Spring Practice Thread

[1King]

That time of year again, spring practice has started in some places and the rest will be starting up very soon. Put all updates/news (depth chart, improved players, struggles, injuries, etc.) about spring practice/games in here.


Michigan Info:

Spring practice hasnt started yet (starts the 17th or 18th I think). Spring game is April 13.

Some Injury News:

RB Fitz Toussaint (lower body) is making progress, but will be out for the spring. Could come back as soon as fall camp though.

CB Blake Countess (lower body) also making progress, but will likely be out for spring though he may do some running. Should be back for fall camp.

Position battles to watch:

Starting WR opposite Jeremy Gallon (likely candidates include SR Drew Dileo, RS FR Amara Darboh and RS FR Jehu Chesson).

All 3 Starting interior OL (too many guys to name. RS FR Kyle Kalis is probably the frontrunner for LG, RS SO Jack Miller for C, and RS SO Chris Bryant for RG).

Starting/rotation at DL. We finally have depth here and should be able to rotate up to 10 or 11 guys at some point.

WLB/MLB: 3 guys battling for 2 spots. JR Desmond Morgan and SO James Ross likely battle for WLB and Morgan and SO Joe Bolden battle for MLB. I like the two youngsters (Ross and Bolden).

S opposite Thomas Gordon (SO Jarrod Wilson, FR EE Dymonte Thomas, SR Marvin Robinson)
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^^^^^BeastM0de23RB on the sig.

CWood21 wrote:
Alright, congratulations to 1King. He is the winner of the inaugural NBA Trade Tournament.

[I_GET_SAX]

Alabama starts Spring Practices March 21st and our Annual Spring game takes place on April 20th.

A lot of turn around on that epic offensive line.

A lot of fire power at wide out with Amari.Cooper, Kenny Bell, Chris Black, Christion Jones, Robert Foster. Not to mention our awesome stud coming in to play TE, 5* O.J. Howard. AJ McCarron is going to try to win ring #4 and his 3rd as a starter. He could go down as one of the best ever.

Our defense keeps CJ Moseley and young studs in secondary in HaHa Clinton-Dix & Landon Collins. Plenty of youth and super potential from under class men stepping up or blue chipper prospects. Very excited to see just how much better that Defense can be.

Toughest games on schedule are at A&M and vs LSU.
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Justo on the Sig. Thanks bro

[Cheesehead430]

~Biggest question mark and story for FSU this spring is who will be QB. Sounds like a true 3 headed race between Clint Trickett, Jacob Coker, and Jamies Winston. All three are very different kind of players so it will be interesting to see where the coaching staff goes with this one. Trickett has the most experience out of the three while being EJ Manuel's backup the past two seasons. However he seems to have the least upside out of the group and has health concerns which could prevent him from making it through a whole season. Coker is said to be a fantastic athlete for his size is a true pocket-passer. A lot of people around the program think he's the best QB on the roster. Winston a 5* recruit, red shirted last season. He's the ideal dual-threat guy and hopes are high for him but does he have enough to overcome the two other QB's on the roster?. Leader in the clubhouse seems to be Coker at this point. Jimbo has always valued a more conventional pro-style QB more, I wouldn't count out Jamies though.

~Lamarcus Joyner is moving back to cornerback to make room for former 5* recruit KarLos Williams to play safety. It was aparent last season that the coaching staff had to find a way to get Los onto the field weather it was at linebacker or a switch to the offensive side of the ball. He should provide us with another huge weapon in the secondary.

~DB Tyler Hunter, CB Ronald Darby, DT Demonte McAllister, CB Nick Waisome, and Jacob Fahrenkrug are out for the spring. Former 5* DT Jaccobi McDaniel was granted a medical red shirt and will be back next year.

~With the big three at DE leaving(Tank, Werner, Jenkins), who will step up at DE? 5* Mario Edwards Jr. played well towards the end of the year and will lock down one side. However the opposite end will be a big question mark. The battle should come down to Girgio Newberry and Chris Casher.
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Go Pack Go...

