Location – Ladd Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
The North team coached by Jon Gruden and the rest of the Oakland Raiders staff was the second half of the practice schedule.
Some North roster notes:
- Wisconsin OL Beau Benzschawel has a right pinky issues, will practice
- North Carolina State LB Germaine Pratt has right wrist injury, will practice
- Northern Illinois LB Sutton Smith has issues with pinkies on both hands, will practice
- Notre Dame RB Dexter Williams also has a right pinky issues, will practice
They started off breaking off into positional groups to do drills. Tempo of this practice seems to be a little quicker than the South.
Arkansas LB Dre Greenlaw is very vocal in change of direction drills grunting at every change
Duke QB Daniel Jones looks to be the most accurate so far hitting receivers in stride vs air.
Missouri QB Drew Lock’s anticipation looked a little slow on curl route. Release should be quicker but it’s early.
Boston College TE Tommy Sweeney has the soft hands in this group smooth reception each time.
Stetson TE Donald Parham looks a little uncomfortable on a seam route. Running wasn’t smooth.
North Carolina State WR Jakobi Meyers suffers the first drop of the session on a slant. Right through his hands.
A good battle brewing already between Texas DB Kris Boyd and Northern Colorado WR Alex Wesley. A good jam at the line stunned Wesley before a quick in route that Boyd was able to knock away.
Ohio State WR Terry McLaurin ran a go route right by Washburn DB Corey Ballentine and left him 10 yards in the dust.
Boyd and Wesley back for another rep. Wesley runs a curl, leaps for the catch and gets undercut by Boyd.
Georgia St WR Penny Hart was getting mugged with Ballantine having a hold of his jersey. Made a nice contested catch.
Hart this time versus Michigan State DB Khari Willis runs a post corner and gets Willis twisted up. Hart has some quickness to him.
Ballentine wins twos rep vs Wesley getting a pass breakup on a dig route. And then on a go route he’s used excellent body positioning to get inside of Wesley and force him toward the sideline.
Sweeney wins with physicality on a dig route pushing off at the top of the stem.
McLaurin shows good acceleration out of his break on a dig against Boyd. Gets good separation for an easy catch. I’ll say this now, McLaurin was open all day in one on ones, 7 on 7’s and 11 on 11.
Washington TE Drew Sample isn’t the fastest guy but he gets open and has reliable hands. He and Sweeney are both excellent blockers as well.
Best throw of the day was by Jones in 7 on 7’s who hit Sweeney on a corner route with perfect touch to lay it over the DB, in front of the safety and keep him in bounds.
Northern Illinois OL Max Scharping got beat by an outside speed rush by TCU LB Ben Banogu. Scharping need work on his footwork including a poor kick step that makes him susceptible to these type rushes.
UNC Charlotte OL Nate Davis handles a rip move by Maryland DL Byron Cowart and pushes him up the arc.
Washington DL Greg Gaines shows a quick swim move to beat Boston College OL Chris Lindstrom.
Washington OL Kaleb McGary beats Sutton Smith to the spot on a speed rush and closes him off.
Scharping against Oregon DL Jalen Jelks on a speed to power pass rush. In contrast to the early mention of Scharping, when he gets a guy where he wants him, that’s it. He’s got a great anchor and the defender goes nowhere.
WR Screen to UMass WR Andrew Isabella and he got upfield in a flash and with a good block from, I think, UC Davis WR Keelen Doss and he was 10 yards downfield before he got touched.
Missouri QB Drew Lock threw a good ball on a crosser away from the defender that got dropped by Hart. Hart’s only misstep on the day.
Notre Dame LB Te’Von Coney got the only “sack” of the session. I didn’t see how he got there but he got there quick and put two hands on him to which a coach yelled, “Stay off the quarterback”. Geez, it was just two hand touch coach.
The huddle up and that the end of day one except for…
Cartwheel to backflip by Western Illinois DL Khalen Saunders. A 320lb defensive lineman doing that. If you haven’t seen it, check it out.
One more Steelers coach sighting today, Defensive Line Coach Karl Dunbar.
It was a great day and I have a new found respect for Alex Kozora and what he does in training camp.
