Notes and observations from Sunday night ...
Another nice-sized crowd tonight. Still no pads.
Practice opened with warm-ups and then simulated kickoff and punt returns. The group of ball-catchers included Tre Madden, Aca'Cedric Ware, Kevon Seymour, Justin Davis, Adoree' Jackson, Su'a Cravens, Biggie Marshall, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Isaac Whitney and Isaiah Langley. There's really no telling who they actually plan to use as return men. (I intended to ask Johnny Nansen about special teams but he exited while I was interviewing someone else. Will try to get him tomorrow.)
USC did a drill where it had a player try to get past two defenders in a confined space, similar to what you would see on a punt return, right after it's caught. Don't remember seeing this last year.
Team-period highlights:
Cody Temple got a lot of the first-team reps again ahead of Claude Pelon at DE.
Cody Kessler made a strong throw to Darreus Rogers for a TD. Rogers caught it at the end of a crossing route and, despite all his momentum taking him out of bounds, turned upfield and finished the play. Jackson encourages Jonathan Lockett, who came in late, to finish the play as well.
Soma Vainuku had a big run. We saw quite a bit of him tonight.
Biggie clotheslined Dom Davis (from the front), which drew a roar. Biggie is going to be a physical dude.
Osa Masina catches a tipped throw from Town for an INT. Sark has been stressing turnovers and he got some more tonight. He said after practice the coaches are making it a point of emphasis to have defenders get their hands on more balls. We've certainly seen that thus far.
***
Rogers had his back turned but somehow picks up a ball thrown to the wrong shoulder, whirls around and catches it, and stays in bounds. Outstanding awareness by D-Rog.
Kessler telegraphs a throw to Caleb Wilson and Langley breaks it up.
Jones runs with a spring in his step. We haven't seen the RBs go full speed yet but you can tell he can really move.
Kessler completes a pass to Whitney, who's covered by Adoree', for about two yards. I believe that was the first completion on Adoree', and he's not giving up much.
Darnold got a lot of reps and had a strong day.
***
Ware comes in and picks up five on his first carry.
Browne goes deep to Hampton, who holds on while being hit by Marshall. Great concentration from Hampton.
Dom Davis receives a pitch and is hit by Langley and then by Cam Smith, who jars the ball loose.
Too many checkdowns early on in 7-on-7s.
Davis catches another ball out of the slot and darts upfield or a big gain. His movement has reporters likening him to Darren Sproles. Sproles, of course, carried the ball a lot in college but Davis looks like he might be used more like Sproles has been in the NFL.
I know I mentioned this yesterday but JuJu and Kessler really look comfortable. Kessler seems to know exactly where JuJu is and what he's going to do.
Burnett makes a great catch between a pair of defenders on a downfield throw from Kessler. Nice anticipation from Kessler, but he underthrew it. Burnett probably scores on a better pass.
***
Town enters and has one of his best sequences since he's been here. (I actually thought it was Kessler at first because the 6 and 8 on their backs can sometimes be mistaken for each other.)
He begins with a really crisp throw downfield to George Katrib. Then he finds Yoofi Quansah in the slot. Then JuJu on a slant. And then Robby Kolanz.
Browne enters the fray and immediately goes deep to Hampton. Those two have a real connection. Additionally, Browne loves to air it out.
Darnold steps in and has a strong series too. He hits Aaron Minor deep down the sideline. Then he goes to Tyler Petite up the seam. He finishes with another completion but I couldn't make it who it was to.
***
Next up: field goals. Matt Boermeester and Alex Wood attempted five field goals each. They stepped back a couple yards after each one but none were attempted from further than 35 yards. They both make four.
Burnett makes a ridiculous one-hand catch during a receiver drill. It's easy to see why his teammates already love his potential.
Back to 11-on-11s and Kessler connects with Connor Spears. We haven't seen teh tight ends involved much at all in the passing game so far.
Kessler goes to Mitchell in the slot. Then Madden out of the backfield. And then Taylor McNamara for a short gain.
Whitney makes a solid one-hand catch on a pass from Browne. We saw this from Whitney in spring, where he would follow a so-so day with a really good one. Tonight was definitely the latter.
Madden makes a nice catch and a better run. If he can stay healthy this season, watch out.
Vainuku is also running well. He gets another big gain. You wonder if they'll actually use him as a ball-carrier this year. There seems to be a role for him but I'm skeptical about it actually happening.
***
Darnold hits Hampton.
Pelon and Biggie combine to stuff Ware.
Darnold scrambles for a nice gain.
Madden goes for a long run.
Vainuku catches a pass out of the backfield.
Town finds Daniel Imatorbhebhe at the last second and hits him over the middle.
Don Hill beats Roy Hemsley on consecutive plays and sacks Browne both times.
A play later, Browne rolls to his left and fires downfield but it's dropped. Browne doesn't always get enough reps with the scholarship receivers.
***
I would be remiss to point out that JuJu is not dropping passes. It was a legitimate concern after spring, when he was fighting through a broken thumb. He refused to attribute it to his injury but it was clearly affecting him.
Darnold can really move in the pocket. He spins away from Porter Gustin and nearly completes a deep pass to the sideline. Looked like it was dropped.
Final challenge:
Another nice-sized crowd tonight. Still no pads.