[TheGoldenChild]

NOTRE DAME

Transfers/Injuries:

- Former 5* and certified supertroll Gunner Kiel will reportedly transfer

- Backup OT Tate Nichols has been placed on medical scholarship (knee)

Position Battles to Watch:

RB: Wide open following the graduation of Theo Riddick and the early (idiotic) departure of Cierre Wood. Competitors include junior speedster George Atkinson III, former USC transfer Amir Carlisle, redshirt freshman Will Mahone, and junior Cam McDaniel. Incoming freshmen Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston, both of whom will arrive in the fall, are both expected to compete for PT. Many expect Bryant to be starting by the end of the year.

TE: Huge shoes to fill in replacing Tyler Eifert. The frontrunner is junior Troy Niklas, who saw considerable playing time in bunch sets last year. Also in the mix are junior Ben Koyack, who was terrible last season in limited action, senior Alex Welch, coming off of a knee injury suffered last fall, and freshman EE Mike Heuerman.

OL: Interesting battle with a solid group of returnees, including fifth year seniors Zach Martin (IMO, one of the most underrated OL in the country) and Chris Watt, and redshirt junior Christian Lombard. Watt could move from LG to C and Lombard could shift over to RG from his RT spot. There are a number of players who will be competing for the two open positions, most interestingly EE Steve Elmer.

DE: Gone is four year starter Kapron Lewis-Moore. Replacing him will be either sophomore Sheldon Day, who was impressive last year in a rotational role, or redshirt freshman Jarron Jones, who at 6'5", 295 has the more ideal size for a 3-4 DE.

ILB: Big shoes to fill here in replacing Manti Te'o. Fifth year seniors Dan Fox and Carlo Calabrese, who have been splitting reps at ILB the past two years, will probably continue to do so. Redshirt sophomore Jarrett Grace, who has drawn rave reviews from the staff, will compete with redshirt junior Kendall Moore for the open ILB spot.

S: With the graduation of Zeke Motta and Jamoris Slaughter, safety is wide open in 2013. Redshirt sophomore Matthias Farley, who was adequate last year in starting the final 10 games of the season, is likely a starter, which leaves the race open for a number of candidates which include: junior Austin Collinsworth, who missed last year with a shoulder injury and sophomores Elijah Shumate and Nicky Baratti. 5* Max Redfield, who will arrive in the summer, is also expected to see the field.

[1King]

[LuckIsGOAT]

For Stanford its a very quiet Spring with most of team coming back but 5 critical spots have to be filled

TE replacing Ertz and Toilolo. RS freshman Luke Kaumatule is the favorite to be the #1 guy. True freshman Austin Hooper is a college ready blocker who should get in the mix right away in the fall. The X factor is the another true freshman TE Eric Cotton who maybe has the most potential as pass receiver of all the TEs on the roster.

OLB replacing Chase Thomas. James Vaughters is having a great spring and looks to be the front runner here.

WR. RS freshman Michael Rector is having a good spring True freshman Francis Owusu will also be in the mix come fall

RB replacing Stefan Taylor. Anthony Wilkerson looked very good backing up Taylor last year. Senior Tyler Gaffney also comes back after a year playing baseball. He and Wilkerson will battle it out for the starting spot and I don't expect any drop off. Kelsey Young and BJ Sanders are X factors who might take the running game from really good to special

With the OL being reshuffled Andrus Peat looks to be the man at left tackle replacing last years 1st team all Pac12 left tackle who is moving to guard. Can you say loaded?
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Giants
Stanford
Colts
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Luck & RG3 fan

[Supersuavesky]

Nebraska has already been practicing for over a week now. Pretty much everything is focused on the defensive side of the ball where speed at LB is now a premium.
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PSN: Suavesky

[adam9]

Tennessee Volunteers

Overview: Basically after the coaching change our staff has most positions as wide open. I would say there are only a few spots we have guaranteed starters and those are mostly on the OL as at least 4/5 of our current linemen will be drafted next year. After that we are in full evaluation mode. Some positions that seem to be the most open are all of the defense and WR. Our highest rated recruit Marquez North will likely be a starter as a true Fr and he isn't on campus, but I think we have a lot of young players. I think this competition is good. Also some changes for non-Vol guys to notice as we are planning on running an up-tempo "pro-spread" on offense and a 4-3 base defense which are both changes from last season.

Transfers: off the top of my head So RB Quenshon Watson will transfer and after that I don't remember anyone else. No key players are transferring.

