Spring practice finally felt like spring yesterday with weather in the 70’s and a baseball game to follow (4-3 comeback win over Duke!). The Turner Gill run practice caught the eye of numerous passersby who were out enjoying the weather, and had a decent amount of spectators. Here’s a little of what we saw:
Offense
- WR Dante Shells, WR Darrin Peterson, FB Nicky Fualaau, and RB Clifton Richardson are some of the 1st teamers who sat out yesterday. Clifton was the only one visibly injured with his right arm in a sling.
- Kendall Couamin, who had been working at tight end, seemed to get nicked up and left practice early.
- There hasn’t been any real separation in the tight end competition, but I did notice one guy that hasn’t been talked about much; Dexter Herman looks like the most comfortable in the receiving aspect, but lacks the size of some of the other candidates.
- D.J. Abnar’s receiving abilities out of the backfield continue to impress me. He has shown to be far superior in the receiving game to the other running backs, and will get many snaps because of it. He is way to shifty for linebackers to stay with and has proven to be reliable catching the ball this spring.
Defense
- Wesley Scott did not practice, giving some of the younger corners a chance to show themselves.
- Redshirt Freshman corner Tyrin Holloway was one guy who stepped up and looked like he may make a case to be the nickel corner. Holloway had an impressive pick yesterday during a drill that would probably go for six in a game.
- Dylan Lewellyn and Jimmy O’Grady both excelled in pass coverage drills against the running backs and tight ends. They should be in a group of oft rotated linebackers.
Special Teams
- Longsnapper Hunter Winstead has been errorless thus far.
- Justin Fritts, Jaquan Glover, Desmond Rice, and Gabe Henderson rotated at punt returner.
