First Day of Practice - August 2, 2007

Got to see the afternoon practice today. Another season has begun! The coaches used some of the veterans in the morning practice with mostly incoming freshmen. Trott, Lester, Ricks, and Clayton I believe all worked with the new guys. One radio show mentioned that the coaches were going to mix that up a bit over the next few days while holding separate practices for the incoming freshmen.

The 1st group I watched was the DL. Groves is a specimen. I don't see anyone replacing him anytime soon. That guy is lean and pure speed. And, I love Thompson! That boy really fits the mold of a noseguard. He hurt the sleds out there today. And, it looks like he was taking a bit of a leadership role. He was helping Goggans some with his technique. MG was not himself today. And another pleasant surprise for me was Doolittle. He looked real focused. I can't remember our DL being this deep and talented.

Next, I saw the OL work some. There was some talk of Bosley straining his pectoral muscle. Apparently they taped it up because he was snapping the ball in the drills. Berry ran center some too. I thought overall we looked pretty good. First of all, Bosley looks stout. Unless he gets hurt, I don't see much worry there. RT is probably the biggest question mark. Couldn't really tell much from drill work. But if McCain don't work out, we're in trouble unless Berry can move over. Daniels looked slow to me. I don't like his stance. He doesn't look like he can get much leverage. Not sure, but I'd be worried if he's protecting Cox's blindside. Overall though, if everyone can stay healthy, I really like our 1st 5. Hopefully, Berry can be our utility man much like Palmer was in the past.

I didn't get to see much out of the skilled positions. But from what I did notice, I thought Caudle threw a good ball. Blake looked comfortable out there too. Hopefully for our future, Caudle will step up for us in the 2-spot. Wilhite, Gilbert, and Lee looked like veterans in coverage drills. As far as receivers, I think Montez is ready to step up. Robert Dunn looked good too. There is a separation though from Rod and the rest. Rod looked very polished.

I didn't get to see much of the RBs. I thought it was a good idea though to get Lester away from the other guys battling for the 2-spot. At a glance, I was impressed with Tate. I had him penciled to play some TB, but also start working more in the F-back role behind Stewart. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by his speed. I've always liked his legwork and vision. If he can now be more explosive at the hole, the sky's the limit for him.

Notably missing was Cox. Not sure if he was just hanging out or if he practiced with the freshman. I was surprised not to see him getting some reps with the veteran WRs. I may have missed him though.

Well, I hope this gave some insight. It's really hard to tell from the 1st day of practice. So really, 1st impressions is about all you can elaborate on. I will say that I haven't seen this deep of talent at AU in a while. What we lack in experience, there will be plenty of talent to compensate.

Here's to another season of AU football! If the road schedule don't kill us, the future looks real bright.

WDE!