Practice opened with warm-ups and then simulated kickoff and punt returns. The group of ball-catchers included Tre Madden, Aca'Cedric Ware, Kevon Seymour, Justin Davis, Adoree' Jackson, Su'a Cravens, Biggie Marshall, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Isaac Whitney and Isaiah Langley. There's really no telling who they actually plan to use as return men. (I intended to ask Johnny Nansen about special teams but he exited while I was interviewing someone else. Will try to get him tomorrow.)
USC did a drill where it had a player try to get past two defenders in a confined space, similar to what you would see on a punt return, right after it's caught. Don't remember seeing this last year.
- Steven Mitchell Jr. had a great move to get past Biggie Marshall.
- Isaiah Langley whizzed by Cam Smith.
- Mitchell juked Ronald Jones II and Nick Schlossberg.
- Ykili Ross split two defenders.
Team-period highlights:
Cody Temple got a lot of the first-team reps again ahead of Claude Pelon at DE.
Cody Kessler made a strong throw to Darreus Rogers for a TD. Rogers caught it at the end of a crossing route and, despite all his momentum taking him out of bounds, turned upfield and finished the play. Jackson encourages Jonathan Lockett, who came in late, to finish the play as well.
Soma Vainuku had a big run. We saw quite a bit of him tonight.
Biggie clotheslined Dom Davis (from the front), which drew a roar. Biggie is going to be a physical dude.
Osa Masina catches a tipped throw from Town for an INT. Sark has been stressing turnovers and he got some more tonight. He said after practice the coaches are making it a point of emphasis to have defenders get their hands on more balls. We've certainly seen that thus far.
***
Rogers had his back turned but somehow picks up a ball thrown to the wrong shoulder, whirls around and catches it, and stays in bounds. Outstanding awareness by D-Rog.
Kessler telegraphs a throw to Caleb Wilson and Langley breaks it up.
Jones runs with a spring in his step. We haven't seen the RBs go full speed yet but you can tell he can really move.
Kessler completes a pass to Whitney, who's covered by Adoree', for about two yards. I believe that was the first completion on Adoree', and he's not giving up much.
Darnold got a lot of reps and had a strong day.
***
Ware comes in and picks up five on his first carry.
Browne goes deep to Hampton, who holds on while being hit by Marshall. Great concentration from Hampton.
Dom Davis receives a pitch and is hit by Langley and then by Cam Smith, who jars the ball loose.
Too many checkdowns early on in 7-on-7s.
Davis catches another ball out of the slot and darts upfield or a big gain. His movement has reporters likening him to Darren Sproles. Sproles, of course, carried the ball a lot in college but Davis looks like he might be used more like Sproles has been in the NFL.
I know I mentioned this yesterday but JuJu and Kessler really look comfortable. Kessler seems to know exactly where JuJu is and what he's going to do.
Burnett makes a great catch between a pair of defenders on a downfield throw from Kessler. Nice anticipation from Kessler, but he underthrew it. Burnett probably scores on a better pass.
***
Town enters and has one of his best sequences since he's been here. (I actually thought it was Kessler at first because the 6 and 8 on their backs can sometimes be mistaken for each other.)
He begins with a really crisp throw downfield to George Katrib. Then he finds Yoofi Quansah in the slot. Then JuJu on a slant. And then Robby Kolanz.
Browne enters the fray and immediately goes deep to Hampton. Those two have a real connection. Additionally, Browne loves to air it out.
Darnold steps in and has a strong series too. He hits Aaron Minor deep down the sideline. Then he goes to Tyler Petite up the seam. He finishes with another completion but I couldn't make it who it was to.
***
Next up: field goals. Matt Boermeester and Alex Wood attempted five field goals each. They stepped back a couple yards after each one but none were attempted from further than 35 yards. They both make four.
Burnett makes a ridiculous one-hand catch during a receiver drill. It's easy to see why his teammates already love his potential.
Back to 11-on-11s and Kessler connects with Connor Spears. We haven't seen teh tight ends involved much at all in the passing game so far.
Kessler goes to Mitchell in the slot. Then Madden out of the backfield. And then Taylor McNamara for a short gain.
Whitney makes a solid one-hand catch on a pass from Browne. We saw this from Whitney in spring, where he would follow a so-so day with a really good one. Tonight was definitely the latter.
Madden makes a nice catch and a better run. If he can stay healthy this season, watch out.
Vainuku is also running well. He gets another big gain. You wonder if they'll actually use him as a ball-carrier this year. There seems to be a role for him but I'm skeptical about it actually happening.
***
Darnold hits Hampton.
Pelon and Biggie combine to stuff Ware.
Darnold scrambles for a nice gain.
Madden goes for a long run.
Vainuku catches a pass out of the backfield.
Town finds Daniel Imatorbhebhe at the last second and hits him over the middle.
Don Hill beats Roy Hemsley on consecutive plays and sacks Browne both times.
A play later, Browne rolls to his left and fires downfield but it's dropped. Browne doesn't always get enough reps with the scholarship receivers.
***
I would be remiss to point out that JuJu is not dropping passes. It was a legitimate concern after spring, when he was fighting through a broken thumb. He refused to attribute it to his injury but it was clearly affecting him.
Darnold can really move in the pocket. He spins away from Porter Gustin and nearly completes a deep pass to the sideline. Looked like it was dropped.
Final challenge:
- Madden picks up about seven yards.
- Kessler hits Mitchell for another 7.
- A run is stuffed.
- Su'a sacks Kessler.
- Kessler hits Mitchell in the flat but it's thrown short of the marker and the defense wins. Like Saturday, this one went for 2.5 hours.
