| 29 March 2010
Spring Practice Update #2
Well OU returned from Spring Break and actually held their first scrimmage of spring. Unfortunately, the event was locked down better than a Black Ops mission, so I don’t have stats or actual full reports. But gleaned from message board traffic and scrimmage highlights here goes.
1. The improved buzz on the OL continues to stay strong. OL apparently provided running room and time for Landry during the scrimmage. Starting OL was
- LT: Donald Stephenson- so far proving Bob right that last year he was as talented as anyone other than NFL top 20 pick Trent Williams
- LG: Stephen Good- healthy again.
- OC: Brian Lepak (but Habern is back from foot injury and looks good. Just a matter of health stopping Habern from retaking the Center job)
- RG: Tyler Evans- great offseason
- RT: Eric Mensik – clearly has added weight to his frame (Corey Brandon was basically first team as well)
2. Taking advantage of said improved OL blocking was Jermie Calhoun who had a number of nice runs. All reports indicate Calhoun is having a great spring, and with Jonathan Miller’s absence due to injury is doing his best job to lock down the number two RB spot.
3. Starting front seven on defense appeared to be
- DTs: Jamarkus McFarland, Stacey McGee (Walker and Chaisson were in there as well. Heavy rotation of DTs)
- DEs: Frank Alexander and Jeremy Beal (but saw RJ Washington in with the 1s as well)
- LBs: Mike: Ronnell Lewis, Will: Travis Lewis, SAM: Joseph Ibiloye (Wort is fully back from injury. He was in there with the first team defense as well)
- CBs: Demontre Hurst and Jamell Fleming (2nd team CBs were Lamar Harris, Gabe Lynn, and Marcus Trice)
- Safeties: Quinton Carter and Jonathan Nelson (2nd team hard to tell but Kevin Brent, Tony Jefferson, and Javon Harris were all getting reps)
4. Signs of life at TE finally. Lane Johnson looked solid in the blocking game, matched up against Beal and Alexander. In addition, James Hanna had the play of the scrimmage with a 70 yard TD catch and run. Until this scrimmage, the news on the TE position had been non-existent.
5. Kenny Stills continues to impress at WR, and is a real threat for major playing time this fall. If anyone breaks the Sun Bowl trio of Miller, Broyles, and Reynolds it will be Stills. It was a pretty windy day for the scrimmage so the passing game was hampered a little. Some drops by Dejuan Miller and Cam Kenney, overall Jaz Reynolds probably had the most consistent day from the WRs. (It’s not clear how much Broyles played if at all).
6. It’s really impossible to tell anything on how well Landry Jones and Drew Allen are doing. All I can say is that the word that I’m hearing is that Landry looks to have built off the momentum of bowl practice and his bowl performance to end any thought that he won’t start at QB. He looks improved in his reads/timing, and is leading the offense.
7. I’ve got nothing on the FG kickers or punters or return game guys.
