After attending spring practice on Tuesday, here are some tidbits that I took away from the session.
First off, DeWayne Walker and his staff are very hands on. I stood by Walker tutoring his cornerbacks for roughly seven minutes the other day. He was teaching them the ins and outs of the position, how to read receivers' breaks, how to read what the quarterback was going to do at any particular time, from the signal caller's movement under center, to his drops, to his eyes. There was a lot of enthusiasm out there.
Timm Rosenbach was in constant communication with the quarterbacks and the other assistant coaches were very enthusiastic. It was nice to see.
The quarterback position is one of intrigue. Both Jeff Fleming and Trevor Walls are big kids who can throw. Although it's just one drill at one practice, the offense seems to be predicated around short passes, a version of the West Coast offense. This isn't a huge change from last season, as the Aggies seemed to throw short more often than not in 2008. Walls stood out to me. At 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, he's built like a brick house. And he's redshirt a freshman.
At receiver, Marcus Anderson and Julius Fleming were getting snaps. The team also has Darrius Preston on the roster. Preston was recruited by Hal Mumme and last year's staff was excited about the Florida natives ability. He redshirted and it seems like he is still on the club. Todd Lee is also back. I think there could be some sleepers on the depth chart here.
Davon House had an interception. We've all been following the cornerback since his freshman year when he returned an interception back 100-plus yards vs. Idaho in his first career start. He continues to develop as a player. Under Walker, he could be ready to take the next step as an elite cornerback in the conference. "Could" is the key word in that sentence.
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8 comments:
What a difference a year makes.
Last year Dumme spent so much time on a golf cart during practice, he developed hemorhoids!
I'm glad the staff is hands on and the intesity has been turned up a couple of notches!!
Last year, the defense was run ragged by JL Dunn while the offense just stood and watched thus, becoming a soft bunch of patsies!!
Once they put on the pads, I'll go to a practice and see the intensity with my own two eyes but, I'm hearing good stuff from a lot of different sources!!
Teddy,
I keep hearing about the intensity level on this years team.
You covered the team last year, is it day and night difference?
Everyone talks about D-Houses break out game vs. Idaho. But I saw it coming during the Utep game two years.
He will be an All WAC before his time is over at NMSU!!
2:09
I can give you a better idea a few more practices from now but I feel things might be a bit higher.
One thing about the old offensive coaching staff is that they didn't want players going full bore in practice all the time. That was part of their philosophy. And any team will have a tough time when they are losing. This time of year the past two seasons, the old staff was just as optimistic as this one is. If you're not fired up going into the new year, you should probably go into a new profession.
At the end of the day, Walker tutoring defensive backs was a very cool thing to see. That's the head coach, being hands on with his players. Hal didn't do that as much, but everyone has their own style. At the end of the day, it comes down to wins and losses. We'll be able to tell more about the overall attitude of the team the more we see them on the field.
How are the Kickers/Punters looking? that was somewhat weak last year.
What happened to the small athletic receiver that got hurt during the season, the tough white kid?
I believe the tough kid you speak of is Wes Neiman.
Wes suffered a serious back injury last season. From my understanding, he is not in camp with the Aggies this spring and will not be playing with the team this season.
Its interesting to hear that the old staff didn't want to go full bore on practice.
Maybe I'm from the old school and was told; "the way you practice is the way you will play." Now we know why we imploded.
Good to hear the kids and coaches are getting after it.
We expect our team to be in a dog fight every game and things coming down to the wire!
How are the players holding up...any injuries?
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