Highwayman here filling in for JS while he and Tips are making their way to Sin City for the Cosm's little field trip this weekend. Luckily, Haysuess was able to phone in some practice tidbits via The Asset before his departure. Enjoy.
- Garrett Gilbert had a solid day and remains the frontrunner for the starting job against Rice in three weeks. Connor Wood also performed well with a more accurate effort but still seems to be stuck in the bottom half of the order. Case McCoy was the opposite of aforementioned two as he had a shaky outing that featured a bad INT to one of the LBs. If snaps are any indication of the current pecking order, Ash is sitting in the #2 spot. He appears to be more accurate, faster and physically capable than the rest despite his true fresh status.
- Fozzy Whittaker is looking the best in the RB group. His willingness to hit the hole, run between the tackles and his ability to get significant yardage after passing that first line of defense is encouraging to see. Jeremy Hills is also opening eyes with his speed and cutting ability. Joe Bergeron continues to be intimidating as ever whether it's making a pancake block here or running over some poor soul there. Malcolm Brown was seen on the sidelines along with other injured players but he was jogging for most of the practice. His condition isn't thought to be anything worth worrying about.
- DJ Grant, Blaine Irby and Darius Terrell are the three TEs being talked about the most with Grant being arguably the most impressive of the group. Terrell's stock is on the rise with multiple nice grabs in the past couple of practices.
- There continues to be a lot of movement on the OL as Searels is doing his best to find the most productive combinations. The lineup today saw Tray Allen at LT, Trey Hopkins at LG, Dom Espinosa and David Snow at C, Garrett Porter and Thomas Ashcraft at RG and Mason Walters at RT. Espinosa has only been working at center when he receives reps.
- Alex Okafor and Jackson Jeffcoat are holding down the two DE spots with Okafor continuing to be the man. It goes along with what Manny Diaz said about Okafor himself not even knowing how good he can possibly be. Reggie Wilson is still a bit behind as he's having trouble shedding blocks against the more technical tackles such as Paden Kelley and Luke Poehlmann.
- Kheeston Randall is your obvious #1 DT but Calvin Howell seems to be coming along as he had a great day. Desmond Jackson is still competing for early playing time as he's learning to get off blocks, but is in the backfield any time he finds a crease. Ashton Dorsey appears to be the #2 here.
- Not much to be said about the LB group as Emmanuel Acho, Jordan Hicks and Keenan Robinson make up the most solid position on the team with Steve Edmond continuing to receive reps.
- The secondary has had a bit of a different look with Quandre Diggs working first team opposite Carrington Byndom and Adrian Phillips taking on nickelback responsibilities. Blake Gideon and Kenny Vaccaro remain the top options at safety. Defense ran a basic 4-3 look for the day.
- The tables turned today with the offense having the upper hand in the running game and defense having one of their best days against the pass.
Until next time...Hook 'Em.