Tulane Football Fall Practice No. 1 Report

BY TIM SCANDURRO

I attended practice Wednesday morning in place of Jake, who is celebrating the Tuesday morning birth of Class of  2044 interior line signee Asher Weinstock (9 lbs, 3 oz.). Congrats to Jake and Angel on the birth of their baby boy!

Today was the first official preseason practice at Yulman Stadium.  The NCAA mandates helmets only for the first couple of days, so the absence of pads and contact always has to be factored into what you see.

Here are some notes from this morning’s workout.

Tempo:  Fast and furious.  This practice MOVED.  Enthusiasm and spirit was sky-high at the start, but as the sun got higher and the morning wore on, the team (more specifically, the offensive linemen in particular) started to feel it.  More on that later.

Punting:  There wasn’t any field goal or kickoff work in the portion of practice I attended, but we did work some on punt/punt return.  Our two punters vying for that job are William Hudlow and Brooks Moore.  Hudlow went first.  Both showed very strong legs but both were a little inconsistent.  The ones they hit well were impressive, but this job will be won by the guy who is more reliable.  Today I didn’t see any measurable separation and this will be a battle to watch.

Punt Return:  We worked several guys but the first one out was Seth Gale.  He’s small and slight of build, but he caught my eye in spring with the separation he got in the shallow cross passing game (more on that below, too).  This is a guy who scored 20 touchdowns for University Lab High of Baton Rouge his senior year as a receiver and returner.  He’s small and slight of build, but he’s dynamic and he catches it well.  Don’t count him out as a potential contributor this fall. Jaylin Lucas was next.  He dropped one and looked a little less sure of himself catching it.  He was an All-American kickoff returner at Indiana, and that’s a different skill set.  But we know what he can do once he secures the football.  Bredell Richardson was next.  The coaches love his hands and he could be one of those guys that gets sent in if we need heels on the ten yard line and just have to catch it.  Maurice Turner and No. 81 (freshman Deuce Hadley, on my roster) also got reps.

The Rehabbed Guys:  Dickson Agu looked great at linebacker.  No brace, and no visible limp at all.  He looks as good or better than he did before he got hurt last year.  Same with Jack Tchienchou who looks to be in great physical condition.  Garrett Mmahat looks very fit as well, as does Jamauri McClure and Ty Thompson.  Cam Roberts, who readers of this column may remember was the ‘toughest tight end to cover’ according to our DBs before he got hurt in camp last year, has a brace on his injured leg and, at least to my eyes, is still favoring it some.  That said he got plenty of reps today and he’s a long, imposing athlete at the tight end position.

A Few New Guys:  On a day when running room was hard to find for our backs, Johnnie Daniels bounced outside on one play and raced down the sideline for what would have been a long gainer.  He’s been billed as a hammer but he can run away from people too.  Vance Bolyard looks like a physically mature tight end who will help us in the run game.  Ed Smith stands out physically.  This is a very mature, physically dominant looking defensive lineman.  From the waist down he’s built like a tank, and he moves better than you’d think.  Reshad Sterling was a handful today also.

A Few Guys Who Flashed:  I’ve always liked Josh Lewis as an emerging talent on the edge of our defensive line, but a guy who caught my eye today was Nik Alston.  He gave our tackles fits and also caused some discomfort in the RPO game when he was left unblocked.  Athletic player.  People have talked about our depth at safety.  One guy who usually gets mentioned about fourth back there is Josh Sims, who is wearing No. 6.  I love our two starting safeties but this dude can play, and he looks to be in great physical condition.  Chase Green—maybe our fifth or sixth safety?-broke on a Trace Johnson pass in 7-on-7 and nearly got it.

The O-Line:  We rotated and subbed very quickly across all units, but it appeared that the first group was John Bock in the middle with Elijah Baker at left guard and Ryan Mickow at left tackle.  On the right side were Reese Baker at guard and Darion Reed at right tackle.  I’m sure we’re cross training guys and the pecking order is not set, but the group needs to acclimate to the heat and each other quickly.  It’s not easy to stay in front of guys like Jahrie Garner and Warren Roberts who can really move, and pads along with running backs you have to stay home against and tackle as a defender will make a difference.  So will conditioning.  You’d like to think everyone will show up in tiptop shape, but it sometimes takes the linemen a bit longer especially in this heat and at the pace we were going.  You can’t really simulate it off the field; you have to get the reps in.   Shadre Hurst was always a freak when it came to leading the way in that department.  He’s gone.  Work to do here but lots of interchangeable parts and depth, and we have a proven O-line coach.  Worth keeping an eye on the progress here as this group continues to gel.

The Offense:  For years I’ve heard “why don’t we…” in relation to our offense, typically followed by the word ‘screen’ or ‘quick throw.’  It’s pretty obvious that we are going to be working the underneath and horizontal areas of the field more than we did under Coach Craddock.  I saw running back screens, tunnel screens, shallow crosses and tight end hitches on full display today.  We have the personnel wide and at tight end and running back to execute these plays successfully, and these ‘safe’ throws make it easy on the quarterbacks and the offensive line.  The RPO game will carry over but this will not be the pro style, play action, seven step drop, slower-developing downfield offense we’ve often run the last few years.  Guys like Garrett Mmahat and Destyn ‘Fat’ Hill, along with ABS and CJ Lewis  and even the aforementioned Seth Gale, have the short area quickness to get open in those shallow areas and do damage after the catch.  So do just about all of our running backs.  I only saw one designed deep throw attempted today, and it was a touchdown on a dime that Trace Johnson dropped in to Gale who got behind LJ Green.  Everything else tended to be safe and high percentage.  We are also going to have the speed option and the quarterback draw featured in the playbook this fall, based on what I saw today.

The Quarterbacks:  Semonza and Criss-Gremillion were 1-2 or 2-1 depending on the practice period.  Trace Johnson was next, and then Dagan Bruno.  None of the other quarterbacks got any work that I saw. There was good and bad here from each player, and I didn’t see anything that leads me to want to crown anybody or name a favorite after one day.  There were a few interceptions today.   All four of the contenders were picked today, I’m pretty sure.  There’s no doubt that our back seven can run and is sticky in coverage, so late decisions and inaccurate throws (there were some of both, from all of the guys) are going to be punished.  I will say that all of our quarterbacks did a good job finding our tight ends underneath.  If Ty Thompson stays healthy, he’s a real X factor this year for us. It’s hard not to like what we have in young Trace Johnson.  He’s the smallest and slightest of all the guys, and I don’t know how strong his arm is.  But the footwork, the use of his eyes, and the mechanics are all indicative of a player who has worked hard on his craft.  He’s a guy you can win games with in the future.  You can see why he has separated himself from the other young quarterbacks who were here last year.  Semonza and Criss-Gremillion both made nice decisive throws in the quick release game, and both struggled a little  more pulling the trigger accurately or on time further down the field.  It was Day One, and we were rotating receivers and backs in and out quite a bit, so again, grain of salt.  But as with the punters, none of these quarterbacks separated and won the job today.  The old saying is that if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any.  We have four right now.  Jake Retzlaff isn’t walking through that door, so let’s hope somebody seizes this job with two hands in the next couple weeks.