Monday morning, practice number four. It’s the second day in shells, yesterday was our first day in shells and it’s always interesting and I don’t think the defense tackled like it needed to which is usually a product of what they did all summer. A lot of the things we’re trying right now is a product of summer (inaudible) - them out there trying to coach themselves and they’re not very good coaches - they’re good players and good athletes.
So tackling needed improved and I was impressed with some of the things the offense did in the run game as well as the passing game. Today will be an interesting day, today will be a little more competitive and they get a day off tomorrow, so the kind of know that ahead of time so we’ll be out there for 110 minutes so we’ll get after it.
What else did we miss overt the weekend? Did anyone stand out?
Nakia (Griffin-Stewart) has looked really good. Really I’m thinking about some of the newer guys - Nakia’s looked really good at tight end, Nolan (Ulizio) has done a really good job on the offensive line, Kylan Johnson has done good things - just thinking of some of the newer guys I didn’t see in the spring. So I’m impressed with all three of those guys and you kind of go, ‘those guys are going to help you immediately’ I believe. No other big surprises after that, but those are the ones you kind of take a peek at.
Tight End’s can be blockers or go down the seam, what kind is Nakia (Griffin-Stewart) going to be?
He’s going to be both. I think he’s got the potential to be both, he’s a big, strong, physical guy and he can block and he can take off down the field.
You mentioned the running game did well, any running backs in particular stand out?
Really it was by committee. When you think about the run game and what we’re doing, it’s really about the blocking that sets all that up. Having a great tailback is one thing, but having an offensive line that opens up holes - so when I say run game it’s really the O-Line and what they’ve done space-wise, fundamentally doing some nice things in that respect.
Who are you liking in the defensive ends behind Rash Weaver and Patrick Jones?
John Morgan is a guy that’s competing in there. Habakkuk Baldonado, whose back, he’ll be a guy that will be out there competing again today. Another guy that I’m really missing is Deslin Alexandre, he’s done a nice job. He’s probably the third guy right now, but Deslin has really had a nice camp and he’s made some improvements. So there’s some competition going on there, it’s a pretty deep position with some of the freshmen. I think a guy that’s done a nice job is (Chris) Maloney, a kid from Philly, a walk-on defensive end so he’s done a nice job too. We’ve got some guys in there that can make plays.
Is College Football going the way of grad-transfers?
Hopefully not for us. Hopefully we’re on the receiving end and not the departure end, but yea it kind of is going in that direction. Kids are thinking about where they can get their next move, next potential. If we can continue to have good success like we have in the past with a (Matt) Flanagan, who is with the Redskins now, if we can continue to have success like we have and taking guys and making them starters and giving them an opportunity than I think it is a good thing for us.
What are your expectations for Rashad Weaver this year?
Expectations are for him to continue to get better, just like anybody else. How has he changed? He’s gotten bigger, stronger, more physical. He’s always been smart and he’s gotten a pretty good feel of the defense overall. I think he knows what the linebackers are doing, I think he knows how everybody fits, but his expectations are to lead and to become an even better football players.
