lot of credit for his off-season whip cracking. So some of my information is coming from recent former players and they are telling me it's much tougher in the weight room and on the practice field now, than it ever was under SPURrier. Night and day tougher. I was told four long standing max weight records were broken over the off season.

SCARnecchia has the full confidence of Roper as a back-up. That's important. Roper seems to like him a lot. The light has come on for him.

I suppose everyone has heard about Shi Smith by now. All I will add is that no matter what you've heard so far ... those things are probably understatements. Shi Smith, based upon what I was told, might be special. Really special. Let's keep our fingers crossed. I hate it when we put too many expectations on a true freshman, but evidently Shi is impressing the heck out of even the most pessimistic observers.

RBs are wait and see. Was told none are truly what we might refer to as exceptional but all are very serviceable, physical, hard nosed running backs.

As you know we're really deep at TE and we're going to use them a lot this season in a lot of two and even three TE packages.

Secondary ... definitely better off than last year, still not quite there. They've got a lot of work to do over the next two weeks. T-Rob and mUSChamp ride them hard. As was related to me, teammates almost feel sorry for the DBs at times because they are catching a lot of hell. Hopefully it'll make them better in the long run. They are coming off the practice field spent.

Last but not least is our LBs. Well known to everyone are the depth issues. Young guys are working hard but they have a lonnnnng ways to go. Was told everyone is holding their breath - cannot afford early injuries and most importantly we've gotta hope for a lot of support from the secondary in addition to the DLine pulling their weight and taking some pressure off of the LBs.

Oh ... and one game at a time, beginning with NC State, they're already putting in some things for that game although they will not go full bore preps for NC State until the 25th. They sure do seem quietly confident - as if they know something, maybe they've spotted a major weakness, I dunno. Whatever it is they've got a lid on it and this has got to be the tightest shop I can ever remember over there - which personally I believe is a very good thing for a change.

One more thing. Special teams. There is a mandate that STs show some serious improvement this season. We've got the legs - we're going to be pleasantly surprised there I think. Coverage and return teams are getting a boatload of work - which is kind of unusual at this stage during the summer but that's how much emphasis they are placing on STs this season and there will be no excuses. Evidently Shi Smith is excelling, so far, at KOR but they are going to be hesitant to use a true freshman there at first. They're even experimenting with two return men back there - which is old school so who knows. Punt returns - still up in the air. Wouldn't look for Jam to be back there right out of the chute though. I forget who's been doing most of the PRs in practice because so many names were thrown at me I doubt they know for sure themselves just yet. Anyways, suffice it to say mUSChamp has been personally involved and is spending a lot of time with STs. Putting pressure on kickers and return specialists both so let's hope it pays off come game time. STs are going to be very very critical for us this season - could make us or break us.

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I could be wrong but I believe hutcherson came straight here from hs

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Yep, you are correct. I keep getting Hutcherson and Kinlaw mixed up, and I should know better because Kinlaw will be on DL, not OL.....

Heard Blackshear got a concussion. Anyone know the severity? Sucks for the guy, by all reports the light had come on and he was going to be good for us this season.

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RBs are wait and see. Was told none are truly what we might refer to as exceptional but all are very serviceable, physical, hard nosed running backs.

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I feel like I'm the only one who thinks Dowdle is the absolute #1 back and it's not even close.

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Also Idk if it has been said here but Freshman Safety Jaylin Dickerson is out for the year.

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Is he the one having shoulder surgery?

Yes. He was an early enrollee(sp) and from what was being reported he was really coming along and would have seen decent playing time this year.