PREAMBLE: This is meant to supplement, and not replace, the fastidious work done yesterday by @BrianStultz, @Henry Patton and @Caleb Jones with the practice notes.
*****
It was another pleasant afternoon for football on the Plains — cloudy, slightly windy, temperatures in the
mid 70s. ($1 to
@slavaboyko)
The tempo on this day was hotter/faster than seen previously. The team was here to work and it was
working. The general paradigm was one phase for individual instruction followed by two phases of team drills. They'd repeat this cycle maybe five times during the afternoon. By "team drills," I mean either 11v11 or 7v7. It was mostly 11v11 on this day, though.
A.) My biggest takeaway is the way
DJ Durkin and
Charles Kelly have been working to re-program defensive backs and linebackers to look for the ball and
PLAY THE BALL in passing situations. I saw three interceptions yesterday — one by
Colton Hood, one by
Jerrin Thompson and one by
JC Hart — and all three were a direct function of defenders actually looking for and tracking the football rather than just running in phase. It's clear that the new defensive regime is fanatical about creating turnovers.
B.) I wanted more data before making this assertion, but I now have the data: DJ Durkin is the most active defensive coach I've ever covered at Auburn. He is in great shape. I know this because I watch him run around almost as much as the players he coaches. He has the ability to run to the earhole of both safeties between each play and offer feedback. He also is very clear in his messaging. Yes, that's a diplomatic way to say he yells a lot and he yells loudly. A younger safety (name redacted) was having some difficulty early on getting in tune with a specific coverage call that forced the safeties to shift from a Cover-2 shell into a Cover-1. This young safety was not shifting properly. When Durkin came over to push him in the correct direction, the young safety resisted. This was not resistance born of hostility; the kid simply didn't know what he was doing and was trying to go the wrong direction. Durkin essentially booed him off the field and replaced him with a walk-on — the ultimate indignity. Durkin is that guy.
**The Young Safety returned to the drill shortly thereafter and I never saw/heard another conflict involving him. Alls well that ends well.
C.) The quarterbacks were a mixed bag. I say that because two things were true concurrently — their passing was not good and the protection afforded them also was not good. So they were having to scramble a lot and make panicky decisions quickly. Almost every play I saw in the 11v11s were some type of RPO. (They actually ran a lot.) I thought
Payton Thorne handed his passing choices most effectively. His biggest contribution on this day was with his feet; he made several impact plays in that manner that would have been big gainers even if quarterbacks had been live.
I love the creativity
Holden Geriner shows by changing arm slots to make certain throws. The problem is that he doesn't complete enough of those throws.
Hank Brown is a more commanding presence in the pocket, but he has one arm slot and his throws almost always have a downward trajectory. I don't really know how else to explain it. The ball always is pointed down and his accuracy is affected. I'm not in love with his passing. We didn't get as many chances to see
Walker White yesterday, but he's definitely second (to Thorne) for me when it comes to pocket presence. I also feel like he has some real throwing ability. I sense that he misses reads too often. That's fine, of course, because he's an early enrollee. He just now getting his feet wet. I do think he's fearless out there. He doesn't look panicked.
D.) I saw some good throws yesterday, but
all the good ones were between the hashes. It sure seems like this entire quarterback room struggles to give receivers a chance down the sideline. That needs to change with
Cam Coleman and
Perry Thompson in tow next season — plus Rivaldo Fairweather and Brandon Frazier in pattern inside of 20 yards.
E.)
Champ Anthony loves to chirp. I really enjoy listening to him and watching him do his thing out there. Anthony and
Jeremiah Wright were getting at each other a lot during the 11v11s yesterday and it was really fun. They have a lot of spirit.
F.)
Colton Hood looks like a starter to me at CB. He looks better to me in press scenarios, but he was effective yesterday even when playing off the receiver a bit. He also maintained effectiveness after getting banged up a bit in the aftermath of Jerrin Thompson's nice pick. I really like Hood.
G.) I noticed
Darron "DJ" Reed a few times on this day. He was a menace as a pass rusher.
H.) Best catch of the day for me was
Bryce Cain snatching an over-the-shoulder throw from Hank Brown in a two-minute drill early in the day. Cain made the catch and made sure to stay in bounds, too. THEN he immediately sprang up and sprinted toward midfield to get the ball spotted. I was impressed with the skill and awareness.
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