Wednesday Offense Report

[TheTodd]

The Gators saw their first day of contact Wednesday afternoon and the first day in the pads definitely trumped the first two days of shorts and helmets. Although it wasn’t a breakout day by the offense, there were a number of very good plays and the quarterbacks delivered their best day of practice so far.

QUARTERBACKS:The Gators saw their first day of contact Wednesday afternoon and the first day in the pads definitely trumped the first two days of shorts and helmets. Although it wasn’t a breakout day by the offense, there were a number of very good plays and the quarterbacks delivered their best day of practice so far. Tim Tebow went 6-8 during the seven-on-seven passing drills, and his two incomplete passes were drops by Justin Williams and Paul Wilson. There really isn’t a route that he’s struggling to throw right now. His short throws are right on the money almost every time and the touch on his deep throws is perfect. The two backups had good days as well. Cam Newton had his best day. I had him down as 7-10 during the same drills. His short throws were the best they’ve been all week, and he showed good touch on some of the deeper routes as well. John Brantley went 4-7 in seven-on-seven drills, but most of his throws were much deeper than the other two quarterbacks. He showed good velocity on the out routes. He connected with Frankie Hammond on a fade route.

RUNNING BACKS: Emmanuel Moody was the best running back of the day. He looks completely different from the person we saw in the spring. He’s much more comfortable in the offense and is becoming the running back the staff expected. Multiple times he took the handoff, looked for and found a hole, then exploded through it. Sometimes he’ll fake between the guard and tackle, only to bounce the run outside and pick up extra yards. The running backs did well during the Oklahoma drills. Kestahn Moore wasn’t tackled much, and Jeff Demps was tackled once in six or seven opportunities. Once Demps took the football and ran straight at Brendan Beal, similar to what he did Monday morning. He did fumble twice, one of which Meyer blamed on the handoff. He cramped up during the last play of practice, but walked off the field fine. Mon Williams looked good as well, breaking through the line twice during seven-on-seven drills. Chris Rainey didn’t practice thanks to a groin injury Tuesday, but he was in attendance. Most of his time was spent on practice field number three lifting weights. I thought Steve Wilks had a good day of blocking. He took A.J. Jones completely out of a running play. T.J. Pridemore is getting better by the day. He was seen after practice with bloody gauze over his right eye. He also cramped up towards the end of practice. The running game was effective during the drills that pinned the front seven against the back seven, but they weren’t so spectacular during the eleven-on-eleven drills.

WIDE RECEIVERS: The top guy in this group was Deonte Thompson. He showed good shake in the Oklahoma drills that made it difficult for the defensive backs to tackle him. This group really didn’t do anything overwhelming at Wednesday’s practice. The deep ball Frankie Hammond caught from Brantley was probably the play of the day. He blew by the cornerback and forced good separation, keeping his feet in bounds for a great catch down the right sideline. I wish there was more to report from this group, but they just had a mediocre day.

TIGHT ENDS: Obviously everyone will be waiting on word about Cornelius Ingram’s injury. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Aaron Hernandez had a great day. He is becoming a safety valve for Tebow and the other quarterbacks. He runs the drag route and picks up at least seven yards every time. Tate Casey also got increased reps, including running over Wondy Pierre-Louis after the catch.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Jason Watkins just mauls people. He pancaked Earl Okine early in practice and never looked back. Phil Trautwein left practice and seemed to be injured, but he was back on the field and moving around with no problems by the end of practice. Marcus Gilbert seems to be ready to play any position on the line this year besides center. He got work at left guard and right tackle and seemed to do well at both of them. The Pounceys continue to be the Pounceys and aren’t scared to knock people over. I want to give some credit to the freshmen today. Sam Robey, Byran Jones and David Young (center, right guard and right tackle for the third team) all looked above the normal level of freshmen production. Young was probably the most impressive to me. He moves well and was able to keep up with William Green’s speed off the edge. They look to be a formidable group for years to come.