Position Changes: Sr Brent Brewer moved from S to LB, Jr Devrin Young will move from RB to WR, So Justin King moves from FB to TE (he's played 3 positions in 2 seasons), RS Fr Latroy Lewis moves from LB to DE. Also Corey Vereen (recruited as an OLB) moves to DE after putting on so much muscle weight as he EE'd.

Will update with impressive spring practices etc. Almost everything is open like I said. Since QB is talked about frequently RS Fr Nathan Peterman is the favorite...
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[Garnet&Black]

Clowney is looking larger.

Apparently also ran a 4.5 at 6-6 around 275 Lbs.


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thanks to Jamison
!

[Brandon26841]

I'll do Ohio State. Nothing too exciting going on with them this spring though.

Offense:

The offense is going to return almost everybody except for WR / TE Jake Stoneburner and RT Reid Fragel.

STARTER
RETURNING STARTER

QB - Braxton Miller, Kenny Guiton
RB - Carlos Hyde, Brionte Dunn / Rod Smith / Warren Ball
X - Devin Smith, Mike Thomas
Z - Corey Brown, Evan Spencer
H - Jordan Hall, Chris Fields
TE - Jeff Heuerman / Nick Vannett

LT - Jack Mewhort
LG - Andrew Norwell
C - Corey Linsley
RG - Marcus Hall
RT - Taylor Decker / Chase Farris

H - Stoneburner is going to essentially be replaced by Jordan Hall, who got a 5th year of eligibility for this season after injuring his foot early in training camp last year. Hall was supposed to be the big playmaker on offense last season, and supposedly he's looked very good in his new role as a slot WR. Will stick take hand offs occasionally too; basically going to play the much-talked-about Percy Harvin position.

RT - True sophomore Taylor Decker's pretty much a shoe-in at RT. Was actually in a really close battle with Fragel for the starting RT position heading into fall camp last year, so I'm sure they've got a lot of confidence in him to take over out there.

RB - Looks to be a position battle for the #2 running back spot. Smith was the presumed guy but Dunn was placed ahead of him on the initial depth chart (I'd say it's a motivational thing). These RB's are BIG this year; Hyde is 242, Smith is 238, and Ball and Dunn are both 220+.

Defense:

SDE - Adolphus Washington, J.T. Moore
UT - Michael Bennett, Tommy Schutt
NT - Joel Hale, Chris Carter
LEO - Noah Spence, Steve Miller

MLB - Curtis Grant / Josh Perry
WLB - Ryan Shazier, David Perkins

STAR - Tyvis Powell

CB - Brad Roby
CB - Doran Grant
SS - Christian Bryant
FS - C.J. Barnett

It's all about the front 7 on defense. They've got to plug in 6 new starters and they're all underclassmen. The d-line's pretty much already set and so is the #2 corner, but the big position battle is at MLB. JR Curtis Grant, who's been a massive disappointment thus far, is battling SO Josh Perry and the loser will likely play SAM.

The play of this new front 7 will be the key for OSU's season; the offense will be fine and could/should be a top 5 offense.

(Not sure anyone that's not an OSU fan would want to read all of this crap, but eh... I had nothing else to do, ha)

[Texasmade]

Texas is a few weeks into spring practices.

On the injury front:
DE Jackson Jeffcoat and OL Trey Hopkins are out with preexisting injuries. Josh Crochran fractured his leg, and Tevin Jackson hurt his shoulder. Both are out for the remainder of spring. Jordan Hicks has been limited due to a groin injury.

Spring Storylines:
- Transitioning to the 'New' offense. It doesn't appear to be too different from a schematic standpoint, but the tempo is significantly quicker than what it has been.
- OLine depth. With two starters out some the young guys like Kennedy Estelle and Curtis Riser are getting valuable reps.
- Fix the tackling issues that plagued the defense last year. Mack has never been one to favor physical practices or tackling to the ground but that doesn't seem to be the case this spring.
- Secondary sake up. Coach Akina is all hands on deck trying to find the right mix of 4-5 guys. Sheroid Evans isn't participating in track this season, and as a result is making a serious push up the depth chart. Ideally, this would allow to Diggs to move to safety, and play the Earl Thomas/Kenny Vaccaro role

Position Battles:
- Backup QB: Case sucks and is an enigma but he's got the most game experience and most likely the front runner as of now. His biggest threat seems to be freshman Tyrone Swoopes who has been unsurprisingly good this spring.
- No. 3 WR: Mike Davis and Jaxon Shipley are firmly in place as the top 2 receivers, but who rounds out the rest of the receiving corps is still up in the air. Kendall Sanders has been a really good spring so far and seems to be the front runner, followed by Cayleb Jones.
- MLB: Dalton Santos seems to have taken over for Steve Edmond at starting MLB. Edond is still in the mix to regain hi spot, but he needs to shed some weight first.

