Observations from USC's 75-minute player-run workout ...
Toa Lobendahn, Viane Talamaivao and Khaliel Rodgers participated.
Dominic Davis watched the workout. Adoree' Jackson, Justin Davis and John Plattenburg were not present.
After a brief stretch of 7-on-7s, the team had an extended 11-on-11 period.
Wheeler took some more reps. He's not sporting a brace. Good sign.
The running backs were targeted often coming out of the backfield. (There were a lot of perimeter passes in general today.) Aca'Cedric Ware looked very natural catching the ball. He demonstrated a nice burst, too, after the catch.
Tre Madden ran extra carefully while taking a handoff. One play later, he caught a swing pass and turned it up a gear while running up the sideline. First time I've seen him run that hard in a while.
***
Cody Kessler had a nice pass over the middle to Robby Kolanz, who beat Lamar Dawson on the play.
With the corners playing way off, Kessler threw immediately after the snap to Steven Mitchell on the outside. Mitchell picked up a big chunk before being tapped. Heads up play by Kessler.
Kessler also threw a really nice 30-yard pass to JuJu Smith over the middle. JuJu went high to bring it down.
Kessler had another nice ball to Connor Spears, throwing it between Cameron Smith and Uchenna Nwosu.
Near the end of Kessler's reps, C. Smith picked him off and returned it for a touchdown. It feels like some variation of that occurs almost every workout. The play prompted Su'a Cravens to jokingly yell, "We want Wittek back."
***
By the way, Cravens tweeted he's up to 220 pounds, and he looks like it. He was at 210 at the end of spring and said he wanted to play between 215-220. He's ready to go.
Max Browne seemed to be reading coverages really well today, despite not getting as much protection from the reserve linemen.
Browne hit Deontay Burnett on a deep post.
After catching a pass near the line of scrimmage, Mitchell stopped on a dime to lose Chris Hawkins and head upfield.
JuJu sabotaged a Biggie Marshall corner blitz, not because Marshall telegraphed it but because JuJu overheard Kevon Seymour's defensive call, allowing the QB to adjust and hit Mitchell up the seam.
Seymour went step for step with Isaac Whitney on a deep route. Whitney wasn't targeted much but he hustles nonetheless.
Marshall and Quinton Powell both had sacks.
Marshall sniffed out a WR screen for a TFL.
Darreus Rogers made an excellent catch in traffic, between Leon McQuay and Ykili Ross. Sam Darnold put it in a tight crevice.
Darnold then tried to go deep to Whitney, who was double-covered by Ross and Kevon. No dice.
***
Hawkins looks really comfortable at safety these days. I don't think he'll be moving back to corner at USC. Just my hunch. He'd probably take some reps there in these workouts if he was. He broke up a deep pass to Madden.
Don Hill correctly read a pass over the middle from Ricky Town but couldn't hang on for the interception.
Ross showed great recovery speed in running down James Toland on a RB screen. Ross also broke up a deep ball to Rogers from Browne. The latter play incited Cravens to say, "We don't have a deep threat. YK's our deep threat."
I was extremely impressed with Ross, who got his most reps in three weeks of workouts. I believe this kid can play at a high level at cornerback, safety or receiver. Just a freak athlete.
***
Some of the skill players and Town, Darnold and Michael Bowman stayed around for 1-on-1s while the tight ends worked on the JUGS machine. Some of the highlights:
Ross intercepted the first pass while defending Burnett.
Burnett beat Ross on a nice double move but Ross recovered in time to force an incompletion.
JuJu beat Marshall off his break but Marshall got his hand in-between JuJu's hands for a pass-break-up.
Ross blanketed JuJu for another incompletion.
Marshall intercepted a pass from Darnold to De'Quan Hampton.
The 15-minute period ended with JuJu beating Hampton for a jumpball downfield.
JuJu also played some DB during this period but it was in good fun. I don't see him switching to defense, not even on a part-time basis.
Ross, Burnett, JuJu and Jalen Greene then retreated to the JUGS machine.
