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Practice Notes from Tuesday, 8/9
Today was the first practice in pads. A lot of hitting going on. Here are a few observations from the day.
- Jahleel Addae went from red (no contact) to a yellow (limited contact) jersey today. He appears to have a rib or abdominal injury. He is expected to be back for 100 percent contact this week.
- Darren Keyton was also back at practice and ran with the first team for the entire session.
- True freshman Jarret Chapman was running with the first team defense at cornerback opposite Lorenzo White. Derek Carter had been moved down to second team.
- Speaking of Chapman, he had some highs and lows on the day. He made a nice pass deflection in the corner of the end zone during red zone skeleton. He leaped and just deflected the ball from Cody Wilson on a nice pass from Ryan Radcliff. On the slightly embarrassing side, he was hurdled by TE David Blackburn for a touchdown earlier in the practice. It was quite an athletic play by Blackburn.
- Leron Eaddy made a nice interception on Brandon Fricke. He stepped in front of Billy Myler to make the INT. It was a nice instinctive move by Eaddy.
- In terms of the quarterbacks, it is pretty clear that Ryan Radcliff throws the best ball in the group. He has the best arm strength and touch and also has improved his accuracy. I thought A.J. Westerndorp struggled today, especially with his accuracy.
- Alex Niznak clearly is still on the learning curve. I would be shocked if he was anything but redshirted. A lot of people talk about the speed of the game picking up for freshmen and think about the improved speed of defensive backs for quarterbacks. But, I think Niznak is also struggling with the improved speed of his receivers. He is throwing behind and short to a lot of his guys. Clearly the speed and talent of his receivers at CMU are an upgrade from the ones he had at Ithaca.
- The receivers CMU has look solid. Cedric Fraser looks very talented and like the best outside receiver, but he just hasn't been able to put it on the field in games. Jerry Harris has been hobbled with an injury, but still shows some good things. I think were CMU is strongest though is with its redshirt and true freshmen. It is a really talented group that should be amazing in a couple of years.
- At tight end, Connor Odykirk has looked good behind David Blackburn, while Jarrett Fleming looks impressive in size. He has really added some mass and should be a nice addition to the offense.
- At running back, freshman Anthony Garland looks good. He really likes to deliver the hits and isn't afraid of contact. He probably won't see time this year because of the top-heavy depth at the position, but he will be in the mix in years to come.
- In full team drills, the first team offense seemed to have their way with the first team defense, especially in the running game. Defensive Coordinator Joe Tumpkin wasn't too pleased with his unit. I don't know if this is a positive for the offense or negative for the defense. Maybe both.
That's it for today. Not sure if I will be able to stop out tomorrow for practice. Still working out my schedule. I will have more updates during the week and for Saturday's team scrimmage.
- Jahleel Addae went from red (no contact) to a yellow (limited contact) jersey today. He appears to have a rib or abdominal injury. He is expected to be back for 100 percent contact this week.
- Darren Keyton was also back at practice and ran with the first team for the entire session.
- True freshman Jarret Chapman was running with the first team defense at cornerback opposite Lorenzo White. Derek Carter had been moved down to second team.
- Speaking of Chapman, he had some highs and lows on the day. He made a nice pass deflection in the corner of the end zone during red zone skeleton. He leaped and just deflected the ball from Cody Wilson on a nice pass from Ryan Radcliff. On the slightly embarrassing side, he was hurdled by TE David Blackburn for a touchdown earlier in the practice. It was quite an athletic play by Blackburn.
- Leron Eaddy made a nice interception on Brandon Fricke. He stepped in front of Billy Myler to make the INT. It was a nice instinctive move by Eaddy.
- In terms of the quarterbacks, it is pretty clear that Ryan Radcliff throws the best ball in the group. He has the best arm strength and touch and also has improved his accuracy. I thought A.J. Westerndorp struggled today, especially with his accuracy.
- Alex Niznak clearly is still on the learning curve. I would be shocked if he was anything but redshirted. A lot of people talk about the speed of the game picking up for freshmen and think about the improved speed of defensive backs for quarterbacks. But, I think Niznak is also struggling with the improved speed of his receivers. He is throwing behind and short to a lot of his guys. Clearly the speed and talent of his receivers at CMU are an upgrade from the ones he had at Ithaca.
