Monday’s practice report is going to have to be a tad vaguer than the scrimmage report. In an effort to bring you more detail in Saturday's scrimmage report, the Asset and I may have out-kicked our coverage as there was another Staff warning to STFU or lose your scholarship, job, etc. With that said, I’ll commence the balancing act of giving you Barkers tidbits without jeopardizing livelihoods.
The QB battle is the talk of Longhorn netdom currently so let’s start there. As I tweeted last night via @Recruitocosm, David Ash reportedly got the majority of snaps with the first team. The results were pretty solid as the freshman used both his arm and his feet to move the ball against the first team defense. Ash wasn’t as sharp throwing the ball as he was in the scrimmage but we’re told he looked dynamic on designed runs. (But keep in mind the defense is only allowed thumping the QB.) There’s no denying that Ash is the most dynamic runner at the position, and it looks like the staff is designing a package of plays that suits those skills. It’s also important to note that we were told Ash didn’t turn it over.
Case McCoy looked really good in his ones vs ones scrimmage work. We’re told he excels at checking into the correct play pre-snap, and then figuring out a way to deliver the ball where it needs to go. It’s not pretty, but it’s effective. In the screen game, McCoy was better than the other QB’s at delivering the short ball during scrimmage work.
Gilbert and Wood didn't get near as many snaps in live bullets so there's not a lot that we can report. We were told that it seemed like the staff is giving Ash and McCoy an audition.
The Oline experimented with a different look on the first team. Mason Walters played some RG and was replaced by Trey Hopkins at RT. The move makes sense considering Okafor gave Walters fits on the edge in Saturday’s scrimmage. The Asset says Hopkins held his own against Okafor in pass-pro and won more battles than he lost in the running game. Hopkins is the team’s best lineman and it’s not close. Espinosa played well at center and Snow got most of the LG snaps with Poehlmann spelling him there on occasion. Allen looks to have taken the reins as the Left tackle and that’s good news.
AT TE, Irby and Grant got most of the snaps with the ones. Nothing to report here.
At WR it was Shipley, White and Davis working mostly with the first team, with Harris spelling White at flanker. They’re using a lot of motion with Shipley in the slot in an effort to get him a free release. This group had a rough day with some drops we’re told.
At running back and fullback, there wasn’t a lot to report. Whitaker and Bergeron shared most of the scrimmage snaps. Malcolm Brown participated in drill work and looked healthy. Our source thinks Brown will play in the upcoming scrimmage. Cody Johnson worked some at FB.
I’ll have the defense up later this afternoon.
Sorry for the brevity. Hook 'Em!