Toa Lobendahn, Viane Talamaivao and Khaliel Rodgers participated.
Dominic Davis watched the workout. Adoree' Jackson, Justin Davis and John Plattenburg were not present.
After a brief stretch of 7-on-7s, the team had an extended 11-on-11 period.
Wheeler took some more reps. He's not sporting a brace. Good sign.
The running backs were targeted often coming out of the backfield. (There were a lot of perimeter passes in general today.) Aca'Cedric Ware looked very natural catching the ball. He demonstrated a nice burst, too, after the catch.
Tre Madden ran extra carefully while taking a handoff. One play later, he caught a swing pass and turned it up a gear while running up the sideline. First time I've seen him run that hard in a while.
***
Cody Kessler had a nice pass over the middle to Robby Kolanz, who beat Lamar Dawson on the play.
With the corners playing way off, Kessler threw immediately after the snap to Steven Mitchell on the outside. Mitchell picked up a big chunk before being tapped. Heads up play by Kessler.
Kessler also threw a really nice 30-yard pass to JuJu Smith over the middle. JuJu went high to bring it down.
Kessler had another nice ball to Connor Spears, throwing it between Cameron Smith and Uchenna Nwosu.
Near the end of Kessler's reps, C. Smith picked him off and returned it for a touchdown. It feels like some variation of that occurs almost every workout. The play prompted Su'a Cravens to jokingly yell, "We want Wittek back."
***
By the way, Cravens tweeted he's up to 220 pounds, and he looks like it. He was at 210 at the end of spring and said he wanted to play between 215-220. He's ready to go.
Max Browne seemed to be reading coverages really well today, despite not getting as much protection from the reserve linemen.
Browne hit Deontay Burnett on a deep post.
After catching a pass near the line of scrimmage, Mitchell stopped on a dime to lose Chris Hawkins and head upfield.
JuJu sabotaged a Biggie Marshall corner blitz, not because Marshall telegraphed it but because JuJu overheard Kevon Seymour's defensive call, allowing the QB to adjust and hit Mitchell up the seam.
Seymour went step for step with Isaac Whitney on a deep route. Whitney wasn't targeted much but he hustles nonetheless.
Marshall and Quinton Powell both had sacks.
Marshall sniffed out a WR screen for a TFL.
Darreus Rogers made an excellent catch in traffic, between Leon McQuay and Ykili Ross. Sam Darnold put it in a tight crevice.
Darnold then tried to go deep to Whitney, who was double-covered by Ross and Kevon. No dice.
***
Hawkins looks really comfortable at safety these days. I don't think he'll be moving back to corner at USC. Just my hunch. He'd probably take some reps there in these workouts if he was. He broke up a deep pass to Madden.
Don Hill correctly read a pass over the middle from Ricky Town but couldn't hang on for the interception.
Ross showed great recovery speed in running down James Toland on a RB screen. Ross also broke up a deep ball to Rogers from Browne. The latter play incited Cravens to say, "We don't have a deep threat. YK's our deep threat."
I was extremely impressed with Ross, who got his most reps in three weeks of workouts. I believe this kid can play at a high level at cornerback, safety or receiver. Just a freak athlete.
***
Some of the skill players and Town, Darnold and Michael Bowman stayed around for 1-on-1s while the tight ends worked on the JUGS machine. Some of the highlights:
Ross intercepted the first pass while defending Burnett.
Burnett beat Ross on a nice double move but Ross recovered in time to force an incompletion.
JuJu beat Marshall off his break but Marshall got his hand in-between JuJu's hands for a pass-break-up.
Ross blanketed JuJu for another incompletion.
Marshall intercepted a pass from Darnold to De'Quan Hampton.
The 15-minute period ended with JuJu beating Hampton for a jumpball downfield.
JuJu also played some DB during this period but it was in good fun. I don't see him switching to defense, not even on a part-time basis.
Ross, Burnett, JuJu and Jalen Greene then retreated to the JUGS machine.