Stars of camp (so far):
- Malcolm Brown
- Johnathan Gray
- Cedric Reed
- Mike Davis
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[1King]

[Texasmade]

[ICE13]

PSU returns most of their starters, ill just go through the position battles:

Strongside & Weakside LBer's:
Leaving: Gerald Hodges and Mike Mauti
Potential Starters: Nyeem Wartman, Mike Hull, Ben Kline, Gary Wooten

Losing Mauti and Hodges really hurts, talent and leadership wise. Hull played a lot last year though (and subbed in for Mauti on passing downs) and like Hodges is a former safety. Wartman was playing a good bit before going out for the season and being granted a medical RS. Wooten was a year removed from HS when he was signed but he's apparently very athletic, but I don't expect him to start. Kline is another LB built more on instincts than athleticism

Outlook: OLB won't be as strong of a position this year as it was last year

QB:
Leaving: Matt McGloin
Potential Starters: Tyler Ferguson, Steven Bench, Christian Hackenberg

Fergs & Bench are whom most expect to start (I think Fergs personally). Fergs was a nicely rated JUCO guy who has experience and fits the QB mold you'd expect in BOB's O. Bench played well the few times he saw action last year, and could add a read option to the play book. Hack will also come in, but expect him to RS.

Outlook: BOB took the worst passer in the B1G and made him the best one, and now he's got guys with more "natural" talent to work with. While both will lack the game experience of MM, they'll also have more to work with than MM and just as much/more experience with the PB. I expect only a slight drop off, if any from MM

Center & RT:
Leaving: Matt Stankiewitch, Mike Farrel
Potential starters: Ty Howle/Angelo Mangiro/Miles Dieffenbach(C), Adam Gress/Gary Gilliam (RT)

Gilliam was moved from TE to RT this offseason and has apparently already hit 300 despite not looking like it. Gress played decently last year at RT but is just a bit too slow to handle better DE's. Howle has been the backup C for a while, and both him and Mangiro saw time on the OL last year. Dieffenbach was a starter at LG last year but might move over to C.

Outlook: Stank's production will be hard to replace and whomever takes over at C probably won't match his production, but I expect Gilliam to do better than Farrel did last year at RT

DT:
Leaving: Jordan Hill (Daquan Jones is taking over his spot at 1-Tech)
Potential Starters: Austin Johnson, Derek Dowrey, Brian Gaia, Kyle Baublitz

Jones had a season similar to what Devon Still and Jordan Hill did their junior years, and moves over to 1-Tech his senior year like they did. Alas, they also had Hill/Jones on their right side, and it looks like Daquan Jones won't have that this year. Johnson might be the front runner to win the spot, and he's very athletic, but he's still pretty raw. Baublitz would be the other guy in the running to take over, and he's more experienced than the other guys, but he still hasn't seen much action lately.

Outlook: Don't expect the interior of the line to be as good this year as years past.

CB:
Leaving: Stephon Morris
Potential Starters: DaQuan Davis, Jordan Lucas, Jordan Smith

It's a little unnerving seeing that these guys are a Sophomore, RS fr and true Fr, but Davis played decently for a freshman last year and will probably take over. Last year PSU didn't run the Nickel be Ayer there wasn't enough depth in the secondary but they will this year which will be helpful. Stephon Morris's on field production won't be that hard to replace, but his leadership is what will be the most challenging to replace.

Outlook: Cloudy, I don't think they'll be as good as Morris was last year but running the Nickel this year will be very helpful.
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I'm a closet Vanderbilt fan.

"As always, criminal justice proceedings, if any, take precedence over any NCAA actions" - Mark Emmert, 1982

[TheGoldenChild]