Open Practice Today Comments

[rich1122]

I stayed until almost the end. Tough to tell anything by a practice. They are drills. It seemed spirited.

I watched DeLeone do this drill where the O Line had to run a play and he set up the d (with blocking pads) and verbally tested each lineman as to his assignments. So say you have Green 8 Strong, then he sets up 4 or 5 defensive alignments and they have to know what to do. It was fast. I understand why DeLeone is coaching the line. This Zone Blocking stuff is intense.

You notice some things, but I liked Max DeLorenzo catching the ball out of the backfield.

Stephan still on crutches. Tyler Bullock with some protection on the ankle - rolled it he said.

Weird but I noticed that I could not find Ellis Marder on the field for defense.

Anybody else??

 

[Dann]

thanks for the notes rich!

 

[Srqhusky]

Thanks for the notes. That's exactly what I was curious about what deleone was doing differently

 

[Chin Diesel]

Crap.

Looks like our punt protection is horrible again. Will we ever get it fixed?

From Jim Fuller's notes from the practice.

Some players who caught my eye today included freshman safety Obi Melifonwu who followed up a blocked punt by making some solid plays on defense.


http://runwayramblings.blogspot.com/

(Note- I don't really think our punt protection is that bad, but what the hell, someone has to be negative)

 

[metsfan2323]

http://courantblogs.com/uconn-footb...gs/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Practice notes from Dez.

 

[sportsart]

After reading the comments from McCummings on Dez's blog, and the Osiecki situation and the Nebrich transfer, you get the feeling there is some serious soul searching going on. (don't know if them all being on offense means anything or not)

 

[metsfan2323]

After reading the comments from McCummings on Dez's blog, and the Osiecki situation and the Nebrich transfer, you get the feeling there is some serious soul searching going on. (don't know if them all being on offense means anything or not)

It does seem that more guys on offense are having issues. I can say from attending practice that Don Brown comes across as very charismatic and likable (even though he is all over his players constantly) and we have heard reports that the players do love playing for him. It is a very good thing he did not go to Yale.

 

[Dann]

id call it phase 2 of 3 in the weeding out the guys the staff thinks aren't on the level they want to be on as a program. in the situation they were in last year they couldn't just force out everyone at once because of depth issues. now with a good size class of like 30 players coming in they can weed out a bit more. once again this winter/spring/rs jr grads a few more will go and the staff will have its team in place.

 

[whaler11]

id call it phase 2 of 3 in the weeding out the guys the staff thinks aren't on the level they want to be on as a program. in the situation they were in last year they couldn't just force out everyone at once because of depth issues. now with a good size class of like 30 players coming in they can weed out a bit more. once again this winter/spring/rs jr grads a few more will go and the staff will have its team in place.

If they are weeding out the QB I might recommend a bit more patience. Last week they were an injury to Whitmer away from having JMac and Driscoll as the entire depth chart.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Ideally you always want at least 3 scholarship QB's on the roster at all times. And, as we learned in 05 & 06......you always take a QB in every recruiting class.

 

[Sean]

The McCummings comments didn't concern me at all - didn't sound like he was home for any reason other than genuine family reasons.

 

[danlow1963]

this weeks practice was much more intense and fast paced than last weeks and any of the ones from last year. Coaches were all over the players from the opening, and judging by the "colorful metaphors" flying by everyone from Don Brown to coach Day, they weren't too concerned about any of us overhearing them, lol. Was impressed by the offense today, made a number of plays and looked sharper at this point in the season than I remember. It is amazing what having a QB deliver a ball on time and on target will do. Ryan Griffin looked great and I loved the pass Whitmer threw down the right sideline to him running a fly perfectly over the corner. Again was impressed by Gutierrez, although he is so skinny and definitely could us a redshirt year. Overall, I was amazed at how hard the lines got after it. A number of very intense drills , and say what you will about DeLeone, he doesn't miss much.
I could listen to Don Brown all day. He is so intense and really funny. Has no problem letting you know what you're doing, right or wrong. Lots of rotation at safety in the secondary, Lee and Adams got a lot of run, and I feel we are going to see a lot more pressure brought from the d backfield this year as Brown goes even further into his system. I am much more comfortable at CB after these two practices than I was going in. Gratz and Blidi are great, but I think we have two more than capable backups in Mack and especially David Stevensen. DS really gets after it, and although small, plays with so much physicality he seems bigger than he is.

 

[metsfan2323]

and especially David Stevensen. DS really gets after it, and although small, plays with so much physicality he seems bigger than he is.

I agree on Stevensen, he is fiery, intense and good, he practices each play like the 4'th quarter of a real game. I think he is emerging as the third CB after Gratz and Blidi. He has a knocked kneed lazy walk back to the huddle that makes him look like he's not a player and then the ball is snapped and he is a machine.

Anyone going to Saturday's practice should focus in on Stevenson. He's fun to watch.

 

[sportsart]

The McCummings comments didn't concern me at all - didn't sound like he was home for any reason other than genuine family reasons.

The coach P "let me come back" comment was what caught my attention as well as the comment about the most important thing was to get his degree.

My translation (worth 2 cents) is he had come to the conclusion he was probably never going to be the full time starter and was he comfortable being a part time player.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

I thought Knappe would be an OT.

 

[ZooCougar]

This is a non-issue. Key comment from McCummings.


"I hadn’t considered leaving here at all. I’m ecstatic, happy I get to play on the field."

http://the-boneyard.com/threads/open-practice-today-comments.22111/page-2

 

[rich1122]

A couple of other things noted. McCummings looks like he will be 3rd on the depth chart. If I am not mistaken he was taking non-wildcat snaps. His long ball is looking better. The short stuff looked to be missing a little touch.

Griffin and Delahunt looked very good catching the ball especially lateral routes.

The block was not of a punt. It was a Puyol 35yder I think. The kicked looked low to me and not a result of the protection. Maybe something else happened. I missed the punt drills.

I did not like some of the snaps.

Brown and DeLeone are a riot to watch and listen to.

Overall the practice exemplified a team that looks and sounds like one that is used to each other and the system