- The receivers CMU has look solid. Cedric Fraser looks very talented and like the best outside receiver, but he just hasn't been able to put it on the field in games. Jerry Harris has been hobbled with an injury, but still shows some good things. I think were CMU is strongest though is with its redshirt and true freshmen. It is a really talented group that should be amazing in a couple of years.
- At tight end, Connor Odykirk has looked good behind David Blackburn, while Jarrett Fleming looks impressive in size. He has really added some mass and should be a nice addition to the offense.
- At running back, freshman Anthony Garland looks good. He really likes to deliver the hits and isn't afraid of contact. He probably won't see time this year because of the top-heavy depth at the position, but he will be in the mix in years to come.
- In full team drills, the first team offense seemed to have their way with the first team defense, especially in the running game. Defensive Coordinator Joe Tumpkin wasn't too pleased with his unit. I don't know if this is a positive for the offense or negative for the defense. Maybe both.
That's it for today. Not sure if I will be able to stop out tomorrow for practice. Still working out my schedule. I will have more updates during the week and for Saturday's team scrimmage.
posted by Nate Schneider at
9:53 AM
5 Comments:
Terrific stuff Drew! Please keep an eye on two areas for us:
When you get an assessment over the coming days/weeks, please let us know which skilled true freshman (specifically WR's & CB's) will be in the rotation to help the Chips.
We know these are the two areas of great concern for the 2011 team and where we need some true freshman WR's & CB's to step up and become difference makers this year.
CMU does not have 5-6 top flight D1 WR's with a couple game changers in their rotational depth as of right now. . . No 10.2-10.5 100 meter guys, no guys who are a threat to score every time they touch it.
Nor does CMU have 6-7 legit D1 CB's on the roster (like a CB crew of Josh Gordy, Kirkston Edwards, Chaz West, Tommy Mama, Vince Agnew, LaVarus Williams) to go thru a full season with. I don't see a large number of corners with hips and skills, with 4.45, 4.4, 4.3 type of speed out there competing in the CB rotation.
Today, can we even put five legit D1 corners on the field against spread teams?
Derek Carter is a LB and wasn't good enough at corner and didn't have the hips/gate to play there in HIGH SCHOOL, and now he could be in the Chip's 5-6 deep cornerbacks?
Carter is the ONLY converted LB to move to Corner in D1 college football in the nation, to my knowledge. There have been a couple LB's to SS over some years but never to corner.
Let us know the true freshman that are the next Josh Gordy, Kirkston Edwards, Chaz West, Tommy Mama, Vince Agnew, and LaVarus Williams' type of CB crew in this year's crop.
I'm hopeful Enos recruited stronger than his predecessor's group of corners who were decent. Hopefully they'll emerge in the weeks ahead. . . .
Good points about the situation with our lack of depth with corners and receivers and not having a guy or two to be true diference maker.Enos has recruited addressing the CB,WR corps problem and brought in legit guys that should have us back with a corner contingent like Gordy / Edwards / West / Mama / Agnew / Williams/ or hopefully better.I do not know if Enos is capable of bringing in talent that will be better than the receiving corps of Brown / Anderson / Poblah / Wilson /.But we will see soon enough
Without the spread, CMU is as good as dead.
Why Dan Enos is force feading an out-dated offensive system onto players who don't have the skills for it is bewildering. CMU's 2008 and 2009 recruiting classes were ranked top in the MAC so Enos DID inherit talent, just not for his MSU Mini-me system.
The Chippewas will struggle to win 4 games this year. Then we can hire a real coach and send Enos back to East Lansing where his heart is anyway.
Football season is upon us! For those of you who have not been to a practice before, if you have a choice, go to the first day with pads on. I may be a caveman for enjoying this, but you can feel the violence in the air. Guys are so jacked up to get in some good licks, the emotion is off the charts...it's like seeing attack dogs let off the chain. Unfortunately I had to miss it this year, but I'm ready for Sept 1!
We are all hopeful Enos recruited stronger than his predecessor's group of corners and receivers. The reality is, THAT is the bar for Dan Enos, like it or not. We shall see.
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