Florida’s first practice of August got started ahead ofthe scheduled starting time Monday afternoon. Maybe that was a sign ofthings to come because it was a very solid practice turned in by thereturning veterans. Most of the position rotational spots stayed thesame, but there were a few notable changes. There are still going to besome ongoing questions at tackle and safety.
Here is a look at Monday afternoon:
DEFENSIVE LINE: The starters were Duke Lemmens, Troy Epps,Terron Sanders and Carlos Dunlap. Jermaine Cunningham was at practicebut not participating due to a back injury. Javier Estopinan(recovering from knee surgery) was there but didn’t participate.Lemmens and Epps have really filled out a lot since April and Eppsparticularly looks like a different person. He might have added weightbut certainly he’s in much better physical condition. Justin Trattouplayed inside on every snap that I saw which surprised me. I am notsure I like this move just yet, but we shall see. I am one thatbelieves Trattou needs to be on the field. Jaye Howard looked good andgot after it. He played both inside and outside on the line. Theyswitched up a lot with Dunlap also getting some reps inside in purepass situations. Sanders was running real well and I think their sizeand ability to run is what is placing Sanders and Epps on the firstunit right now. Lawrence Marsh looked good too, but he was definitelyplaying second fiddle today. There was no one-on-one with offensivelinemen today so it is really hard to gauge just how hard these guysare able to play.
BEST PRACTICE: I will go with Epps as he looked the part that hejust didn’t look in the spring. I can now see him producing if hismotor matches his body this fall.
LINEBACKER: Starters were the same with A.J. Jones at the Sam,Brandon Spikes at Mike, and Dustin Doe at Will. The big change herecomes on the second unit where Lorenzo Edwards was moved to Sam frommiddle. He told me after practice it is because the coaches think hemade more plays on the outside in the spring than inside. This sets upa natural challenge with A.J. Jones for the starting spot eventually. This should be a good battle this fall. Ryan Stamper played strictlyMike on the second team and John Jones was the second Will. When theyoung guys and old guys combine tomorrow I am expecting Brandon Hicksto be the backup at Will for now. One note I made was that Dustin Doelooks more chiseled than I have seen him. In 7-on-7 drills Spikestipped a pass that A.J. Jones intercepted and ran back for a while.Their stellar pass coverage from the spring seemed to continue throughtoday,
BEST PRACTICE: I will go with Doe, of the group he looked like the one that has changed the most for the better.
CORNER: Staring corners were Joe Haden and Wondy Pierre-Louis. Second team was Markihe Anderson and Moses Jenkins. In the nickel, Joewas out and Markihe moved inside with Moses Jenkins playing one outsideman mirrored with Pierre-Louis. Jacques Rickerson saw plenty of timeon the second unit switching around from corner to nickel a bunch. Thecorners were sticky good in pass coverage when they finally lined upwith the offense. The quarterbacks probably threw four passes over 10yards out of 20-plus because of the coverage by the corners on thereceivers. Joe Haden jumped the first pass from Tim Tebow and shouldhave had a pick. Markihe had one quite similar in the flat that shouldhave gone the other way. Wondy also jumped a pass and almost took itthe distance. These cornerbacks have grown up a lot in a short periodof time ad I believe it all comes from being sure in what they aredoing and that comes from experience. That is something they had noneof last year.
BEST PRACTICE: I will go with Markihe Anderson. He seemed tohave a little bit of an attitude out there today and in the face of thereceivers he faced.
SAFETY: Starters were Major Wright and Ahmad Black followed bywalk-ons Cade Holliday and Andrew Fritze. The staff alternated the guysfrom playing in the box to playing deep safety. They certainly lookedat playing the one deep free safety some, something we rarely saw lastseason with all the inexperience back there. Wright and Black seemreal confident in their abilities, so at least that part of their gameis not missing. They didn’t have many chances to make plays today, sowe will have to wait and see on this position.
BEST PRACTICE: Practice: not applicable really.
Tomorrow the freshmen join forces with the older guys. On defensethis will make a huge impact when Will Hill comes over along with T.J.Lawrence at safety. It will also get real interesting with OmarHunter, Matt Patchan, and Ronnie Wilson in the mix at defensive tackle.
