| 15 March 2010
OU Spring Practice Week One Recap
It's only been one week and OU only practiced twice with an OU pro day stuck in between, and now OU is off for a week with spring break
Now I am not going to pretend that I have a lot of news and it's spring so things are going to be almost overwhelming positive. But it's not like we have Sooner men hoops to watch so really we're down to obsessing over spring practice notes.
1. OL looks to be in great shape. Donald Stephenson based on practice video/pictures might be the captain of the Sooner First Off the Bus team. He's 6-6, 300 and looks like Amare Stoudemire. It's clear athletically why Bob called Stephenson OU's most talented offensive lineman (Bob said Stephenson was only behind Trent Williams talent wise). Stephen Good looks to be great shape. And Corey Brandon had a good offseason earning praise from Bob in becoming a leader for the OL. The OL looks improved claim is so hollow at this point, I almost don't want to say it. But the OL looks to be in much better overall shape than last spring. Eric Mensik has added some weight to his frame and should provide competition at both tackle spots. Both Ben Habern and Jarvis Jones are moving around pretty good in practice, but not in uniform yet. Gabe Ikard really looks like an OL player. It's easy to imagine that move becoming permanent, and he will provide some real competition at center. Starting OL looks right now to be;
- LT: Donald Stephenson
- LG: Stephen Good
- OC: Gabe Ikard (OU will be very cautious with Habern's rehab. Probably asking too much to expect Habern to reclaim this spot in Spring)
- RG: Tyler Evans (once healthy I think that Jarvis Jones could win this spot later in Spring)
- RT: Corey Brandon
2. Jonathan Nelson right now is at safety. Ever since the bowl game, when projecting an OU starting lineup Nelson had been slotted to start next to Demontre Hurst at CB. However, through two practices, Nelson is staying at safety. New DB coach Willie Martinez seems heavily involved with the CBs grouping trying to assess what he has. Marcus Trice has been working out with the CBs and appears will be given a shot at winning the other CB spot. OU has some young depth at CB in Hurst, Trice, Lamar Harris, Jamell Fleming, and Gabe Lynn. Now a starting duo of Trice and Hurst would be a smaller CB pair than we have seen previously under Stoops, at least one CB has always been a bigger CB. To date, the safeties have not been shown as a group practicing, so it's impossible to draw any conclusions there other than Quinton Carter and Jonathan Nelson are starters.
3. At DT, Justin Chaisson looks like he has put on really good weight, and is up 275. He's getting a lot of reps and with Adrian Taylor out looks to be competing heavily with Stacey McGee for playing time. Based on how they are rotating, McFarland is first team DT, and he's been paired with both Chaisson and McGee in drills. It's a huge opportunity for the young DTs this spring to get some distance from the DTs enrolling in August. AT DE, the obvious duo of Beal and Alexander are starting. RJ Washington appears to be next in the rotation. As Venables mentioned previously Jarrett Brown could end up being a factor at DE, and from drills he looks like a Frank Alexander type elite athlete.
4. At LB, Tom Wort is sporting a new Mohawk and appears to have added some weight to his frame. I figure he's probably in the 225/230 range right now. Starting LBs right now which is probably pretty meaningless appears to be Ronnell Lewis, Travis Lewis, and Joseph Ibiloye. Venables has been talking about playing Ibiloye at safety some, but so far he's been in LB drills from what I can see. Doesn't seem possible, but Ronnell Lewis looks even bigger than the bowl game. He might easily be 6-3, 245/250. Venables is already talking about playing Lewis at LB and also in a Rush End/Spinner kind of role.
5. There almost no real news at QB and RB. As expected Murray is the first team RB and Jermie Calhoun is the backup. I've seen nothing of Landry Jones or Drew Allen. Landry could be looking like Joe Montana for all the QB action we have seen.
6. Newcomers at WR are Kenny Still and Sheldon McClain. Stills looks pretty light, and could definitely add some strength/weight. McClain also looks pretty thin, but McClain looks more like 6-4 than his listed 6-2, height questions aside McClain appears to have recovered from his knee injury suffered during his senior year. To date, no real action from the TE position yet, no footage of how Lane Johnson is adjusting to TE or how James Hanna looks this spring.
